A weekend in Newcastle

[Mrsuniquename]

Please give me your hints and tips for a long weekend for four active pensioners (two couples). Happy to travel outside Newcastle as well,..wondering about Holy Island and Hadrian’s Wall? We don’t want any activities that are too expensive and don’t want to be inundated with castles! We are very happy to do walks. Any reasonably priced restaurants to recommend? This is for October. Thank you!

Have you got a car? If not getting to Lindisfarne and Hadrian’s wall could be challenging.

Will you be driving or are you relying on public transport? Where is your base? City centre?

Holy island is fabulous but is very cold at that time of year with choppy wind, as are all the glorious beaches on the North East coast - Tynemouth. North Shields, Cullercoat. All just a metro away. Jesmond Dene is lovely for walks. Train to Durham takes no time and it’s lovely. If you have a car, Cragside is a perfect National Trust day out.

Blackfriars is a great place for food in a historic setting. We like Unos on the Quayside for old school Italian, also there The Broad Chare is a lovely old pub with gastropub style food. I’m eating at Branches this week, for a celebration as it’s a little more pricey.

You are practically guaranteed to have a good time - as long as you wrap up!

Long weekend I’d take the metro to the coast one day - walk to st Mary island from monkseaton one day

for Hadrians wall - metro to the Arbeia fort at South Shields ( check opening times )

holy island is a good hours drive and it’s pot luck if the tides are right for you

train to Hexham or Corbridge for pretty market towns on the Tyne

Just remembered the St Vincent on Broad Chare too for something wine bar-ish and stylish but with not excessively young a crowd.

Rather than a restaurant, try a Triple A food tour. They do one of the Grainger Market and it’s highly recommended

My fav places to eat in Newcastle are Kiln in Ousbourn (a 25-odd min walk from Quayside down the river) , the Long Friday in Jesmond, and Tiny Tiny for brunch in the city centre. The former two need to be booked as they’re not enormous, and fill up quickly!

Thank you lovely Mumsnetters...some great ideas. Yes, we will have two cars and happy to drive, although the metro sounds a good idea as well.
I've checked the tides for Holy Island and they are in our favour, but not sure if it's worth the drive or if we would be better off exploring nearer places. We will be based in the City Centre near Quayside.

Victoria tunnels is great, walk along river, coffee at the glasshouse, Baltic art gallery, Newcastle cathedral and castle. There’s a market along the quayside on Sundays. I’m not sure I’d leave the city if there on a long weekend. But my biased and live here and think it’s the best place in the world 😊

The train journey to Durham is short and picturesque in both directions and Durham Cathedral is lovely.

We also got the Metro to Whitley Bay and then walked on the coast path to Tynemouth where we had fish and chips before getting the Metro back into Newcastle from there.

Beamish is a fab museum. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did but we were there for hours and didn’t even do it all.

Hadrian's Wall is fine on public transport - direct train across to Carlisle with many stops.

We stayed in Newcastle earlier in the year for our trip to Beamish and we absolutely loved it. I only wish we’d gone for two days rather than one. We’ll definitely be back.

Beamish is a must but you'll need to allocate a full day for it

holy island is a good hours drive and it’s pot luck if the tides are right for you

You know you can check the tides online and plan your visit accordingly? Not just for Lindesfarne but any coastal area, tides are completely predictable.

Plenty to do within the city! If you do want to get out and about, lots within an hour's drive. National Trust has Cragside, Wallington, Belsay if stately homes appeal. Cragside in particular is stunning with some excellent walking in the grounds. Or a blustery walk from Craster to the ruins of Dunstanburgh.

For Hadrian's Wall (just known as "the Roman Wall" up here), I'd drive to Housesteads and walk along it for a bit. If you're into museums/galleries, pop into the Laing or the Hancock.

Thank you everyone! A weekend isn't long enough I know. We will just have to get a taste for the area and come back next summer!

I only meant pot luck in that once you have set your dates the tide will be what it will be

but the point about tide times and safe crossing times being easily available can’t be made often enough it seems

The Biscuit Factory in Ouseburn is a lovely gallery if you're into art. We ate at Chaka Dhoom in Jesmond last time we were there and had a great meal. Grainger Market and the Sunday market on the Quayside are both worth a visit. Outside Newcastle we love Alnwick Gardens and Barter Books in the town, Corbridge, Hexham, Kielder Forest as well as the coast. Pipers Pitch in Craster is a food shack that serves something called the Auchtermuchty - haggis and bacon in a bun.

Take the Metro to the coast
Laing Gallery in town
market in Tynemouth Station
see what’s on at the Theatre Royal

Walk along the quayside in Newcastle is lovely, and visit the Baltic art gallery and enjoy the view from the top floor (free entry).

On the metro Tynemouth/North Shields are lovely for the seaside and walks.

Lindisfarne is well worth visiting but easier by car than public transport.

Alnwick castle gardens are nice, especially the quirky poison garden.

Beamish museum is great.

Check what’s on at the Sage, easily accessed from the Quayside. Walk across the Swing Bridge. The Weatherspoons isn’t bad, well sited, great toilets! Dog Leap stairs are a must.

Interesting shops along Ouseburn. Bike cafe is fun.

Holy Island is excellent, definitely worth the drive and you could do the Running Fox in Morpeth on the way back for afternoon tea-you’ll need to book and have a healthy appetite, although they’ll put extra in boxes.

I completely agree, and it will always be "the Sage" to me, but if you're looking online its new name is "the Glasshouse."

Duh, totally forgot, despite my cousin telling me she’s off to see Jimmy Nail there tonight and her telling me it was the Glasshouse when we walked past it last time we were walking over the bridges and me going ‘The what now?’

Wow, am reading this from Dublin, and hadn't realised that there is so much to see and so many interesting things to do around Newcastle. Mick O'Leary is getting a click for flights as we speak!

So what part of the city do you reckon is a good place to stay? I don't think we'll be going until the Springtime, but it's good to have all this information anyway. We obv won't have a car - could you imagine how much O'Leary would charge for THAT baggage 😊But I love Ryanair, never had a problem with them.

Anyway I'm reading with great excitement. I will definitely go to Durham, the coast, Beamish (if I can get there on the bus lol) and a bit of Hadrian's Wall if I can, you couldn't miss that, and of course Newcastle itself!

So thanks for the information. We are a pair of older codgers BTW so no nightclubs needed! Sounds an amazing place/area. You sell it well.