Newcastle with kids, 7 and 18 months

[Lavendersparkles22]

Will be stopping by Newcastle in a couple of weeks and looking for some experiences of things to do for my 2 kids.

So far on my list are:

The aquarium
Beamish
Angel of the North
Life museum.

Are these any good, and any more to add please?

Thanks.

The aquarium (i assume you mean tynemouth?) is poor - i really wouldnt recommend visiting. The Deep in Hull is much better if you are ever near there.

Beamish is great for all ages.

Angel of the north- worth watching out for if you are driving past but i wouldn't go out of your way to visit it. 5 minutes and you would be finished. There is nothing there but the big statue.

Life museum, depending what they have on at the time, is generally great for kids, especially your older one. That said there are still things for the younger ones.

Angel of the north isn't any more than a few minutes visit but you could tie it in with visiting Saltwell park which is an amazing park. Has some animals in there, boats on a lake, open green spaces, play areas, cafe in the middle (Saltwell towers).

Seven Stories (national centre for children’s books - fab museum with lots to do)

Baltic is worth a visit. If you catch the bridge when it rotates it's quite interesting for kids.

Seven Stories is great and a short walk from a brilliant ice cream shop.

There's an indie doughnut shop and an indie cake shop at Haults Yard.

Depending on when you visit the weekend market at the quayside is always worth a look.

Durham and the cathedral are 15 minutes away by train. The cathedral was in the Harry Potter films.

Watching this with interest, thanks OP and contributors.
We’re in the area for a week in august and had saltwell/Beamish/Durham/metro centre/some beaches along the Northumberland coast on our defo to do list.

Kynren is a maybe, opinions either way? DC are 17 and 9.

In Newcastle, try -
Jesmond Dene (a lovely park) which also has Pet’s Corner,
Ouseburn Farm, next to Seven Stories is good,
Newcastle Keep (the Castle) is quite interesting
the Laing Art Gallery has a good kids area
the Discovery Museum is great.

You can also visit the seaside at Whitley Bay (or go further up the coast).

I'd consider taking the aquarium off the list. My kids actually quite like it, but can get round it in 30 minutes, 1 hour max. We have passes and go often, so can tag it on to a trip to the beach, but no way would it be worth the day ticket price.

We quite enjoy a day between seven stories and Ouseburn farm, which are very close to each other. Beamish is also great.

Have a look at North East Family Fun on Facebook, there are loads of ideas for days out on there.
City centre has Life, Discovery museum, Great North museum which are all good. The Quayside area has the Baltic and you can see the Tyne bridge and Millenium Bridge. There is usually stuff going on down there over the summer and it's quite nice to stroll up and down by the river.
Seven stories is at the Ouseburn and a bit further down the quayside, it's now free to visit. There is a little farm nearby and great ice cream at Di Meos.
Tynemouth is fab but I've never been to the aquarium, it does have a pirate maze, mini golf, inflatable outdoor thing, and you can hire wetsuits and stuff on the beach. Loads of places to eat.

Kynren is fantastic!

There was an almost identical thread in June with lots of good suggestions. Search Houseof Gods for the thread.

Long sands beach (tynemouth) can be a day if the weathers nice. I recommend the ice cream hut near the grande hotel. Tynemouth hight street has lots of nice places to eat.
Waves swimming pool in whitley bay is good and there is lots of places to eat near by. ‘Littley bay’ is good if you have kids who like imaginative play.