Where to Stay in Carlisle, England

What is Carlisle known for?

For centuries it stood as England's frontier fortress against Scotland, its red sandstone Carlisle Castle and cathedral holding the crossing of the Eden. Hadrian's Wall runs across the country just north. War shaped the whole city.

What are the main landmarks in Carlisle?

Carlisle Castle guards the city still. Its red sandstone keep and walls have held the border for nine centuries, the great sight of Carlisle, and the cathedral rises red beside the old market. History fills the streets.

Carlisle Cathedral and the Abbey Gate and Gatehouse keep the close, while the Tullie gathers the border's long story in its galleries.

What is the history of Carlisle?

Carlisle began as a Roman town. The legions built Luguvalium here to guard the western end of Hadrian's Wall, and a settlement held the river crossing long after they left. The border made its fate.

For centuries the city was fought over between England and Scotland, sacked and besieged again and again, until the Normans raised the mighty Carlisle Castle in red stone to hold the frontier. Kings and rebels passed through its gates. Mary, Queen of Scots was held prisoner in the castle, and the Jacobite armies took the city on their long march south.

Peace came slowly to the border. The great Carlisle Cathedral rose beside the market, the old Abbey Gate and Gatehouse guarded the close, and in time the railways made Carlisle a busy junction of the north. The Tullie now gathers the border's long and bloody story.

Above the Eden the castle still stands guard.

Where is Carlisle?

Carlisle sits where three rivers meet. The city lies on the River Eden in the far north of Cumbria, close to the Scottish border, on a low plain ringed by the fells of the Lake District and the Pennines. Green hills rise on every side.

The rivers and the border fix the city's place.

What is the climate of Carlisle?

Carlisle shares the damp weather of the northwest. Mild, wet winters and cool summers follow one another, and rain blows in often off the Irish Sea and the western fells. Snow dusts the surrounding hills in winter.

The skies stay grey and changeable.

How do you get to Carlisle?

Carlisle sits on the west-coast main line. Fast trains stop in the city between London and Glasgow, and the motorway runs past toward Scotland and the south, keeping the border city busy. Buses reach the Lake District and the wall.

Most arrive by rail into the old border city.