Sunny, calm Saturday. Grey, breezy Sunday. Do the outdoor day first.
Friday's rain clears after midnight and Saturday looks like the pick of the weekend: a cool start, then sunny spells and light winds right across the county, around 15C to 16C at Alnwick, Berwick, Hexham and Kielder, with gusts only around 20mph. Sunday turns cloudier and breezier, with gusts nearer 30mph. The coast should stay mostly dry, but inland there's a chance of light rain on Sunday morning at Hexham and a better chance at Kielder. Saturday's light winds are good news for the Farne Islands boats, though they always make the final call on the day.
Sunset 6.37pm in Alnwick on Saturday, 6.34pm on Sunday. Full forecast (Met Office)
A proper sunny day is forecast for Saturday, which by October is something you grab with both hands. So the big day out goes on Saturday, and Sunday is for the indoor stuff, the Kielder junior races and the last of the Alnwick Garden's birthday fireworks.
About 2 miles for the easy village circular: castle, fields down to the River Coquet, then back along the riverside Mill Walk. Add the castle itself on top
Around an hour for the walk at a small person's pace, plus as long as you like in the castle (open 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm)
Saturday is calm and sunny, which is exactly when a big ruined castle on a hill earns its keep. Warkworth is a huge one, high above a loop of the Coquet, and there's open grass for running about and picnics, free audio tours with your ticket, and a World Builder trail for the bairns. The walk is flat (about 15m of climbing in total), and the Mill Walk along the Coquet gives you the castle from below, which is the view on the postcards. If you've still got legs, Warkworth's beach is a short hop away, with charged parking near the dunes.
The Hermitage, the little chapel carved into the riverbank that you reach by boat, is only open on Sundays and Mondays (11am to 4pm), with day-of-visit tickets for six people every 30 minutes, so Saturday visitors will miss it. The castle car park is small (about 48 spaces) and only free for English Heritage members, so there's overflow parking in the village about 200m away. Book online by midnight the night before to save on tickets; prices are on the English Heritage page. Dogs are fine on leads, but not at the Hermitage.
Sat 3 and Sun 4 Oct, hourly from 11am to 4pm (weather permitting)
Gun Terrace, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick Included with castle admission, All ages
A live history group fires a replica Napoleonic cannon every hour on the Gun Terrace. The castle is open 10am to 5pm, so you can fit a few bangs round a look inside. Warn anyone who doesn't like loud noises. Details and booking
Sat 3 and Sun 4 Oct, then 10 and 11 Oct and daily from 16 Oct
Brocksbushes Farm, near Corbridge £3.50 per person aged 3 and over, £12 family ticket for up to five; pumpkins extra, All ages
Fields of pumpkins to pick, photo spots, roaming characters and marshmallow toasting. There are no walk-up tickets, so book online before you set off, and tickets are non-refundable. Rides, face painting and the play barn cost extra. Saturday's sunshine makes it the better day for a muddy field. Details and booking
Sails all year, weather permitting; about 90 minutes
Billy Shiel's booking office, Seahouses Harbour NE68 7RN £22 adults; ring for child prices, All ages
With light winds forecast for Saturday this is the day to try for a sail round the islands to see the seals. No landing at this time of year. Check in at the harbour office 30 minutes before you sail, and if the skipper calls it off you get a new date or a refund. Details and booking
From Sat 3 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, daily 10am to 5pm (last entry 4.30pm)
East Quarry Meadow, Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Belsay Normal Belsay admission; English Heritage members free, All ages
Artist Dan Gough's 400 ceramic squirrels come back to Belsay, ten years after they were first here. Set them a counting challenge, then let them loose in the Wild Man play area and the quarry garden. Details and booking
Alnwick Playhouse, Alnwick £26, concessions £21, students and children £16, Best for teens
CAST, the local amateur company, take on Elle Woods and Harvard Law School. A good one for a teenager who's into musicals, and seats were still available across all four shows when we checked. Details and booking
Kielder Waterside, Kielder See the event site for entry, 6 to 14
The Osprey Run (1.5km, ages 6 to 10) and Falcon Run (2.5km, ages 11 to 14) both finish over the marathon finish line, with a medal and goody bag. Junior entries were still open when we checked, grown-ups can run alongside, and organisers suggest arriving 90 minutes early, with shuttles from the car parks from 7.15am. Kielder may see some rain on Sunday morning, so pack layers. Details and booking
Sun 4 Oct, garden 10am to 8.15pm; evening-only entry from 5pm
The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick Evening-only tickets £10; up to four under 16s free with each paying adult, All ages
The final evening of the birthday weekend: fire jugglers, LED performers, and a Grand Cascade show with screens, lights, lasers and fireworks. Dogs are welcome until 5pm on Sunday only, and not at the evening show. The coast should stay dry, but it'll be breezier, so bring a warm layer for the dark. Details and booking
Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham From £13, All ages
A family show that mixes magic tricks with science experiments and promises a lot of mess. Just the thing for a grey Sunday afternoon in Hexham. Box office 01434 652477. Details and booking
Sat 3 and Sun 4 Oct; garden 10am to 5pm, Central Hall 11am to 5pm
Seaton Delaval Hall, Seaton Sluice £15 adults, £7.50 children 5 to 17, £37.50 family (without Gift Aid); National Trust members free, All ages
Vanbrugh's dramatic house is marking 300 years since the architect's death with displays running until 18 Oct, which gives you an indoor half for Sunday. The other half is the Delaval Playdium, a play area built round theatre machinery. The Brewhouse café is open until 4.30pm. Details and booking
The Sill, Once Brewed, Bardon Mill NE47 7AN Free entry; parking charges apply, All ages
The National Park's discovery centre on Hadrian's Wall has the largest piece of the Sycamore Gap tree in its exhibition, a playscape outside and a rooftop walk with views. A free, dry stop if Sunday's showers find the Wall. Details and booking
Sat 10 Oct to Sun 1 Nov; 10am to 5pm, then 10am to 4pm from 24 Oct
The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick Included with garden admission, All ages
A pumpkin scavenger hunt and harvest games round the garden, with Spookydorei Days at Lilidorei starting the same weekend. Worth saving for a dry day. Details and booking
The Courtyard, Wallington, Cambo Free; normal admission applies, All ages
Colouring, red squirrel facts and a guess-the-nuts-in-the-jar competition, with no booking needed. Wallington's woods are one of the better places in the county to spot a real one. Details and booking
Sat 10 Oct, 6.30pm to 8.30pm (more dates to December)
Battlesteads Dark Sky Observatory, Wark £22.50 adults, £19.50 concessions, £55.50 family of four, 6 and up
Astronomers walk children through the constellations, planets and Moon with a 14-inch telescope, and they get to hold real bits of the Moon and Mars. If it's cloudy it goes ahead indoors, with hot drinks. Details and booking
Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov for most Northumberland council schools
Across the county
Schools close on Fri 23 Oct and go back on Mon 2 Nov, and the clocks go back on Sun 25 Oct. Pumpkin fields and Halloween trails book up, and some schools set their own dates, so check yours. Details and booking
Book ahead
Tip. If you can only do one outdoor thing this weekend, do it on Saturday. Sunday's breeze and cloud are much easier on an indoor plan, and the Alnwick Garden's last fireworks night is the one big outdoor event worth saving for Sunday.