Falstone United Reformed Church

The small stone chapel sits quietly in Falstone village, a few miles south of Hexham, looking every bit the country church that's been there for centuries. Inside, it's all whitewashed walls and simple wooden pews - nothing fancy, nothing overdone. The kind of place where you can actually hear yourself think.

It's really a stop for people with a genuine interest in religious architecture or those doing a thorough tour of Northumberland's lesser-known churches. Kids won't find much to hold their attention for long, and honestly, you're looking at fifteen minutes maximum here. What matters is the quiet - proper peaceful, especially on a grey afternoon.

The church sits in a landscape that makes sense when you're staying at one of the nearby parks. If you're based at Kielder Waterside, Landal, or the tipis at Wild Northumbrian, this is a gentle drive or even a decent walk away. Pair it with a ramble around the surrounding countryside rather than making it a destination in itself. The Kielder Forest area has plenty more to occupy a week's holiday, so treat Falstone as the kind of detour you make because you're passing through anyway.

No entry fees, no opening hours to worry about - just turn up and have a look. The real appeal is the slowness of it all: this is Northumberland as it actually is, not as tourism imagines it.