Hi

I thought I might provide a few thoughts on what you might do in our fine city over the weekend (with web links if you want to know more).

If you are interested in shopping, you'll have discovered the Eldon Square Mall already I guess but you might not know about the Metro Centre—it's one of the largest shopping malls in Europe and is all indoors so you'll be warm :-). Its about 15 mins away on a bus or the train. See: http://intumetrocentre.co.uk/.

Also there's a market on Sunday that has some unusual stuff. Its on the Quayside so you can walk from the city centre. See: http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/things-to-do/quayside-market-p477401.

If its culture you're after there's loads to do and mostly its free.

Museums I'd recomend are:

• The Great North Museum here at the University. Its got Roman history, dinosaurs and lots more. See: http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/great-north-museum/visiting-us.html.
• The Discovery Science museum (near the station). Newcastle is famous for industrial invention—trains, ships, the light bulb etc. See: http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery.html

The Centre for Life is about science (near the station but not free). See: http://www.life.org.uk/.

Two great art galleries:

• The Baltic for modern art (and a great view of the city from the top floor). See: https://www.balticmill.com/
• The Laing for traditional art, see: http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/laing-art-gallery.html.

The castle that the city is named after is impressive (again near the station), its also near the cathedral (free to enter). See: http://www.castlekeep-newcastle.org.uk/.

Some of you have discovered the football ground—well Newcastle United are playing the mighty Aston Villa (my team) on Sunday—tickets start at about £25.

If you want to get out of the city you can go to the coast on the Metro and visit Tynemouth with its priory. See: http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/things-to-do/tynemouth-priory-and-castle-p22751.

Hadrians Wall—a 2000 year old Roman structure 100 kms long is worth a visit but might be a bit far away (and cold) for you. See: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/hadrianswall/.

If you fancy the cinema a great place in the city centre is the Tyneside Cinema: https://www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/.

Hope this all helps.

If you do nothing else try to get down to the quayside—particularly in the evening. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quayside.

David