City Break - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

A city-break in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne has the benefit of being within easy reach of some fantastic beaches if the weather suddenly turns glorious and you want to head to the coast for the day.

Linger in the city and you'll find some fantastic museums such as the Discovery Museum or the nearby Centre for Life.  Take a stroll along the River Tyne, under the most famous of Newcastle's bridges and on towards the Millennium Bridge - which will be featuring a series of 100 daily tilts throughout the summer - and across to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead: a fantastic music venue as well as art gallery which hosts regular children's events throughout the year.   Venture further out and you'll soon come across one of Tyneside's most famous landmarks - the Angel of the North which will be celebrating it's 10th birthday this year running a year-long programme of special events to celebrate.

Whiz from city to coast on the Metro via Jesmond Dene - a lovely wooded valley that runs the length of the river Ouseburn between Gosforth and Jesmond Vale.  You'll find shady woodland walks, a craft market on Saturday mornings which is held on the Armstrong Bridge and Pet's Corner: home for an assortment of animals from goats to pot-bellied pigs.

Once at the coast, you'll find sandy fishing coves, a magnificent pier and lighthouse and a two-mile stretch of pale golden sand which is home to one of the finest beach cafes in the land - Crusoe's in Tynemouth - as well as the occasional surfing competition when waves allow.

And finally - once back in Newcastle it would be wrong to leave without a visit to surely what is one of the UK's most wonderful department stores - Fenwick's.  A retail-therapy and food-lover's heaven if ever there was one!

What can I do for free?

Discovery Museum

Jesmond Dene

Tynemouth Pier

Beaches!

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Angel of the North

Gosforth Central Park

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