Lady’s Guide to a Day Trip to Newcastle

Today I want to share my guide to a day trip to Newcastle with you. This city in the north of England is rife with historic streets and beautiful bridges. It’s a great place to spend a day exploring.

Day Trip to Newcastle

After all my recent traveling through Mongolia and Beijing, it was time to bring things a bit closer to home. A few days after I returned from Asia, I took a day trip to Newcastle with some friends.

I hadn’t heard much about this underrated British city on the River Tyne, and I was excited to discover all the things there were to do there.

Lunch in Newcastle

Our train from London arrived just before lunch, and we stepped out of Newcastle station to find ourselves in a classic English drizzle.

Thankfully we had lunch plans to keep us out of the rain. A place called 21 had come highly recommended, so we headed towards the River Tyne to try it out.

We weren’t disappointed. The two-course lunch menu of bean and chorizo soup followed by perfectly seared tuna was one of the best meals I’ve had in England. The Chilean Pinot Noir that accompanied the food was equally excellent.

By the end of lunch I was almost convinced I needed to move to Newcastle. This feeling was heightened when the bill came and it was less expensive than a mediocre one-course meal in London with no wine, coffee, or cocktails.

River Tyne in Newcastle

As if our moods had affected the atmosphere, we walked out of the restaurant to find blue skies and sunshine. It boded well for the rest of our day trip to Newcastle.

Heading down to the Quayside area by the river, we found ourselves surrounded by the largest hen party I’ve ever seen.

Head-to-toe in hot pink and black, the group settled in at a riverside pub for the afternoon.

Not stopping to join the party, we continued our day trip to Newcastle with a walk to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a beautiful pedestrian arc spanning the Tyne.

Crossing over to the Gateshead side of the river, we had great views of the bridges to the west, as well as Sage Gateshead, a mirrored cocoon of a music and conference venue.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Our final destination was the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. A former grain warehouse, the building had been repurposed as a visual arts center and museum. A friend of ours had recommended it to us, so we decided to pay a visit.

There were several exhibitions on that day, our favorites of which were British artist Cornelia Parker’s Doubtful Sound and Tomas Saraceno’s life-size model of a black widow’s web.

The former featured a circle of flattened brass band instruments. It was lit by a single light bulb in the center that splashed shadows all across the walls. 

The latter was interactive. Donning a pair of cloth boots, we climbed into and around the spider web. Less graceful than the black widow, we had to be careful not to get caught in the elastic cables.

Newcastle Bridges

After visiting the BALTIC we continued our day trip to Newcastle by walking across one of the high bridges over the river. Soon found ourselves back on the Newcastle side of the Tyne.

Newcastle Pubs

By then the hour was approaching pub o’clock, so we ducked into the Crown Posada, the second oldest pub in the city.

A skinny line of a room, it featured historic decor and a long list of local beers and ciders. Absent from these was Newcastle Brown Ale. Confusing.

Grey Street in Newcastle

After a pint, we continued our day trip to Newcastle by walking north to explore the beautiful Grey Street. It was once voted the finest street in Britain in a BBC Radio 4 poll.

Grey Street boasts of some of the best examples of Regency architecture in England. It culminates in Grey’s Monument, which is dedicated to Earl Grey, Prime Minister of Britain from 1830 to 1834.

The Forth Hotel in Newcastle

By the time we reached the monument we were ready for another pint. This time we headed towards the train station and found ourselves at a snug table in The Forth Hotel.

For the second time that day, there was no Newcastle Brown Ale on tap, which I again found rather strange.

While the boys ordered pints of ales and ciders, I sipped a super-girly half of Fruli, a strawberry-flavored beer from Belgium.

Newcastle Day Trip

By the time we finished, we had to head back to the train station. But first we needed to find an off-license for the boys to pick up a drink for the ride home.

We were directed to the nearest one by a police officer at the train station, who seemed to know the way a little too well.

One friend decided to try the infamous Buckfast, a wine-like English drink with herbs and high caffeine content made by British monks in Devon. Needless to say, it tasted terrible.

Back in London, I was glad to have spent a day in Newcastle, even if it ended with odd tonic wine.

While the city was a world away from the Mongolian countryside and the Great Wall of China, it was nonetheless a great day trip from London.

I would love to go back someday to experience Newcastle’s legendary nightlife, take a day trip to Hadrian’s Wall, and see the Angel of the North sculpture. If I can ever find time between my international travels, that is.

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