Newcastle’s weather isn’t its key selling point, but in the warmer months, the beer gardens and terraces have a party spirit. It us also the best time to take on the idyllic pseudo-countryside stroll along Jesmond Dene (1) when the paths are less muddy.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of runners and supporters will take to the city’s streets for the world’s biggest half marathon. The 40th Great North Run will finish up on the Great North Road next to the Town Moor.
(Map: inews)
Where to stay
The newly opened Maldron Hotel (2) has a central location, floor-to-ceiling windows and a feeling of freshness. The grey-and-yellow colour scheme is perhaps overdone, but at least bold, and the psychedelic zig-zag carpets inject a smidge of fun. Doubles from £63, maldronhotelnewcastle.com.
At Grey Street Hotel (3), the handsome Georgian building retains many of its historic features inside, but the rooms are snazzed up with some arresting, large-scale black-and-white photography. Doubles from £76, greystreethotel.co.uk.
The Hilton Newcastle Gateshead (4), overlooking the River Tyne in Gateshead, is part of the National Accessible Scheme. There are a dozen accessible rooms, parking and a hoist for the swimming pool. Doubles from £104, hilton.com.
If you want a base closer to Ouseburn, the Hotel du Vin (5) was originally home to the Tyne Tees Steam Ship Company, and there are nautical nods in the décor, including ship ropes in the courtyard and porthole windows in some rooms. Doubles from £91, hotelduvin.com.
How to get around
Direct trains to Newcastle are available from most major cities, arriving at the world’s first covered station (6). Inaugurated in 1850 by Queen Victoria, it is now Grade I listed and is a 10-minute walk into the city centre. Once there, a combination of buses and Metro hops will cover most of where you want to go. Newcastle is linked to Gateshead by seven bridges that span the Tyne (main). Plan journeys on nexus.org.uk.
Saturday
Start the day
If visiting the city by car, deviating off the A1 to visit the Angel of the North (7) (right), just south of Newcastle in Gateshead, is well worth the extra journey time. Antony Gormley’s masterwork looks wonderful from the road, but the curves and detailing up close offer a new perspective. It stands on the site of a former coal mine, and you can walk around it, while signs give a stats barrage: it includes 3,153 individual steel pieces and wings weighing 50 tons. Take the A167 Gateshead South exit if driving up the A1, or the Angel 21 bus from Eldon Square (8) in Newcastle.
Hit the shops
The rapidly gentrifying Ouseburn neighbourhood has some outstanding oddities, including Seven Stories (9) (sevenstories.org.uk), which focuses on children’s books. The shop has a fantastic selection, but the real charm lies in the paid entry section, where rooms are created by top children’s illustrators, and interactive displays take kids further into the worlds of characters such as Maisy the mouse and Elmer the patchwork elephant. Neighbouring Ouseburn Farm (ouseburnfarm.org.uk) is a lovely spot for lunch.
Bigg Market, Newcastle (Photo: Newcastle NE1)
Don’t miss
Starting opposite Seven Stories, the Victoria Tunnel (10) is an underground wagonway designed to transport coal 2.4 miles from a mine to the River Tyne. In the Second World War, it became a giant air raid shelter. Public tours have recently restarted, but you must book in advance. Run by the Ouseburn Trust, the tours (£30, ouseburntrust.org.uk) cover around 800m of the murky tunnels, and are crammed with entertaining stories.
Time for a drink
Newcastle has an entirely justifiable reputation for offering a raucous night out, with Bigg Market (11) (inset above right) the epicentre of revelry. There is no shortage of places to get a drink, but for something a little more low-key, try the deceptively large Alvinos (12). It’s a crowd-pleaser spread over three floors, with vibes ranging from craft beers in a snug to cocktails on the outdoor terrace.
Dinner reservation
Blackfriars restaurant (13) (blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk) is the centrepiece of an extraordinary converted friary – arrive during daylight hours if you can for a stroll around. The atmospherics continue inside, with deer-antler light fittings and hearty dishes you might expect at a medieval feast, such as the £27 grilled North Sea langoustines.
Sunday
Go for a stroll
A walk through the city centre should start along Grey Street (14), which is lined by handsome sandstone buildings and Corinthian columns. Then dogleg to the right to see the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas (15), with its greedy collection of mini-spires and weathervanes.
Then comes the castle (16) (£5.25, newcastlecastle.co.uk) from which the city gets its name. There’s not much left of it, but the stout Black Gate and the keep can still be explored. Some steep steps will then take you to the River Tyne, where the best views of the Tyne Bridge come from the dinky little red and white Swing Bridge, which looks like a quaint little lighthouse going for an outing.
Lunch break
On the other side of the river, technically in Gateshead, a shipping container complex plays host to Träkol (17) (bytheriverbrew.co/trakol), where the rampantly eclectic menu ranges from asado duck with sweet-and-sour beetroot to North Sea cod with grilled cabbage, mussels and smoked onion butter sauce. The rough unifying themes are dry ageing and cooking over fire.
Visitors are seen at the iconic sculpture designed by Antony Gormley ‘Angel of the North’ in Gateshead (Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty)
Time to relax
Also in among the shipping containers is a street-food market and a bike shop that doubles as a coffee bar and cocktail joint, but for a post-lunch wind-down, the By the River Brew Co (18) (bytheriverbrew.co) offers plenty highly experimental beers – try the 6.7 per cent raspberry chocolate brownie beer.
Have a treat
Just west of the city centre, the Discovery Museum (19) (discovery museum.org.uk, free but book ahead) focuses on what makes the North East distinctive. The Newcastle Story section offers an engaging potted history, heading through Roman, Norman, Stuart, Victorian and Second World War eras, while other sections are more child-friendly and hands-on. The star artefact is Turbinia, the world’s fastest ship when it launched in the 1890s.
Ask a local
Paul Smith, Tech entrepreneur
Paul Smith (Photo: David Whitley/Supplied)
“The Ouseburn area is a great place to go drinking. The Full Circle Brewery launched very recently and the Brinkburn Street Brewery is an under-the-radar favourite.”
