Summer holiday ideas in North East to entertain 7yo - very little budget.

[twirlypoo]

I have 10 weeks to fill, I’m a single parent and my max budget each week for entertainment (including food and petrol out of it) is about £100 ish. We are in in the North East and for various reasons it’s been a horrendous year and I just want a bloody lovely summer.

I so far have these ideas:

Durham botanical gardens
Camping near Bamburgh for 2 nights
Goto holy island
Walking tour of Newcastle city centre from an app I’ve found
Gibside / cragside / national trust stuff
Stand comedy club for kids show
Beamish
Durham maybe?

Help me out?! What else can I do and where else can I go?!

Honestly you guys are bloody brilliant and I can’t thank you all enough!

We love an adventure so distance doesn’t bother me, I just wanted Ds to feel like he had had FUN and some bloody good experiences this summer and I didn’t know where to begin, especially as money is so tight.

I’m really excited now - you lot are brilliant, thank you again!

Oh!! Also, have you seen these treasure trails? they are £6.99 each but look like they could be fun.

If you want to do a one off not cheap big day out I would second Forbidden Corner, it's a bit of a trek but was one of the best days out me and my kids have had.

berties play barn -£3 for 1hr play or £2 for 30 mins

baking at home, you can get flour etc for less than £5 and make cakes

My ex is from South Shields, it’s got a beautiful coastline! They used to have free concerts in one of the parks but I think they charge £6 per ticket now. I googled ‘music festival south shields’ and it brought up the line up as well as details of a parade. There’s always something going on along there. You’ll have a brilliant time.

Makes you wonder why anyone would bother crawling down the M5/A303 and A30 to Cornwall.
And nobody's mentioned Puffins yet!

The treasure trails look canny! I might have a look for a couple for me and the dc over summer.

Druridge bay country park has the beach and a lovely lakeside walk, plus a fab brand new play park. There is always an ice cream van there in the summer!

If you download the geocaching app there’s always some geocaches along popular walks, they are really fun to find.

Ingram valley for a picnic - talk water shoes and have fun in the river.

Lots of fab ideas here! I’d add Hardwick park Sedgefield with gruffalo trail, rail museum at shildon, guisborough woods, north York moors railway, picnics at the many , train to York or Edinburgh cheap if you have a railcard

Hi Op, a few more for you,
Barter books in Alnwick, good to combine with Craigside.
Wallington Hall
Durham Cathedral
Hexham Abbey, Corbridge, Roman Wall
Wharton Park,Durham
Tynemouth, Alnmouth, beaches
Fountains Abbey, bit of a drive but lovely

And for eating, The Shepherd and Shepherdess just outside the entrance to Beamish, really delicious food, huge portions and inexpensive
Tealicious tea shop, Elvet Bridge, Durham, for the very best tea and cakes.
Sweetie stall, Durham indoor market.

Thanks for this thread OP and all of the suggestions from people, one of my DCs lives North East and I will be spending time with my DGS who is 6 I may have to extend my visit 😃

From my very limited knowledge of the north east : The trampoline park in hartlepool is brilliant - way better than any we have in the Worcestershire area. There's a great park in hartlepool too, I think it's called summerfield. The play equipment is really interesting and different.

Chester le Street Riverside park has a great splash pad. Also a large play park and a river with lots of ducks.

The Durham Brass Festival runs 10 - 18 July - lots of free outdoor entertainment on the weekend days and great for kids.

Derwent Waterside Park often has events on over the summer, and has some lovely walks.

Dippy the dinosaur is at the Hancock museum and tickets are free but you need to book online in advanc.

Baltic and the Laing often have good family activities on over the summer that are generally free.

The Quayside seaside near the millenium bridge is good fun when the weather's nice.

Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland has lots of things to see and do (some free and some paid for).

Oh yy to the outdoor cinema in the city centre. Not sure if the timetable for that has come out yet.

Baltic is worth a visit, then a walk over the millennium bridge.

Wet n Wild is a good day out lots of slides and a wave pool.

Hamsterley Forest is another place to do the Gruffalo trail, and I think there's a Zog trail too.

Ouseburn Farm is always worth a look (free), as is Seven Stories, both in the Ouseburn Valley.

Tynemouth Aquarium often has special offers on Facebook or Groupon.

Mr Mulligans crazy golf in Newcastle also often has offers on for during the day.

Broom House Farm just outside of Durham has a forest adventure trail that I think is around £4pp and gets fantastic reviews.

Infinite Air in Durham is a fun morning or afternoon however the food is pretty pricey so would recommend eating before or after and having snacks waiting in the car/for on the bus/train and I'm sure there are similar places across the north east.

There's a railway museum in Darlington I think that's a couple of ££ to get in.

There's a company called Treasure Trails and I think they're no more than £10 for a pack, with a treasure hunt and clues included. I think they have them for Durham, Newcastle, Tynemouth and probably other areas. We've done two of the Durham ones and they were brilliant fun for everyone.

Cinema schedule is being released on 7th July according to their website.

These are absolutely awesome!

Needs to be saved in the travel section or something

Have you heard of 'KYNREN'

It is becoming a major tourist attraction in a town in County Durham (Bishop Auckland).

It is an 8000 seated outdoor arena celebrating 100 years of history, with fireworks, pyrotechnics, battle scenes, it really brings out the pride in Britain. There is similar in France (Pour de Fou I think?)

It is on every Saturday during the summer and is a must watch.

I was at the opening last night and it was amazing. It does finish at 11:00pm but honestly hundreds of kids attend and is very family friendly, the night time is needed for the atmosphere and fireworks.

Can highly recommend it was truly insightful and has the wow factor.
you can find out about it on Facebook and trip advisor.

Feel free to ask more questions if this is of interest to you.

Check out Washington arts centre and the gala. We often pass an hour or so in Waterstones in Durham, after being up to the cathedral.

With Beamish, your pass (and yes, keep your bus ticket!) is valid for a whole year so you can visit a few times.

Jesmond Dene is lovely, so is Bowlam lake.

I don't live in the NE but I wish I did! Some amazing suggestions here, I'm very impressed. Hope you have a fab summer Twirly.

Oh absolutely Kynren!!

Segedunum is not free unless you live in the NE28 postcode. I'll be following this thread with interest!

See if they are digging at Hadrians wall, sometimes kids can get hands on

Doh! 2000 years of history not 100 , seem to have forgotten what century I was born in

A few of our faves that haven’t yet been mentioned:
Brockbushes for strawberry picking
Jesmond Dene
Derwent Walk
Washington Wetlands
Kirkley Hall (farm)
Butterfly world
Hartlepool Marina
Plessey Woods
Millennium Bridge, quayside and the Baltic