Discovering what’s on offer for tourists in the North East

I spent a couple of hours on Friday discovering what’s on offer for tourists in the North East.

For those of you who might not know last week was English Tourism Week.

To mark the occasion the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative hosted a Celebration of Tourism in North East England event.

It was free to attend but you did need to book yourself a ticket in advance which I did on Wednesday.

I had Friday off as a flexi day and I had a daddy daughter date planned in the afternoon to try out the new Rustic Afternoon Tea at St Mary’s Inn but this left me with a free morning.

So I booked myself onto the 11:30 tour to discover what the North East has to offer tourists.

I made my way to Saint Nicholas’ Cathedral In Newcastle to meet my tour guide and once our group were all accounted for we made our way to the Castle.

Admittedly it’s been years since I ventured round the Castle which gives my home city it’s name so it was great to have a whistle stop tour.

As we made our way round the Castle we were given a few minutes to speak to various stall holders who told us about the variety of places to visit across the North East.

How is this for a view?

I got the chance to meet Elmer the elephant ahead of his Great North Parade which I’m sure will be really popular with families.

There was a  miniature version of The Alnwick Garden’s famous poison garden. Steve and I visited with his parents and we had a fabulous time last year.

We also heard about the new 1950’s additions coming to Beamish Museum while enjoying a homemade biscuit.

Outside we were treated to a demonstration of the exciting segway experiences available at Slaley Hall while watching the canon behind fired!

I also got to try some delicious food and drink from Blackfriars Restaurant, Dobson and Parnell, The Herb Garden, Jesmond Dene House, Maldron Hotel, By The River Brew Co, Wylam Brewery, The Botanist and Hotel du Vin.

I spoke to a lovely lady from the Great North Museum: Hancock who showed me a 3D printed skull of Dippy the Dinosaur ahead of his arrival as part of his tour.

We also enjoyed:

• Interactive art from The Biscuit Factory and Hatton Gallery

• Fun experiences from Kielder Water, Mr Mulligans, Discovery Museum and Auckland Project
• A virtual reality experience of the new Azuma trains coming later this year from LNER.

I also took part in a Million Pound Drop style quiz all about tourism in the North East.

Before I left I managed to bag a pic with some of our famous Geordie faces and became the Angel of the North!

I had a brilliant couple of hours exploring the Castle and finding out about exciting things to do as a tourist in my native North East.

So I think it’s safe to say the North East has an awful lot to offer to tourists and I’m looking forward to discovering and sharing more with you all!

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Other North East related posts

Here’s 10 reasons to visit Newcastle (and Gateshead) this summer

Here’s how we spent a lovely day at beautiful Bamburgh

If you’re planning a city break then check out why you should visit Newcastle in my proud Geordie moment as Newcastle named number 1 place to visit in 2018

Newcastle has a fantastic restaurant week (twice a year) here’s my thoughts on my first taste of NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week

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