In the heart of Newcastle’s celebrated Quayside, it’s hard to know where to start. On the other side of the River Tyne are the billowing curves of Sir Norman Foster’s glass and steel concert hall, The Sage Gateshead. Next to it stands the impressive bulk of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Formerly a 1950s grain warehouse, it’s now home to changing exhibitions of modern, fun and downright weird artworks and installations. To get to either, walk over the Millennium Bridge, a heart-stopping, gravity-defying, slender work of wonder.

Stroll along the Quayside path and admire the six other bridges as well as striking sculptures such as the Blacksmith’s Needle and the Folly Pavilion. Just upstream from the famous Tyne Bridge is the medieval Castle Keep, built on the site of the 11th century, wooden ‘New Castle’. Climb to the battlements for fantastic views. Walk a little further uphill and you’re amongst the elegant Georgian streets of Grainger Town with their designer shops, café-bars and Matcham-designed Theatre Royal.

Of course, we’ve a theatre right next door. Live Theatre promotes new writing - Billy Elliot began as a reading here, and look what happened to him - as well as stages contemporary drama.