Welcome to NewcastleGateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and North Tyneside

The mix of vibrant cities, coastal scenery, heritage and culture, together with two of the finest rivers in England, make this a perfect destination for groups - add to that the superb shopping, international arts and entertainment and cuisine!

From the busy Gateshead Quays, you can cross the River Tyne by the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. A must to visit is The Sage Gateshead and BALTIC, Centre for Contemporary Art with its monumental facade, two inspired architectural icons. Shopping, art galleries and museums - you could not do them all justice in one trip but do make the time to take in the cultural quarters of Grainger Town and Lower Ouseburn.
The new Great North Museum which incorporates collections from the Hancock Museum, the Museum of Antiquities, the Shefton Museum and The Hatton Gallery is due to open Spring 2009.

Learn of Roman times by visiting Segedunum in North Tyneside and Arbeia over the river in South Tyneside, both famous Roman forts. Visits to Bede’s World, which covers the life and times of the Venerable Bede and the churches of St Paul’s and St Peter’s at the split site of Wearmouth-Jarrow (the UK nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2009) will remind you of the importance of Christian heritage in this area.

The Iconic Angel of the North, Sunderland and the River Wear and a stop at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens in Mowbray Park will allow you to see a tropical rainforest from a treetop walkway - apparently there are 1,500 exotic plants here. The highlighted paragraph above doesn’t make sense – it reads as though you can see a tropical rainforest also from the Angel of the North and River Wear – can you re-word. At the National Glass Centre see some exquisite examples of the art of glassmaking and have a go! A hidden gem is the nearby National Trust’s Washington Old Hall - which really was the ancestral home of George Washington.

Sunderland and the areas of North and South Tyneside offer no less than six Blue Flag beaches, seafront parks and coastal paths for groups who want to chill out and relax.

The whole area is a shopper’s paradise from Eldon Square in Newcastle, the MetroCentre, the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe - near Gateshead, The Bridges in Sunderland to discount shopping at the Royal Quays in North Shields.

Some of the biggest attractions are the blend of shopping, café culture and the range of attractions and things to do. Events seem to be a constant here and are an integral part of the visitor mix. You can also visit the area’s two Premiership football clubs or either watch or participate in the famous Great North Run!

When planning your trip you’ll see it is fairly obvious that there is a plentiful supply of excellent group accommodation - in the cities and at the coast, both in range and price so the area has everything except the time to do it all justice!