![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/travelodgeblog.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Newcastle_TTD_Article.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOnce a thriving trading port and now one of Britain\u2019s most diverse and cosmopolitan cities, Newcastle offers history hand in hand with the best of modern culture. There is much to do here for families, couples and solo adventurers, from country walks to arty ambles.<\/p>\n
Grey Street, a wide neo-classical avenue curving down towards the Tyne, is one of the works of Richard Grainger, a Victorian architect whose cluster of 450 buildings in the town have been dubbed Grainger Town. It is frequently crowned the UK\u2019s finest street \u2013 Radio 4 listeners voted it the UK\u2019s best in 2010, and poet John Betjeman (who famously wasn\u2019t so complimentary about Slough) described it as \u201cperfect\u201d. The Theatre Royal is the most handsome building on this most handsome of streets, and you can book to see renowned opera companies and family-friendly musicals performed on its historic stage.<\/p>\n
Once a 73-mile Roman fortification running from coast to coast, Hadrian\u2019s wall now only exists in chunks. Many of these are found in Newcastle and the surrounding countryside \u2013 and a walk across the eastern section of Hadrian\u2019s Wall takes in an invigorating mix of country, coast and city. Set aside a day for a 12-mile walk from the River Tyne to Newburn. You\u2019ll take in the magnificent quay, industrial heartland and rolling hills.<\/p>\n
If you visit the newcastlegateshead.com website, you can download nine free art maps \u2013 they\u2019re really easy to follow routes around the city, which focus on key areas defined by their arty offering. Newcastle has a huge number of interesting monuments and pieces of public art, both modern and historic. For example, the Grainger Town map is a route 1.75 miles, that takes in statues, monuments and architecture you might otherwise have overlooked in the Neo-classical quarter. The NewcastleGateshead tour runs over the Tyne, while the Newcastle City Centre tour takes in the magnificent Thomas Heatherwick Blue Carpet, a re-imagined public square in front of the Laing Art Gallery. It\u2019s a great, free activity to give you a new perspective of the city.<\/p>\n
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Newcastle got its name from the castle built there in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conqueror\u2019s eldest son. The wooden castle he built was replaced between 1172 and 1177 by the stone keep that still stands today. The castle itself, which reopened in 2015 after a multi-million pound restoration project, is said to be one of England\u2019s most haunted castles and prisons. You can take a ghostly tour, hearing the tales of real hangings, seeing the site of the 1694 Newcastle witch trials and taking the narrow stone steps down to the execution pit for a s\u00e9ance. This chilling experience is organized by Newcastle\u2019s Haunted City Tours.<\/p>\n
Head to The Cycle Hub \u2013 a bike-friendly independent caf\u00e9 \u2013 to hire a bike for the day. They will set you up with a coffee, a ride, and one of several routes around the city and surrounding countryside. Traffic-free routes can be taken directly from the caf\u00e9 \u2013 either inland along the Tyne, or out to the coast. Cycling novices are welcome \u2013 the Hub are very good at retraining and reassuring wobbly riders.<\/p>\n
Town Moor is bigger than London\u2019s Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath put together. In fact, it\u2019s far bigger than New York\u2019s Central Park. It\u2019s so big that it has cattle grazing on it \u2013 an odd sight in the middle of a city. In fact, an ancient law decrees that all freemen of the city have the right to graze cows there \u2013 they also have the right to graze them at St James\u2019 Park, but as that is now home to Newcastle United FC, it is not a right that is exercised.<\/p>\n
Newcastle has seven spectacular bridges over the Tyne. Head to the cultural heartland of the Quayside to get the best view of them \u2013 Newcastle\u2019s Tyne Bridge is an historic structure, built by the engineers who went on to make Sydney\u2019s famous Harbour Bridge in the same style. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, completed in 2001, is an awe-inspiring piece of dynamic architecture. It\u2019s sometimes called the blinking eye bridge, because it tilts dramatically open and shut to allow tall ships to pass. Tilting times are listed on the bridge, so try and be there when it happens for a glimpse of modern engineering at its most ingenious.<\/p>\n
So if a mixture of history and culture sounds like your thing, then take a look at our hotels in Newcastle