If you’re staying in Newcastle, whether it’s for a weekend in one of the city’s plush hotels, or for a few years in your Newcastle Uni accommodation, then you’ll want to check out some of the more noteworthy sights and sounds on offer. Moreover, if you’re looking to do a few things for free, then you’ll find plenty to work with – making Newcastle a great city to live in while on a budget.
Let’s run through a few of the best.
Go for an outdoor workout
Down at the Quayside you’ll find an outdoor gym, where you’ll be able to stop for a little bit of a resistance workout in the middle of your riverside jog. Naturally, with only four pieces of equipment to go around, you’ll want to make a point of visiting during unsociable hours – but a little exercise at the crack of dawn never hurt anyone!
Visit the Angel of the North
If you were to ask someone to name an iconic landmark of the north, then they’d probably cite this enormous statue at somewhere near the top of their list. The angel herself stands at around sixty-six feet tall, and represents a must-visit location for those staying in this part of the country.
Visit the Sage
The Sage is an enormous bulbous structure set into the banks of the Tyne. It’s principally a music venue, but there are comfortable seats to hang around on, and there’s often free live music to enjoy in the foyer. If you’re going to be living in the city for a long time and you’ve an appreciation for the sort of music on offer, be sure to pick up a programme.
Go cycling
If you’ve got a bike that you’d like to take for a ride or two, then you’ll be pleased to learn that Newcastle offers plenty of suitable routes. The most spectacular run alongside the river, but the parks also offer plenty to enjoy.
Ping-pong
Venture to Northumberland Street and you’ll find a ping-pong table set up and waiting for a pair of players to get going. The area is among the busiest shopping districts in the city, and so you’ll be able to indulge in a little bit of retail therapy in between rounds.
Visit Leazes Park
Being a city of a certain size, Newcastle is home to a tremendous number of different parks and outdoor recreation spaces. Leazes Park is among the best of them. It’s centrally-located, offering quiet and seclusion to residents of the city. There’s a sizeable fishing pond, where you’ll be able to feed the ducks – just be sure to feed them stomach-friendly seeds rather than stomach-destroying bread.
See the millennium footbridge open
The millennium footbridge is famous for being curved in the shape of an eyelid – and thus when it opens to allow ships to pass beneath, it’s said to be ‘winking’. The sight of the bridge opening and closing is a spectacular one – and it’s worth spending a little bit of time in the cafes and bars on quayside and watching the spectacle unfold.
Visit the city walls
In truth, there isn’t much left to see of the city walls – but they still tower over those of many other English cities. In places, they stretch almost eight metres into the air, and offer great views of St. James Park.
Visit the castle
Of course, Newcastle just wouldn’t be Newcastle without the building to which it owes its name. There isn’t much left of the castle to see, in truth – just the gatehouse and the keep. But a visit to these structures at the top of the hill is sure to please history buffs and others, too.
Visit the historic city centre
Just a few minutes’ walk from your student housing in Newcastle you’ll find Grey Street, which is home to a considerable concentration of listed buildings. There’s breath-taking classical architecture on display just about everywhere you turn, and, what’s more, you won’t have to pay for the privilege of looking at any of it.
Quayside Market
Okay, we’re cheating a little bit here as a market, almost by definition, is a place where you’ll want to spend money. It’s set up on Quayside every Sunday, and it’s where you’ll find all of the city’s artisan producers looking to demonstrate the quality of their produce. Of course, there’s no law saying that you have to buy anything – but if you’ve got a little bit of money to spare, you’ll probably want to.
