The UK city break that’s perfect for a family staycation
NEWCASTLE, with its wild party scene, has a strong reputation as a city break for adults.
But how does the Toon pass muster with kids in tow?
David Whitley lets his eight-year-old and six-year-old loose to find out.
FIRST UP: There’s a slightly old-fashioned feel to the Discovery Museum — it largely focuses on the history of Newcastle and the River Tyne, which is more of interest to parents.
Understandably, the sections on the coal industry don’t grip the girls but the interactive segments are great.
They try on Norman helmets, pull on ropes to get cargo off a ship and attack the Science Maze section with gusto.
Highlights include working together with a system of cogs and pipes to move a ball into a tipper truck.
Then there’s the shadow wall, where they get silhouette photos taken in a series of silly poses.
It takes the offer of cake in the café to pull them away.
Museum entry is free of charge. See discoverymuseum.org.uk
THE SURPRISE HIT: No one will claim Newcastle Castle is the most impressive in Britain but what makes it special is that it is in the city centre.
There’s no set tour to follow, which means the girls are free to scamper up staircases, down passageways and through heavy wooden doors.
They revel in being able to explore, having free run of the maze-like castle keep.
They find prison cells, a chapel and medieval-style toilets.
Family tickets for Newcastle Castle (newcastlecastle.co.uk) cost £28.
THE MAIN EVENT: The Life Science Centre is THE place to go with kids, turning science into a massive collection of games and interactive experiments.
Make sure to visit the section on how the brain works.
One minute my girls are trying to draw the Domino’s Pizza logo from memory, the next they’re watching basic shapes move around a screen, trying to work out which emotions the shapes are experiencing.
Elsewhere, they play in sandpits, build rockets, hoist themselves up on pulley-powered chairs and learn how to tell wasps and bees apart.
The star attraction, however, is the planetarium.
Here, a show about the constellations opens the girls’ eyes to the scale of the universe.
They’re wowed to discover a star that’s a million times bigger than the sun, and a supernova playing out across the overhead dome is dazzling.
The Life Science Centre (life.org.uk) costs £36.50 for a family of four.
KIDS’ CHOICE: “It’s the tiger!” yelps my six-year-old at Seven Stories, the National Children’s Book Centre.
She has found the lifesize model of The Tiger Who Came To Tea — and fetches the toy tea cups and plates so she can have tea with it.
Seven Stories brings several worlds from children’s books to life, with a Wildwood floor all about magical stories which covers Harry Potter, The Chronicles Of Narnia, His Dark Materials and more.
Another floor is about the different types of stories — overcoming monsters, comedies, tragedies and more.
The girls flit around, dressing up and creating their own world amid the displays, then settle in the reading corner with books.
They emerge from Seven Stories wanting to buy books in the shop, and with a refreshed love of reading.
Entry to Seven Stories (sevenstories.org.uk) is free of charge.
THE FAMILY FEAST: The Banyan Bar and Kitchen (banyanbar.co.uk) has colouring and craft kits for the kids, plus an extensive cocktail menu for the grown-ups.
It hits that sweet spot somewhere between where parents would quite like to be for a few drinks, while also being family-friendly enough for the children not to be bored.
The kids’ menu staples also go down well.
SOMEWHERE TO STAY: The city-centre Maldron Hotel is within easy walking distance of most Newcastle attractions.
Family rooms and inter-connecting rooms are available, and the big rain showers are a novelty the kids heartily approve of.
It’s the buffet breakfast that truly gets them excited, though.
They each put in a phenomenal performance, ploughing through pastries, pancakes, sausages, eggs and beans.
Family rooms are from £115.10 (maldronhotelnewcastle.com).
MAYBE NEXT TIME: A cold spring day is hardly the time to go to the seaside but the beach towns of Whitley Bay and Tynemouth are within a ten-mile drive.
Come in summer, and you can easily combine sightseeing with sandcastles and a swim.
THE VERDICT: Newcastle offers good variety for children, and a couple of really handy free attractions.
The girls were kept happily busy for two days, with their imaginations sparked.
The sprogs on the Tyne are all fine.