Look out for the heritage walks to get a real grasp of the surrounding wildlife and countryside, which is often overlooked by visitors of the city.
The best way to travel around the city is on the Metro system. The huge Grey’s Monument marks the place of the city center and this is also the interchange of the Metros 2 lines of travel, the yellow line for the Tynemouth, Wallsend, Whitley Bay that includes a southern line to Gateshead, and Sunderland and the green line, which encompasses Jarrow, Gateshead, Jesmond, South Shields and the airport.
If you are traveling the Metro it is best to get the Metro Day Saver ticket that allows unlimited travel all day, you can collect this from the many ticket machines available at all stations.
You may be interested in a sightseeing cruise along the river; these generally last around three hours. The cruises depart almost every weekend throughout the year with extra cruises booked for summertime.
You can also book cruises from the local public transport authority as they offer cruises during the summer months of June – September, you can find details on the Nexus website.
If you want to stay on the ground, you can always book a topless sightseeing tour bus that departs from Central Station costing only £6 to travel the city and its sights.
Tourist offices are present at 132 Grainger Street (open Monday – Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 9:30 am – 5:30 pm, Thursday 9:30 am – 7:30 pm, Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, throughout October to May office is closed on Sundays).
Other tourist offices are in the Guildhall at the Quayside (Monday – Friday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, Sunday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
Over on the Gateshead side, you can find offices in St Mary’s Church next to the Sage in Oakwellgate (Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm).
All the tourist offices have handouts of leaflets and small guides and booklets about the city with attractions and sometimes they include special offers.