The Border Country, comprising North Northumberland and the Southern Scottish Borders, is a place of magnificent wide sky scenery, with vast expanses of untouched countryside ranging from rolling hills and rugged, windswept moorland, to gentle valleys and the 25 miles of protected golden sands and secluded rocky coves that make up the Heritage coastline. Even in the summer months, the sparkling clean beaches remain almost deserted.

The Border Country is internationally renowned for its fishing and field sports, offering first class shooting and stalking and some of the finest fishing in the world on The River Tweed, the most prolific salmon river in the European Union. The area is also a golfer’s paradise boasting over 100 courses from challenging PGA Championship courses, to picturesque links and parkland courses to suit all standards.

Offshore, there is a thriving water sports scene, with excellent sailing and some of the UK’s best windsurfing and surfing at stunning spots such as Coldingham and Beadnell Bay. Dotted along the coast are picturesque fishing villages such as St Abbs, Alnmouth, Beadnell, and Craster offering wonderful seafood including smoked kippers, crab sandwiches and supremely fresh fish and chips. From the pretty village of Seahouses take a boat to the Farne Islands, home to a large colony of grey seals and 21 species of birds, including puffins.

For outdoor sports enthusiasts the region offers an unrivalled diversity of thousands of miles of dedicated footpaths, cycle routes and bridleways. The routes, anything from one hour to several days, take in some of the area’s most magnificent countryside including the heritage coast, Cheviot, Lammermuir and Eildon Hills and Kielder Forest. Famous routes include the fabulous 63 mile long St Cutherbert’s Way following the trail of early Christianity from Melrose to Holy Island, The Pennine Way, The Southern Upland Way and Border Abbey Way.

In addition to the spectacular scenery is the rich, often bloody, history of the region. The Romans and early Christians, the later border wars between the English and the Scots and the two World Wars have all left their imprints on the region, giving rise to a plethora of fascinating ancient and historical sites and buildings. Some of the most spectacular are the magnificent chain of castles, including dramatic Bamburgh, perched high on its rocky outcrop, the vast, romantic ruins of Dunstanburgh, the palatial splendour of Floors, impressive Thirlestane "one of the seven great houses of Scotland" and foreboding Alnwick, made famous as the location for Hogwart’s School in the Harry Potter films.

The region also boasts a number of important houses including Traquair, the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, Manderston, the location for Channel 4’s ‘The Edwardian Country House’ and award-winning Paxton, reputed to be the finest example of an eighteenth-century Palladian country house in Scotland.

At low tide, drive across the causeway to the famous religious retreat of Holy Island, or Lindisfarne. This tiny, picturesque island is home to the evocative remains of a ruined eleventh-century priory, a beautifully restored castle and the infamous Lindisfarne Mead. Similarly impressive ecclesiastical splendours are the majestic abbey ruins at Jedburgh and at Dryborough, which is the burial place of Sir Walter Scott.