Newcastle upon Tyne

A green arch bridge opened in 1928, a few years ahead of Sydney Harbour Bridge, which the same firm designed. From spring to summer kittiwakes nest in its towers, a colony famous for lying so far inland. Their calls ring loud on the riverside path below.

A bridge for walkers and cyclists only, and when a boat passes the whole deck tilts up on its side. Because it looks like an eyelid closing, it is called the blinking eye. Tilt times are announced in advance, so you can turn up to see one.

A former flour mill on the Gateshead riverside, reopened in 2002 as a contemporary art centre with free admission. With no permanent collection, it runs only temporary shows, so each visit differs. An upper-floor viewing space lines up the river's bridges.

Antony Gormley's steel sculpture, raised in 1998, stands 20m tall with wings 54m across. It rises on a hill over an old colliery, visible to drivers on the A1. Visitors stroll up to its very feet, and it was built to hold firm in strong wind.

A curving 19th-century stone street running downhill, often named the finest in Britain. On the column at its top stands Earl Grey, prime minister behind the 1832 Reform Act and the Grey of the tea. The inner stair opens on just a handful of days yearly.

The new castle built here in 1080 gave the city its name; the stone keep you see dates from a 12th-century rebuild. A railway viaduct cuts between the keep and its gatehouse, so trains rumble over your head. The roof looks down on the Tyne bridges.

A Roman fort site at Wallsend, where Hadrian's Wall ends, as the place name itself says. A viewing tower shows the fort's floor plan in one view, and a rebuilt Roman bathhouse stands beside it. Signs at nearby Wallsend Metro station are in English and Latin.

A priory ruin and a castle share the headland where the Tyne meets the sea, and many surfers ride Longsands beach next to it. The Metro runs out from the city. At weekends a market sets up under the Victorian station roof, selling antiques and food.

A museum by the university, free to enter. A T. rex skeleton cast and Egyptian mummies pull in children, and a long scale model of all of Hadrian's Wall runs across one gallery. Stop in before walking the Wall and you will have its route in your head.

The tide covers the causeway twice a day and cuts the island off; it was home to a 7th-century monastery and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Safe crossing times shift daily and must be checked first. Every year cars that ignore them get stranded and need rescue.

A covered market Richard Grainger built in 1835, its aisles packed with butchers, fishmongers and bakers. Inside survives a Marks & Spencer Penny Bazaar stall kept as the chain first looked. Sunday is its day off.

An open-air market strung along the riverside below the Tyne Bridge every Sunday. Crafts, second-hand books and street food stalls line the way, with Gateshead across the water. Go in the morning, while every stall is still set up.

A small valley meeting the Tyne where the Quayside runs out eastward, its old works and warehouses now pubs, music venues and studios. Seven Stories, a centre for children's books, and a little city farm sit inside it. Weekend evenings bring a pub crawl crowd.

A Norman cathedral begun in 1093, listed with the castle on a rocky bend of the river as World Heritage. St Cuthbert lies at the east end and the historian Bede at the west. Trains from Newcastle take about 15 minutes, so it fits in half a day.

An open-air museum that rebuilds North East towns, a colliery and farms of the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s. Old trams and buses link the areas, and shops sell sweets and chips made the period way. One ticket lets you back in for a year.

The best-preserved Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, the wall running away along the ridge. Barracks, the headquarters and a stone latrine where soldiers sat in rows are all laid bare. Reaching it means a long uphill walk from parking, into a fierce wind.

A castle on a basalt crag over a wide sandy beach on the Northumberland coast. It was once the royal seat of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, and Victorian industrialist Armstrong rebuilt what stands today. The famous view is looking up from the sand.

The Percy family's seat for nearly 700 years, which played Hogwarts' flying-lesson lawn in Harry Potter. Broomstick sessions run in the courtyard, and a guide leads every visit to the Poison Garden next door. Driving from Newcastle takes around an hour.