The Penshaw Monument is a tourist attraction, which is great for pictures and walking. Located a…read moregood 3 miles from the Tyne and Wear Metro system, the monument is a good afternoon trip from Newcastle or Sunderland. Pack a lunch and wear some comfortable clothes, this monument and the adjacent walking trails are hidden treasures of the Northeast.

Love coming here. I really only come here now for the view at the top of the castle. I find it very…read morepeaceful and a wonderful place to unwind after class. They offer a nice student discount. Climbing the stairs to reach the top is well worth it if you are physically able! Just another gem of Newcastle.

Well, after going to the Edinburgh Castle this is not as impressive. It is cool that is such an…read moreold building, but I wish it had more going on inside, it is pretty much empty and you just climb and climb until you get to the top, which is the best part. You can see the whole town and the view is pretty nice.

A small, but nice castle to walk through. Not too bad either at £4 per person. Offers some nice…read moreviews of Newcastle from the top. Worth the stop

This has 100 students living in it all the time, so is not always available for tours. it was…read morebasically saved from ruin by money from American alumni. It has an ancient working kitchen, tudor, originally open to the air, with old black and white timber which has to be seen to be believed! The great hall where everyone eats is very impressive, as is the chapel, but it is the ancient chapel underneath that is the most impressive. This bit is older even than the cathedral, and has strange pagan carvings on the tops of the pillars, the origin of which no-one knows. The carvings show tropical lands, African animals and fruit! Possibly carved by slaves? Or prisoners would also have had enough time to carve them. There is a perfectly preserved Norman doorway which was rediscovered only recently, and an enormous 'flying' staircase that is about 400 years old and covered with the ulitmate sign of wealth, pineapples. The student's rooms all have two doors, and they are closed in a certain way to let people know whether you want to be disturbed or not. These are the ones that can be hired out as b&b. Probably well worth it.

You pay for a tour, which lasts about an hour. Again a bit pricey but very interesting and worth…read moreseeing if your visiting Durham. The frustrating thing is because their is students living there, You can not see most of the castle and I would have loved to see all of it. Really nice pictures to be taken from the outside, you are not allowed to take pictures of the inside as the tour advisor said it damaged the tapstry. The tour advisor really knew her stuff and told us some interesting facts about the castle and history behind it. Not good for disabled people as loads of awkward stairs. People can get married here on certain dates, seems an ideal place. Would certainly recommend a visit.

This is taken car of by engloish heriotage but is a ruin and is free to walk around it is attached…read moreto a working church and there is plenty of free parking at bedes world which is next door to it It was started in 681 AD and was one of the first stone buildings in northumberland. There are some sound files on the english heritage website to download onto your ipod before you go so that you get a lot of history about the place as there is no one at the place it makes the visit really interesting

Well this was something I've never experienced before: being down tunnels that was once a coal mine…read moreand a communal air raid shelter during the war. I was visiting from Edinburgh and wanted to do something a bit different and this was definitely it! Our tour guides Micheal and Rory were fantastic, very informative and passionate and really brought the tunnels to life with stories and at one point cool sound effects and pointing out interesting features such as strange prints, a crucifix and the point to where we were standing underneath Hadrian's wall which was amazing! Inside the tunnels was dark damp and muddy but were provided with hard hats and torches but I would suggest wearing comfortable sturdy shoes or boots (not heels) and there is a point on the tour where you walk up a steep incline and it's tough but you have the choice to wait behind and then the decline could be slippy so hold onto the handrail but apart from that it's a very interesting, very cool memorable experience and Micheal and Rory were great!

We booked this tour based on a recommendation and was not disappointed. The two volunteer guides…read morehad a good manner & was enjoyable to listen too. The tunnel was a cool 13 degrees but in this recent hot weather was a nice cool break Without spoiling your visit it's worth a visit.

Lovely place to walk around on a nice day. Beautiful views…read more You can walk around for ages, take pictures of the gorgeous views or just sit and have a picnic. There is a free car park and there is like an information place as well. Best to go when it is not windy as its quite a windy place in general anyway, but really nice and you don't have to pay to walk around.

Derwent Reservoir is the second largest reservoir in the North East at 404.9 hectares. The…read moresouth-western area of the reservoir has been managed as a nature reserve since 1967 on account of its breeding birds and wildfowl interest. A diverse range of species are found roosting and feeding here, including mallard, teal, coot, moorhen, tufted duck, pochard, goldeneye, goosander and greylag geese. Occasionally pink-footed, white-fronted, barnacle geese, pintail and scaup may be seen. Red-throated diver, gadwall, whooper swan and smew are uncommon visitors to the site. There have been rare sightings of notable species such as black-necked grebe, Bewick's swans, bean goose and common scoter. The reservoir is also an important site for wigeon with the highest counts recorded in the winter. The surrounding farmland is used as breeding grounds by a host of waders. These are a group of birds that are so called because of the way they wade around in the shallows and grassland, probing the soft mud for insects and worms. Species such as lapwing, redshank, curlew, oystercatcher and snipe can regularly be seen. The large areas of mud which are exposed by late summer also attract migrating waders. Spring and autumn are the best times to see these birds, which form large flocks that appear as huge clouds. Look out for the bright red beak of the oystercatcher and the green metallic sheen of lapwings as their plumage catches the light. Another name commonly used for lapwing is pee-wit and the reason for this will become obvious when their call is heardpeeeewitt! Redshanks are small black and white birds with bright red legs that can be clearly be seen when caught by the light. They are sometimes referred to as the wardens of the marsh because of their rather nervous nature and habit of being flushed up into the air and sounding off a loud, piercing panic call at the slightest of disturbances. Derwent Reservoir is situated 2 km (just over a mile) north of Edmundbyers on the B6306 Blanchland road and approximately 33 km (20.5 miles) by road from Durham City Centre. It is north east of the B6278 Consett to Stanhope road. Free parking is available at the eastern end of the reservoir, as are toilets, although these are not suitable for wheelchair users. From April to November, access is permitted to the shores of the reservoir where there is a path and a number of benches overlooking the water. In the winter months this path is closed to prevent disturbance to roosting birds. An excellent view of the reservoir can be obtained from the lay-by on the Blacklaw road or from Pow Hill Country Park The reservoir is stocked with rainbow and brown trout. There is also a sailing club on the northern side of the reservoir. You will have to take your own refreshments ...... Its a great Family Day out including the dog or dogs remember to take your poop bags Many hot air balloons take off from the park.... In the surrounding area are many inns and hotels offering first class food Although this is in County Durham you are quite close to Northumberland and North Yorkshire and there are many self catering properties in the area and it is a good central base to enjoy the whole area.

There's a lot of talk about walls these days and that made me think of Hadrian's Wall. Built by the…read moreRomans to protect their conquered land? Sounds about right. Their engineering is quite something given that large parts of the wall is still standing after 2000 years. Some stretches of the wall you can literally climb over as if climbing over a garden fence, so I'm not sure how this could have kept anyone out. Very green landscapes all around and great hiking opportunities, when it doesn't rain.

It was kind of difficult finding a Yelp-specific page for Hadrian's Wall, so this seems as good as…read moreanything I've been able to find. Hadrian's Wall is expansive, so I'm sure Yelp has difficultly pinpointing any specific place for it. Hadrian's Wall was something I hadn't heard about until my traveling companion, Sara, talked to me about wanting to see it, and one day exploring the entire wall. It's a sort of pilgrimage people seem to undertake, and it looks like an amazing experience I'll never be able to do. Built by the Romans as a defensive wall structure, the wall as we see it today is just a small fraction of what once existed. Buried under dirt and rocks, the wall once stood at 16-20 feet (5-6 meters), and 10 feet (3 meters) thick . It was first constructed in AD122 (around 1800 years ago), during the reign of (you guessed it) Hadrian. It spans about 80 Roman miles, aka 72 miles. It consists of not only the wall, but milecastles, turrets, and earthworks. It was rebuilt from turf (yes, turf) to stone. And this stone is something you can tangibly touch now. We ended up just pulling over to the side of the road in our car, and following a few path markers through a pasture of sheep and cows; the sky was blue and the weather was perfect. There were large, fluffy white clouds unfurling above our heads, and the fragrant smell of grass and dirt and cows... Pungent and alive, but by no means unpleasant. Everything was lush and alive. Anyways, there were designated walkways through these pastures, so it's not like we just snuck onto someone's farm. We climbed up small wooden stairs to go over the fences, and through the pasture, and followed the trail into a wooded area, where the temperature around us cooled visibly, and we were dappled with shadows as we moved along it. The path bordered the wood, with the meadow on the other side of us, pitting up into a sort of precarious strip through shadows and light on each side of us. It narrowed, grew a wooden guardrail, and ended with a view of the rolling hills. I've never touched something so old in my life, and it is... beautiful. It was wonderful being around something so ancient, and I couldn't help but reflect on all the people who had been in that spot over the years. Through the hundreds of thousands of days, different weather, animals, and of course the life and death that that it's no doubt witnessed as the wall has slowly disappeared into the earth. And now, there's me... my fingers resting on the mottled stone. Cool to the touch, and roughed by countless seasons, gravity, and animals. And when I'm dead, this wall with remain. You gotta give it to the Romans... they could build a wall with longevity in mind.