Easy ways to get outdoors around Newcastle
Now that the sun has reached the North it is time to get out of the dorm and soak up the vitamin D!
1. Plan a long walk.
You don’t have to be a fan of walking to enjoy this! I recently found out that walking with a sense of purpose is a lot more effective in terms of time and objective. Pick a day or half off and gather your friends. Plan a route around sights and places that you have wanted to check out for a while, but have not seen yet because they were too far away. Group places through themes, like art galleries, graffiti or food and put your plan into Google Maps on your phone. That way you are not going to get lost and you’ll always stay on course, letting you visit all those things you’ve never had time for.
A long walk route example:
Street art themed – start next to the paintings on the side of the Laing Art Gallery, then check out the mural on the back of the tunnel on John Dobson Street. Then walk to the Wall – the largest legal graffiti wall in the North, located around The Biscuit Tin Studios. Keep an eye out for the small pieces by independent artists on the road signs, rubbish bins, and fences. On your way, you will walk through a lovely bridge over the A167 Road and Heaton Park which is literally drowning in daffodils this time of year. Behind it, among the plainer houses, you can find a public mural which was altered by various people and is now quite a strange piece of art. A bit further, right at the end of the green area, you will be surprised to see a huge face of William Shakespeare. You can come back to the centre of the city by walking through a lovely park by the bridge which is covered both by trees and graffiti.
2. Rent a bike.
There are a lot of bike lanes and bike rental offers in the city. It would be a shame not to take an advantage of it, especially with the perfect weather! The most popular option is definitely Mobike. The bikes work on an app which can be used to find places that have them, then you can unlock the bike and just get going. All the bikes are fitted with GPS trackers so their locations appear on the map on the app. You can reserve the bike closest to you, go and collect it, unlock it with the app and ride it. When you have finished the journey, just park up the bike and click-lock it shut with the button on the bike. More information about different rental providers: http://cyclinginthecity.activenewcastle.co.uk/dont-have-a-bike/
3. Chase the cows
Springtime in Newcastle not only heralds more sun and higher temperatures but also the comeback of the iconic cows. They migrate between St James Park and Town Moor, which are beautiful parks and fun to hang out in on their own, but it’s extra special. If you get lucky you will be able to snap a photo of the cows with the skyline of the City Centre in the background. It sure confuses a lot of people on Instagram who don’t know about Newcastle’s most iconic urban animal.