I will be travelling to Sunderland and area in the Northeast of England. I have some distant relatives there and may see them for a few hours. I’m not sure if we will have a car or not (nervous about driving on the left). We will probably head up to Edinburgh after Sunderland.
Has anyone here been to this area?
What are good sights or places to stay?
Durham
Bamburgh
Warkworth
Dunstanburgh
Alnwick
Alnmouth
Whitby
Staithes
Bempton Cliffs
Berwick upon Tweed
Hadrian’s Wall
Northumbria National Park
North York Moors National Park
You may want to do some research on your own since your question is generic and only you know what you like to see and do. I normally start with TripAdvisor and look at “things to do” to get an idea of what is in that area. I bookmark places on Google maps and by doing that, there may be places on maps I overlooked that are of interest. Once you’ve done that you can come back with more focused questions. How you’re getting around could determine how easy it will be to get to the places you want to visit.
In New Castle Upon Tyne there is a castle and old mill and just outside of the city is the Angel of the North. A little further out is Beamish, the Living Museum of the North. Durham has a castle and cathedral. Believe the UK TV series Vera is filmed in Newcastle Upon Tyne area. I haven’t been to any of the places I mentioned, but they are on my “to see” list.
A few miles north of Bamburgh castle is Holy Island. It’s nice to visit. We visited it last September. How long you spend there depends on whether you walk over to the castle or not. Ensure you check the tide tables so you’re not caught on the island when the tide comes in. There isn’t a lot to do if you miss getting off the island and have to wait until the next low tide.
Have you any interest in Hadrian’s wall? Easy to access from Newcastle.
It's a special-interest sight, but just in case it aligns with your sightseeing priorities: Sunderland has a nice glass museum, the National Glass Centre.
too much to see in one lifetime
https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/
stay in a castle https://www.lumleycastle.com/
How long have you got? When are you planning this visit? Where are you coming from before Sunderland?
stroudy60's list could take a couple of weeks to see, and there are plenty more that I could add to it. Although public transport is good in the north east, there are some places that it is still going to be time consuming or difficult to get to without a car. Also, distances may not look very far on a map but will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect.
You need to work out how long you have in the area, what sort of things you want to see AND whether you will have a car or not. Only then can we begin to give helpful answers.
ds, how did your visit to Sunderland go? My great-grandfather was born there, and I’ve thought about stopping in someday in the context of a trip to northeast England.
Hello
The trip was super, but was focussed mostly on seeing family. We stayed in Seaburn right on the beach - the beach is beautiful (we went to The Stack and out for dinner) and visited my uncle and cousin from there. We toured South Shields, went to Whitburn and saw Trow Rock.
If you are looking into your grandfather you might want to do a bit of research before you go as you could probably get birth/death records when you are there.
Good luck.
