Friday
7pm Drop your bags at the hotel and make straight for Newcastle Quayside. You’re going to properly check this out tomorrow – you’ll already have noticed the amazing skyline of buildings on the Gateshead side – but for now you’re here to see the fantastically illuminated Gateshead Millennium Bridge. This elegant footbridge, designed to mirror the shape of the famous Tyne Bridge, is made up of two slender arcs attached to each other by thin steel strands. One soars into the sky – the other is the part you walk, or cycle, over.
For supper, stay on the Quayside, where there are plenty of choices, including the acclaimed Broad Chare, or head up Grey Street, where you can pretty much name your food style and be served with it.
10pm How about a drink before you turn in? The Crown Posada on The Side is an authentic Victorian pub – all stained-glass panels and cosy snugs – while busy bar-filled Collingwood Street is where you’ll find the glitterati and cool DJs.
Saturday
9am Begin in the historic heart of Newcastle: the medieval castle keep. Built on the site of a wooden “new castle”, it overlooks the location of the original Roman bridge across the River Tyne. Climb to the top and you’ll be rewarded with views of some of the city’s most striking features, such as the beautiful lantern tower of St Nicholas Cathedral and the world’s first “double-decker” road-and-rail bridge, built by Robert Stephenson in 1849. Michael Caine fans will recognise the latter – it’s the scene of the red Jaguar car chase in 1971’s Get Carter.
11am Make your way to the Tyneside Cinema on Pilgrim Street. This art-deco gem is the country’s finest surviving example of a 1930s newsreel cinema, and there are free tours most days at 11am, followed by a free newsreel screening. Afterwards, drink in the nostalgia in their Tyneside Coffee Rooms.
Refreshed, saunter down Grey Street, which sweeps down from lofty Grey’s Monument in an elegant curve of Georgian buildings towards the river. John Betjeman believed Grey Street was finer even than London’s Regent Street – check out the grand portico of the Theatre Royal, and the Central Arcade, with its art nouveau wall tiles and glass barrel-vaulted roof, to see if you agree.
1pm Back on the Quayside, cross the Gateshead Millennium Bridge – pausing to take in the view upstream of the iconic Tyne Bridge and the scarlet Swing Bridge – to the BALTIC contemporary art gallery. Worth a visit for the building alone, this former 1950s warehouse has a glass lift that speeds up to stunning city-wide views. The extraordinary roof of next-door’s Sage Gateshead concert hall is something to behold. Back on the ground, the cafe is a great place to grab some lunch.
3pm Are you a shopper? Intu Eldon Square and Eldon Garden shopping malls (more than 150 shops between them) should satisfy the most ardent of browsers. For something more individual, it’s worth exploring the areas off Grey Street, such as tiny, cobbled High Bridge.
If you’re still hungry for culture, the Laing Art Gallery, in New Bridge Street, is perfect. With a small but impressive collection featuring Pre-Raphaelites, John Martin mega-landscapes and artists from the golden age of watercolour, such as Turner and Girtin, it also attracts big-name touring exhibitions.
7pm Head east tonight – more specifically, to Stowell Street, in the heart of the city’s Chinatown. Wander up and down until you find a restaurant that tickles your fancy. Afterwards, if you’re in the mood to be entertained, check out The Stand Comedy Club in High Bridge.
Sunday
10am Sunday mornings are made for a stroll in Jesmond Dene, the small wooded valley of the River Ouseburn. Take the Metro or a bus a couple of miles north of the centre to immerse yourself in parkland criss-crossed with paths and dotted with rustic bridges and ivy-covered ruins. Squirrels, ducks and even kingfishers are all on show, but if you’re after something more exotic, Pets Corner has alpacas and pot-bellied pigs.
Heading back into the city, there are more surprises to discover at the Great North Museum: Hancock, a vast, light and airy, natural history and ancient history museum. Egyptian mummies, Etruscan treasures, Chinese ivories, a great auk and a wombat are all here – as well as a huge interactive model of Hadrian’s Wall, a planetarium and a life-size T-Rex skeleton.
1pm For a buzzy lunch before leaving, make for Fenwick’s Food Hall. Invest in some good browsing time before you decide whether you fancy Thai street food, oysters and champagne, wine and charcuterie, a hot-stone pizza or something decidedly sweet and wicked. Stock up on artisan breads, local cheeses, locally cured bacons and handmade chocolates too – whether to tuck into on the way home or to keep as a reminder of this happening city.
