Food and Drink

Holy Island oysters, Tweed salmon, Cheviot lamb, Doddington ice cream, Coquetdale cheese... One of the highlights of your visit will be tasting some of the region's fantastically fresh food. For a sneak preview, and a free tasting, visit one of our farmers' markets. In fact, why not make up a picnic while you're about it?
There are the seriously polished restaurants - Black Door and Jesmond Dene House, Seaham Hall and The Pump House - and the seriously chic - Secco and Barn, Hide and Oldfields. And in-between there's a host of laid-back café-bars, traditional country pubs and family-friendly affairs - not to mention a host of nationalities from Mongolian and Japanese (plus Newcastle's Chinatown) to Italian and Mexican.
You could have Craster kippers for breakfast in a Northumbrian b&b, a ploughman's country pub lunch (local cheeses and locally-brewed beer, naturally) then stretch out over home-made afternoon tea at one of the dozens of village tea-rooms. After a gentle stroll - check our walking section for ideas - put on your glam clothes for a cocktail or two in town (try Newcastle's Quayside or Durham's riverfront) before tucking into dinner.
It's not all trendy lounge bars. There are still traditional pubs serving thirst-quenching, local beers. Wylam Rapper, Prince Bishop and Byker Pale are three local brews to look out for. Cheers!