NEWCASTLE, GATESHEAD & North Tyneside
NewcastleGateshead
Experience a real sense of excitement along the river Tyne in NEwcastlegateshead
Two places but one destination, NewcastleGateshead offers multi-award winning attractions, beautiful architecture and 2,000 years of heritage helping it become one of the country’s favourite short break destinations.
Gateshead Quays is the location for BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and its near neighbour The Sage Gateshead, our region’s international music centre. On a guided walk along Newcastle Quayside your Blue Badge Guide will explain why the famous and photogenic seven bridges across the River Tyne are so special and what stories lie behind the public art sculptures positioned along the riverfront.
So come with us to explore the site of a Roman fort, a Norman castle, medieval buildings and Classical style architecture to rival that of Edinburgh or Bath. Or sample local food in Newcastle’s famous Grainger Market before exploring city centre museums and art galleries where your Blue Badge Guide will bring NewcastleGateshead’s artistic and scientific worlds alive.
Whether on foot or on a panoramic coach tour or a combination of both, your Blue Badge Guide will enhance any visit to this exciting must-see destination.
Our history goes back to Roman times from AD122 with the building of the Roman bridge, a Roman fort and then construction began here of the Northern frontier of the Roman Empire which we know as “Hadrian’s Wall. Our history was shaped also with Anglo Saxon, Viking and Norman invasions. The Norman Castle was built on the site of the Roman fort.
The city and area offers a blend of cultural heritage, stylish individuality and dynamic character. The very centre of the city, known as Grainger Town, was only built between 1830-40 with gorgeous classical style architecture using lovely local honey coloured sandstone. Find out everything about this from your Guide. The stories and life and the buildings will enthral you.
Some of the finest shopping in Europe is available at Newcastle’s indoor shopping precinct “Eldon Square” and other city streets such as Grainger Street. Don’t miss the historic indoor Victorian Grainger Market. As well as shopping there, it has many stalls with food offerings of so many kinds and spoilt for choice really!
All this and a nightlife second to none, plus an endless selection of fine hotels and restaurants and last but not least an energy that is not only in the place but also in the people who are famous for their warmth and friendliness.
Enhance your visit with a walking tour from one of our Blue Badge Guides or if visiting with a coach party, mix a walking tour with a panoramic coach tour which will allow you to see so much more in a short time.
Newcastle Gateshead is a must see destination.
North Tyneside
North of the River Tyne is North Tyneside with miles of award-winning golden sands
Easily accessible from NewcastleGateshead are the towns of Tynemouth, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay and Seaton Sluice. Traditional seaside resorts underpinned by a cocktail of maritime heritage caught on canvas long ago by members of the 19th century Cullercoats Colony of Artists. Learn about their fascinating story and the history of the former fishing communities they sketched and painted on a guided tour along the seafront.
Long distance sea views are peppered with historic buildings including Tynemouth Castle and Priory, the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House and the coastal nature reserve of St Mary’s Island with its distinctive white lighthouse.
All are links in a coastal chain which lead north to Blyth and further on to the National Trust property of Seaton Delaval Hall.
Fish and chips, anyone?