Late next spring I will (hopefully) be going from somewhere along Hadrian's Wall,to Edinburgh...by train,via Newcastle.
Is there anything much of interest to see in the city itself?
I won't have more time there than a few hours,maybe half a day.....
My interests include quirky museums,art,architecture and I like cities in general.....I have been to a lot of British cities (inc some in the north,like Manchester,Liverpool and Leeds)but don't know Newcastle at all.
Thanks Luc
Bridges, bridges and then a few more bridges.
The nightlife is something to behold !
It was an absolutely horror to drive through ... I couldn't wait to get to Durham - it was outstanding.
Where to begin...Newcastle Central station is pretty impressive for a start. Give yourself time to wander round looking at the architecture - Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Grainger Street. Remember to look up! Walk along the quayside to find the timber frame Bessie Surtees House. Go into the Castle (which gives Newcastle its name). Walk across Tyne Bridge and the 'blinking eye' bridge. Across the river in Gateshead is the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art housed in the old Baltic flour mill building. -
For Museums, try the Laing Gallery in Newcastle , another splendid museum with an impressive collection of art and sculpture. Check out the rolling programme of exhibitions to see what is one when you are there.The Discovery Museum covers the industrial history of Newcastle. The Great North Museum (the old Hancock Museum) covers the natural history of the area plus also more general galleries on early world history.
And finally don't miss the Crown Posada pub which is an unspoilt Victorian pub with a tremendous amount of character. It serves sandwiches and the beer is pretty good too....
If there is still time to kill, catch the metro to Tyneside and walk to the ruined Tyneside Priory with its wonderful views across the mouth of the Tyne.
Wasley has it nailed
Worked in the city centre for nine years and then visited the city on a regular basis after dark during my days of reviewing bands playing City Hall, The Mayfair, Riverside, Tiffany's, The Broken Doll, The Irish Centre and the two university sites.
Was back up there a month ago and whilst there have been changes, it still has the character that I remember it for. Took a couple of hours to tune back into the local accent, but as GF remarked, everyone's so friendly.
We're back in the North East in a couple of weeks time for a few days and will be taking a wander around the banks of the Tyne on the Newcastle side and maybe pay a return visit to The Baltic too. As the last visit ended up being a shopping one in Eldon Square and on Northumberland Street, it's time for a bit more culture this time around.
Would agree with Ian's comments about driving in Newcastle - tried on several occasions to take formerly well-used routes across the city and would allege that some muppet has changed the traffic system in the city centre!
One word of advice though - don't wear anything with red and white stripes on it or mention Sunderland in a pub. The old rivalries still prevail - one of the reason's why members of University of Sunderland Mountaineering Club never wore their club shirts when heading for the climbing wall in Eldon Square on a Friday night...
My team (Palermo) actually played (and lost)against Newcastle a few years ago.in the Europa League.
Unfortunately only here in Palermo, so I didn't get the chance then to visit that city.
I did travel to London to see us beat West Ham though....
In post #3, Wasleys means Tynemouth, not Tyneside, Priory.
An all day pass 3 zones for Metro light rail is £4.60.
Okay, if we are being pedantic then drop "the" from Baltic. (As in I'm off to see an exhibition at Baltic.)
Grey Street is worth walking down if going to the Quayside and the Dog Leap Stairs are on the right-hand side as you make your way down. This has a link to the Betty Surtees story and her elopement to Gretna Green. Further along from the Surtees House is the oldest bar in Newcastle (now closed) called the Cooperage. Basically, this is maybe as far as I'd go in that direction. Double back and walk along to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and over to Baltic, continue back past the Sage (Slug) Music Centre and cross back into Newcastle on the Tyne Bridge.
The centre of the city is in my opinion Grey's Monument and the building works of Dobson and Grainger. Grainger market is a throw-back to Victoriana whilst the newer Intu Eldon Square is being further developed with more eateries. From Grey's Monument it is a 5 minute (slow) walk to Newcastle's St. James Park and the adjacent China Town and City Wall area. There is evidence throughout the city of the wall but hereabouts are some of the better elements.
As a previous Poster mentioned a good deal of the better building features reside higher than street level and when I'm walking down to the train station going to work I'm still surprised by the amount of sculpted faces staring down on me.
With that said the train station is quite impressive for its time but the area outside has became a bit of a haven for the homeless but they are harmless a polite refusal to any of their requests will suffice.
Enjoy.