England
Craster
A smokehouse village where kippers have been oak-cured in the same sheds since 1856.
Smoke curls from blackened sheds where kippers have been oak-cured over the same brick kilns since 1856. Craster in Northumberland is a fishing village of one pub, one smokehouse, and one of the finest coastal walks in England — the mile-long clifftop path to the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle.
L. Robson & Sons operates the last traditional kipper smokehouse in Craster, curing herring over whitewood shavings and oak in a process unchanged for over 160 years. The village harbour, built by the Craster family in 1906 as a memorial to a son lost in Tibet, shelters a small crab and lobster fleet. The walk north to Dunstanburgh Castle — a 14th-century ruin managed by English Heritage — crosses basalt headlands where fulmars nest on the ledges. To the south, the coast path continues to Howick Hall, where Earl Grey tea was first blended. The Jolly Fisherman pub, perched above the harbour, serves crab sandwiches that draw visitors from across the county.
Couple
Walk the coastal path to Dunstanburgh at dusk when the castle silhouette turns black against the North Sea. Return to Craster for kippers and a pint at the Jolly Fisherman.
Solo
Craster's scale suits solitude. Buy kippers from the smokehouse, walk the headlands alone, and sit among the castle ruins with nothing but fulmars and the sound of the sea.
- The kipper smokehouse has been curing herring over oak chips since 1856 — the smell reaches you before the village does.
- The coastal walk to Dunstanburgh Castle crosses empty grassland to ruins silhouetted against the North Sea.
- Craster harbour is a working fishing harbour of just 20 boats — the lobster catch goes straight to the Jolly Fisherman pub.
- The village has no tourist infrastructure beyond the smokehouse and the pub — its charm is its indifference to visitors.
Craster kippers from L. Robson & Sons — oak-smoked, served whole, bones and all.
Crab sandwiches at the Jolly Fisherman, the coastal path to Dunstanburgh starting at the pub door.
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