I visited Newcastle during part of my trip to UK in Sep 2022. I think Newcastle is not a popular destination to most Singaporean travellers, as most people would think about the major cities like London, Bath, Oxford / Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow etc. At least those were what was recommended by my friends who studied in the UK or travelled there before.

I ended up in Newcastle because I was looking for a place to go from Manchester, and I found a guided hiking tour that fitted my schedule at Northumberland National Park.

Newcastle was a convenient stopover as I could take a train to the hike meeting point from Newcastle and there is an International Airport which I could fly to Paris after.

I did not have much plans on what to do in Newcastle until I reached there. Hotels were cheap there so I decided to base myself there for a couple of days of spontaneous activities or just rest. It ended up a more interesting destination than I expected.

Transiting from the bustling cityscape in London / Manchester into peaceful Newcastle on my contemplative train ride in a blur.

Things to Do in Newcastle

Great North Museum: Hancock

This is one of the top of my recommendation as a must-visit place in Newcastle. I saw mentions of this museum a the book in my hotel room, and thought of just visiting it since I had nothing better to do. It ended up being one of the highlights of my stay in Newcastle and I enjoyed my few hours there very much.

A full-sized T-rex skeleton and many other pre-historic fossil samples
Many life-size specimens in the Living Planet gallery, including an African elephant
My heart melted at this little creature (one of my favourite characters is the sanrio hana-maru which is a cute little seal too)
I was so stoked to see these carved rocks in the museum, after seeing the “cup and ring marks” at the Simonside’s Hill

I would highly recommend a visit here before (or after in my case) a visit to the Hadrian’s Wall to better understand the history behind.

There was also an “Ancient Egypt” exhibition area where you can see various rare Egyptian artefacts, read some stories and even a real mummified corpse. It was quite an eerie experience.

Despite the very high quality exhibitions, this museum is free to enter! There are lockers of different sizes in the museums where you can pay a nominal fee to store your coat or bags to enjoy a few hours of handsfree walking.

The Great North Museum was located inside Newcastle University, where I passed off as a freshman and snagged some orientation freebies #cheapthrill

Northumberland National Park – Hadrian’s Wall and Simonside Hills

The Hadrian’s Wall was built in the Roman Empire in AD 122, with observation towers and forts along the way to defend against invaders. There was even a festival that celebrates the 1900 anniversary of the Hadrian’s Wall in 2022.

The Hadrian’s Wall curves along undulating terrain. It reminds me of the Great Wall of China, but a lot less touristy
The trail towards the Hadrian’s Wall is scenic and peaceful
Walking alongside cattle and their dungs. You get used to the smell after a while
Passing by an idyllic town at the end of the hike. Notice the half-mast due to the Queen’s passing.
The rocky Simonside Hills
The Cheviots at Scotland borders in the background from Simonside Hills

Tynemouth Coastal Walk

Another impromptu afternoon which turned out great. I bought the metro day pass and started from Cullercoats, walking along the scenic coast towards the Tynemouth Priory and Castle, visiting the Collingwood Monument and then ending off with a high-tea and Tynemouth metro.

Here is the approximate walking route on Google Maps. Unfortunately I lost my recorded walking route as I accidentally wiped off some data on my iPhone when disconnecting iCloud.

A therapeutic walk on the soft sands of Longsands Beach. I liked the quietness unlike a touristy beach. The rectangular structure at the right was a former outdoor swimming pool that used to host games and beauty pagents such as Miss Tyne Tees 1971 (Google it!)
I got obsessed with taking animated photos of seagulls and probably burned an hour or so
A view along the coast
The Collingwood Monument and the four cannons used during the Battle of Trafalgar

What to eat in Newcastle

I asked my hiking guides for recommendations of good food in Newcastle and these are some of the mentions:

  • Super Natural (Vegetarian)
  • Pleased to Meet You
  • Riley Fish Shack at Tynemouth
  • 21
  • House of Tides
High Tea Set at “Pleased to Meet You” (left), Breakfast Wrap at “Super Natural” (right) which I enjoyed very much

I had wanted to try out the “Riley Fish Shack” at Tynemouth, but too bad it was closed on the day I visited.

You can also visit the Grainger Market for some local flavours
Don’t forget to take a photo and selfie at the iconic Tyne Bridge

Other Interesting Moments

I visited the Lit & Phil Library. It felt like travelling 20 years back and the book lending page was so nostalgic, just like my primary school era. I also found the books to be very satisfyingly organized even though the top shelves were so unreachable.
The “Throne of Wisdom” in my hiking guide cum host’s house, as he calls it. The WC was filled with inspirational quotes meant to set your mind right in the few minutes you use the space.

I met a group of very positive and spiritual people during the hike. We marveled at how the Universe brought together such like-minded people even though there were nothing spiritual advertised in the hike. We spoke about “Dream Incubation”, “Synchronicity Walk”, yogic living, akashic reading and Chinese Metaphysics. It was kind of an ineffable experience for me.

This was truly unexpected, but I had some of the most delicious home-cooked vegetarian cuisines during the stay at Northumberland National Park. I had lots of fun using the bread-cutter (top-left) and demonstrating to people how to use it.

I walked into a Property marketing shop, and attended a last-minute Property Investor Meetup event. It was quite an educational experience for me as the people I met were very generous in sharing their knowledge and experience. I also met a young man who shared about his Airbnb business at Isle of Skye, and he also shared about how he learnt the ropes from scratch. It was very inspiring for me.

My stay at Newcastle were filled with spontaneous activities which mostly turned out to be surprisingly good. There were strong emotional moments when I had deep conversations with like-minded locals or when I just indulged in some solitude.

I don’t think I can plan a trip like this, but I am now a bit more inspired to try out more unplanned spontaneous travelling next time and see how things unfold.