NewcastleGateshead.com Pocket Guide A handy guide of things to see and do in NewcastleGateshead Free Guide Sponsored by: come on in Whether it’s summer in the city or you’re joining Ranked us for a glittering winter festival, you’re assured of a warm welcome in NewcastleGateshead and Tyne and Wear. In fact we’re famous for it! inthe top20UKfor Your guide to this guide We’ve put together this Pocket Guide to help visitors and locals alike make student the most of their time in our brilliant city and the best bits further afield. experienceand We’ve divvied it up into easy-to-follow sections, because we know you’ll want to spend maximum time seeing and doing and minimum research time searching and reading. Just shove it in your pocket, keep it on power you at all times and use the handy A-Z listings at the back for contact details of how to get to places. Why-aye phone To download our FREE City Guide app (available for Android* and iPhone) Find out more at:www.ncl.ac.uk visit your app store and search for ‘NewcastleGateshead’. *Android version available summer 2012. the contents WELCOME TO NEWCASTLEGATESHEAD 04 10 THINGS NOT TO MISS 14 ATTRACTIONS, GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS 18 CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT 22 Produced by NewcastleGateshead SHOPPING 26 Initiative, 9th Floor, Baltic Place East, South SPORT AND LEISURE 30 Shore Road, Gateshead NE8 3AE. Whilst every HISTORY AND HERITAGE 34 Excellence care has been taken with a in the accuracy of PARKS AND GARDENS 38 producing this guide, Purpose the publisher is not EATING OUT 41 liable for any errors or omissions which may NIGHTLIFE 46 occur. All information is subject to change A-Z LISTINGS 48 and is correct at the time of going to print, MAPS 60 June 2012. Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com 3 hello bonny lads & lasses welcome to Jaw-dropping shopping The stage is set In Eldon Square and Eldon Garden As the sun sets over NewcastleGateshead! you can hop from major department NewcastleGateshead, the evening store to chic boutique without entertainment gets set up, from See more, do more, enjoy more! The vibrant capital of stepping outside. Metrocentre, rock and opera to comedy and North East England is the place to come for dazzling Europe’s largest indoor shopping drama. Sing-along musicals, and leisure centre, has over 300 classical concerts or great local culture and superb shopping, thrilling sport, great places shops as well as restaurants, bands in great local pubs, to eat and - it’s not just us that say it – one of Europe’s a huge IMAX cinema and an whatever gets your toes tapping. best nights out! And it’s all served up with a hearty entertainment centre to keep kids helping of our famous Geordie friendliness, from the of all ages amused. Love your Real Geordie hospitality moment our iconic Angel of the North welcomes you – designer labels? Head for the Big friendly personalities make literally – with open arms. exclusive boutiques in Grainger big friendly nights out. We’re Town, Jesmond or Gosforth. world famous for knowing how It’s a good job NewcastleGateshead is so compact: it means to enjoy ourselves and it’s easy you can cram so much more into every day of your stay! If A little time-hopping to see why. you haven’t been before you’ll be impressed at how easy Maybe you fancy a spot of it is to explore, with a whole host of galleries, museums, history? If so, step back over Take your pick from trendy shops, theatres, music venues, restaurants, pubs and clubs 2,000 years to discover our lounge bars, seriously polished within easy walking distance of each other. Roman heritage at the Great restaurants and buzzing North Museum: Hancock, nightclubs that attract partygoers What’s gannin’ on? or admire the view from the every night of the week. Then it’s Norman Castle Keep, standing back for a good night’s sleep in With a packed year-round calendar of events ranging on the original site of the your hotel or apartment, ready to from music and food festivals to cycle races and the RSC ‘New Castle’ which gave the do it all over again! Shakespeare season, there’s a must-see for you no matter city its name. when you’re in toon. Fancy chilling out by the river to massive indie anthems? Soaking up the atmosphere at a Newcastle United match? Tasting your way around a bustling farmers’ market or dressing up for a race day? Check out what’s on at www.NewcastleGateshead.com/whatson 4 Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com 5 Take a short trip out to the coast Tynemouth and Whitley Bay: invigorating cliff-top walk along sea, sand and surfing The Leas to Souter Lighthouse. The traditional seaside village of And when you’ve worked up an Tynemouth, with its dramatic appetite from all that sea air, 12th-century Priory and Castle, there are more treats on offer: is home to a vibrant weekend award-winning fish and chips at market, quirky shops and lively Colmans, delicious home-made pubs as well as a thriving surfing ice cream at Minchella & Co, or a scene – all bordered by the fab curry from one of the many breathtaking Longsands beach. Indian restaurants on the famous A walk along the award-winning Ocean Road. sands will bring you to Blue Reef Aquarium, which will thrill Sunderland: a city by the sea the whole family with its sharks Serious about sport? Soak up the and seals, playful otters and atmosphere at the Stadium of miniature monkeys. Just up the Light, home to the ‘Black Cats’ coast, St Mary’s Lighthouse, of Sunderland AFC, or take to reached on foot by a causeway the water at Sunderland Marine that’s only revealed at low tide, Activities Centre. is great for a day’s rock pooling. After dark, Tynemouth and Culture vultures should start Whitley Bay provide a great at Sunderland Museum and night out too, with plenty of Winter Gardens, where you’ll pubs and restaurants to choose find works by LS Lowry, or see from. Or why not try something the best of British glass at the more cultural, on stage at the National Glass Centre, where PLAYHOUSE Whitley Bay? you can even try your hand at blowing your own glass bauble! South Shields: family fun The 7th-century St Peter’s Church and a fascinating history is a must-see for history lovers. This lively coastal town has Roman One half of the twin monastery roots ready to discover. You can of Wearmouth-Jarrow created explore the excavated remains by Benedict Biscop, it became a and stunning reconstructions at worldwide institution for learning, Arbeia Roman Fort. Nowadays creativity and culture. It’s also South Shields buzzes with one of the UK’s first ever stone family attractions: Ocean churches and still has original Beach Pleasure Park offers Anglo-Saxon features. thrilling rides, mini-golf and Quasar, and South Marine Park And what better way to round delights with a mini steam off your day than with a show, train just a stone’s throw from direct from the West End, at the golden Sandhaven beach. Sunderland Empire? Blow the cobwebs away with an 6 Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com 7 north east england: wide open spaces, unforgettable places NewcastleGateshead sits at the centre of a region of contrasts: come and see for yourself. The towering forests and heather- Alnmouth is wonderful for families topped hills of Northumberland, and Beadnell and Embleton are fast to the north of the city, offer gaining a reputation for watersports. days of peace and tranquillity. Highlights include Alnwick Castle, Head south of NewcastleGateshead setting for the first two Harry by car or train and it’s only a short Potter films, and The Alnwick while before the stone towers Garden, with its cascading water of another World Heritage Site – features, Poison Garden and Durham Castle and Cathedral Europe’s largest treehouse. – loom into view, heralding your entrance to this historic city. And of course there’s the awe- It’s easy to while away a day inspiring Hadrian’s Wall. The wandering its winding cobbled UNESCO World Heritage Site lanes, or ‘vennels’, and discovering marches across the country from its quirky shops and cafés. Segedunum Roman Fort in the East to Bowness in the West, and is still Just a few miles out of Durham an amazing feat of engineering city centre you can experience after almost 2,000 years. North East life as it was in the early 1900s, where entire streets, The Northumberland coast is a trams and a working farm have designated Area of Outstanding been rebuilt at the award-winning Natural Beauty, and its award- Beamish Museum. winning golden, sandy beaches form a string of hidden gems. So many things to do, so little Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh time. You’ll have to get yersel’ are crowned by historic castles, back and visit us again soon. 8 Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com Find out more at www.NewcastleGateshead.com 9 Getting around toon is a piece of cake NewcastleGateshead’s compact centre and range of travel options mean you won’t be wasting time or money on getting around, so that leaves more of both for you to enjoy! Make the NewcastleGateshead Visitor Information Centre on Market Street, just by Grey’s Monument, your first destination.