Left York at 9am and headed for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Stopped in Durham on the way to look at Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. Looked around the cathedral which was free and then went to visit the castle only to find it was booked for a private function!!

Had a coffee and then drove on towards Newcastle after finally getting out of Durham, we got stuck at a roundabout outside the shopping centre for at least 10 minutes!! Drove past the Angel of the North and into Gateshead where we arrived at our hotel, the Bewick Hotel.

After finally confirming our booking and getting to our room we decided to walk to the nearest Metro station and catch the train into Newcastle. After getting a map from Tourist Information we caught the Metro to St.James' Park, home ground of Newcastle United FC.

We went to the club shop to enquire about ground tours only to be told there weren't any and if there was we would have to pay a £20 "membership fee" each!! The lady in the shop then said to go to the office next door and see if they will let us in for a photo or two. In the office we were confronted by a man in a suit who looked at us like we were something he had stepped in. We asked if it was possible to have a look inside the ground and he said no and turned away...that was it...LOVELY !!

Back on the Metro to Eldon Square Shopping Centre for some lunch. Shopping Centre was a bit dirty and we ended up eating our lunch sitting on the floor as McDonalds didn't have enough seats. Caught the Metro out to Tynemouth to visit Tynemouth Castle.

After a long walk along the coastline from the Metro station we arrived and had a good look around. Quite interesting location and ruins. Walked back to the station via the short cut, then caught Metro back into the city and a quick visit to Barras Bridge where the only bridge we could find was a pedestrian walkway over a main road! Caught Metro back to hotel for a rest.

Had dinner at a dodgy looking fish and chip shop over the road from the hotel. Not much to choose from so we got 80p worth of chips each and a coke. Coke was warm and shop attendant wasn't very happy when we wanted to return them! Bought cold cokes from convenience store nextdoor.