Newcastle

October 2020

Hotel

We stayed at the Premier Inn Newcastle City Centre (The Gate), which cost us £33 a night. Parking cost £16 for 24hr, however, after getting our ticket stamped by the hotel, w got 30% off, so instead it cost us around £11. The hotel was perfectly located for us within walking distance from everywhere we wanted to visit – which was particularly handy as it was our first time visiting Newcastle, and with a baby!

Our room was comfy and cozy for a family night getaway; comfy beds, clean and as a bonus, it had a great shower. The family room included a kingsize bed, single bed and a cot. It was more than what we needed, but it meant we had plenty of different options for the baby.

Things to see and do

Newcastle Castle
Newcastle Castle was fun to explore. Its costs £8.50 for adults, £5 for children 5 to 15 and it’s free for those aged 4 and under. It’s a self guided tour of the castle, which I usually prefer as it allows us to take our time, and with having the baby, it was ideal. Staff are on hand throughout the castle for any questions – they were all lovely, especially the man who booked us in and helped us store the pram away.

If you are visiting with a pram you won’t be able to go around the castle with it due to all of the steps, however their is a place near the entrance to leave your pram. It just means you have to carry your baby around the castle – I had zero issues with this – more baby cuddles!

The castle has been looked after so well, the attention to detail is phenominal. At the top of the castle you get some beautiful views of the city, so it’s worth a visit for that alone. Just note, there are quite a lot of steps to climb!

Angel of the North
If you didn’t already know about the “Gateshead Flasher”, you will definitely have seen it. Similar to Christ the Redeemer, Newcastle has its own – Angel of the North. I really did not know what to expect. We hit this attraction on our way home as it is right on the A1, just off a slip road.

It’s a lot bigger than you’d expect, it stands 20 metres high and is bronze-coloured. It’s worth a visit for the picture alone, and I imagine on a summer’s day you could make it a pit stop for a bite to eat as there is a lot of grass around it. This is a free attraction.

Victoria Tunnel
I never knew about this until researching Newcastle. The Victoria Tunnel runs 2.5 miles beneath Newcastle and you can walk along it. It was used as an air-raid shelter during WW2 and as a passage for coal-wagons between 1839 and 1842.

We didn’t manage to do this as we were only visiting for just over a day, but if you are interested pre booking here is essential, and can be found on Lime Street.

BALTIC – Centre for Contemporary Art
A huge mustard-coloured art gallery. Sounds different right? Similar to Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, the BALTIC in Newcastle is one of the “cool” places to be. It’s an international centre for contemporary art, located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead.

In Baltic, you can find floors of contemporary art, a restaurant, shop, and a rooftop view overlooking the river towards Newcastle.

The Quayside

The Quayside covers both sides of the River Tyne, and is one of the hot spots in the city for restaurants, bars, pubs and scenic views. It’s known as the arts and culture hub for the North East.

You totally get that vibe from it too. Even though it wasn’t its usual self due to Covid-19, there was still plenty of people hovering about this area.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

This is a cool bridge. There are 26 bridges crossing the Tyne River.

This one is a pedestrian and cycle bridge. It’s definitely a quirky bridge to look at and take pictures off, as you get some great views of the river when you are in the middle of it.

Food and Drink

Smashburger

As soon as we arrived in Newcastle we were looking for food. Passing Eldon Square, we saw their was one part of the shopping centre with loads of places to eat. We saw a burger sign and decided to give it a go. Smashburger is similar to Five Guys, it was just a good burger to quickly snack on. Yummy and fresh, with quick service.

Black Friars

If you want a unique eating experience, Black Friars is a 13th century friary with a modern medieval setting. I’ll be honest, we came here and didn’t realise how expensive it was. I will link the menu here. Costing us roughly £60 for a main course and cocktail each – it was thee tastiest meal we’ve (possibly) ever had.

As it has a medieval setting, it’s very cozy, quirky and family friendly. Little 2 month old Dexter had a botte of milk and had a nap in the booth we were sat in. Before our mains arrived we were given a few little dishes to try (thinking they were going to be added to the bill – they weren’t, thank god!). I couldn’t even tell you what they were, but they were scrumptious!

Even though it was pricy, I would recommend it, it’s the experience that matters, and it was beyond delicious!

Hawker Market

We just so happened to bump into this market. It’s a lot like Camden Market in London, but just food based. It’s a street food market.

We queued for a little bit, but it was just so busy, it’s obviously a vey popular place with both tourists and locals. It smelt divine though!

Hard Rock Cafe Newcastle

This HRC is yet to open, but I had to mention it! So after booking our stay we found out (on the DL) by staff at HRC Manchester that a Newcastle branch was soon to be opening, just not during our visit (so that obviously means we are visiting Newcastle again in the near future). It was due to open at the end of 2020, but due to the current situations, I have no idea now.

All I know is, that we saw the building the restaurant is going to be in, and it’s beautiful, with great views – so I can not wait!

Shopping

Hard Rock Rock Shop

Even though the restaurant wasn’t open, we didn’t leave empty handed, we got ourselves some merch! We got Dexter his first HRC babygrow!

The shop isn’t located near/in/next to the restaurant at the moment. There is a temporary pop up shop at the Hawker Market (as of writing). It’s a teeny tiny shop, but big enough to get HRC staff and fans excited!

Intu Eldon Square

Eldon Square is an indoor shopping centre in the centre of the city. It’s akin to the Manchester Arndale as opposed to its bigger Trafford Centre brother.

It’s a cool little shopping centre, with shops ranging from high end fashion brands to supermarkets and budget shops. Perfect for a rainy shopping day.

Intu Metro Centre

The Metro was on our way out of Newcastle, so we thought we’d call in.

This is the Trafford Centre’s bigger brother! And it is huge! Located in Gateshead, it’s the second largest shopping centre in the UK. And it is noticeably bigger than the likes of the Trafford Centre. However, it doesn’t feel as fancy – you don’t get the same kind of marble trimmings.

We spent a couple of hours here just browsing the shops at a leisurely pace because parking was free. Woop!

Overall

Newcastle is an absolutely lovely city. I imagine (and have heard) that the night life here is great also. The culture reminds me so much of Liverpool, its definitely a lively and friendly city to visit!