Your Essential Travel Guide To Newcastle
Discover Things To Do In Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne, or Newcastle for short, is one of the biggest cities in the North East of England. It sits on the north bank of the River Tyne and is well known for its mix of modern culture and spectacular Victorian architecture. The city is teeming with things to see and do including world-class art galleries, prestigious museums, famous bridges, five-star restaurants and beautiful boutique hotels.
Header image credit: Onenortheast
About Newcastle
The historic heart of Newcastle is the Grainger Town area. Newcastle upon Tyne's finest buildings and streets lie within this area of the city including Grainger Market, the Theatre Royal, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street. Forty percent of the buildings in the area are listed as being of historical and architectural importance. The focal point of Grainger Town is Grey's Monument, erected in 1838 to commemorate the Reform Act of 1832, drafted during Earl Grey's time as Prime Minister. You will also find a huge range of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops here, as well as the famous Grainger Market, home to the original Marks and Spencer's Penny Bazaar.
Shopping in Newcastle
Eldon Square Shopping Centre was opened in 1977 and is named after the original Eldon Square, which the shopping centre was built around. At the time it was the biggest indoor shopping mall in Britain, covering a big section of the city centre. The area has numerous passageways lined with shops, beautiful arcades, designer boutiques, restaurants and cafés, as well as antique stores on Vine Lane which are great to explore. Nearby you can find Newcastle’s famous Chinatown boasting a host of excellent, authentic restaurants, most of which can be found on Stowell Street which is spectacularly lit up at night by 22 Chinese lanterns.
What to do in Newcastle
To get a real feel for this historic city try taking a City Sightseeing tour. You pay for a 24-hour pass and you can hop on and off the bus as often as you like. It’s the best way to see Newcastle's Victorian and contemporary neighbourhoods, and with 17 possible stops including St. James' Park Football Stadium, The Biscuit Factory art gallery and Gateshead Millennium Bridge you can see so much of the city without having to traipse across it. You’ll get a great view of the city from the open air top deck while learning about the city’s history from one of the informative city guides.
