Newcastle and North East England

With around 600 shops in the city centre alone, you will be spoilt for choice. Just two minutes from campus is Northumberland street, one of Newcastle's main shopping thoroughfares. There are also two huge city-centre shopping malls, the Monument Mall and the Eldon Garden and Eldon Square malls, which make shopping very easy in the city centre.

If you still haven't found what you're looking for, there are a host of designer shops, chain stores and one-off boutiques around Newcastle to suit all tastes and budgets. Bargain hunters should head straight for the city's fabulous markets - try Quayside Sunday Market with its collection of crafts, jewellery, fashion and food, or the weekend arts and crafts market on Armstrong Bridge in Jesmond Dene.

The most interesting market of all is the Grainger Market. This Victorian market hall is filled with everything from fruit and vegetable stalls to hardware and book stalls.

Newcastle is a very cosmopolitan city. It has its own China town in the west, and at Brigg Market there is a restaurant with the world's hottest curry. Other international food is available too, from Japanese to Thai, Persian to Mongolian, as well as tapas, fajitas and pizza.

There is a great line of Italian and Asian restaurants near the Quayside that offer special lunch deals and early-bird evening meals.

The £70 million Sage Gateshead music centre on the banks of the river offers world-class music concerts, with international artists often performing. It is also home to one of Europe's leading chamber orchestras, the Northern Sinfonia.

If you're looking for live music venues, The Cluny, The Tyne, The Cumberland Arms and the Head of Steam regularly welcome local bands, and all have a great atmosphere.

If you're looking for mainstream music, check out the Metro Radio Arena or the O2 Academy. Artists who have played recently include Lenny Kravitz, Massive Attack and Paulo Nutini. There's also Newcastle City Hall, which offers a mix of rock, pop, comedy and musicals.

Newcastle is one of the world's greatest party cities, and there is a wide selection of restaurants, bars and clubs to enjoy.

Comedy is also an integral part of Newcastle's entertainment scene. Check out the famous Hyena Comedy Club, which has acts most nights of the week, and the annual Comedy Festival, which brings top-rated comedians to the city.

If you like to watch films, the Empire cinema and the Odeon multiplex show all the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

The smaller Tyneside Cinema shows alternative, art house and foreign language films, and has a charming atmosphere.

For theatre-lovers, the Theatre Royal hosts big productions, including many West End shows and also some by the Royal Shakespeare Company. On the university campus, the Northern Stage Theatre is one of the largest theatre companies in the North East of England.

If you love to dance, you will love Dance City. It has a huge range of dance classes, including ballet, breakdance, tap and tango.

The £26 million Great North Museum is on the edge of the Newcastle University campus and holds more than 3,500 artefacts. An exact replica of a nearly complete T-Rex skeleton and a scale model of Hadrian's Wall are among its highlights.

The city is famous for science, and has two science museums - the interactive Centre for Life and the Discovery Museum - both of which are well worth a visit.

If you love art, you will have lots to choose from in Newcastle. For modern art, check out Baltic on the Gateshead Quays or The Biscuit Factory - Britain's biggest commercial gallery. The Laing Art Gallery in the city centre meanwhile offers traditional eighteenth and nineteenth century art, as well as exhibitions from the likes of Yoko Ono and Tracey Emin.

Newcastle is a great city for sports fans.

St James' Park, the home of premier league side Newcastle United, is just a few minutes' walk from campus. The 52,000-seat stadium is filled with loyal supporters on match days, and if you like football we highly recommend you go and see a match.

You can also watch the city's rugby team, the Newcastle Falcons, or go to the Gateshead International Stadium to see the athletics. Then there's the city's basketball team, the Newcastle Eagles, and ice-hockey team, the Vipers, both of which play regularly at the Metro Radio Arena.

The world's biggest half marathon, the Great North Run, is also held in Newcastle each year and has 50,000 runners taking part.

Just outside the city, there is some of the most beautiful and unspoilt countryside and coastline in the UK. You can experience everything from the windswept Cheviot Hills to the golden beaches at Bamburgh.You can also trek for miles through the forest around Kielder Water, the largest man-made lake in Europe, or catch some waves with the surfers at Tynemouth beach, a regular stopping point for the UK Pro Surf Tour.

Historical The region has a rich history, with more castles than any other county in England or Wales.

Hadrian's Wall, built 2,000 years ago by a Roman emperor, stretches 73 miles across the North of England and is a World Heritage Site. Whether you want to walk the whole length, or just visit a section, it's great to experience what is probably Britain's most famous Roman monument.

One of the fastest ways to travel in the city is the Metro Rail System.

The Metro is Newcastle's equivalent to the London underground.  There are 60 Metro stations serving Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. Metro stations are also easy to find - just look out for the yellow cubes which are situated next to all stations.

With stations close to the university campus and many of the main student living areas, the Metro makes it easy to pop back home between lectures, or visit the city centre in the evening. It also provides a direct link to the coast - great if you fancy a day trip to the seaside.

The nearest station to the Newcastle University is Haymarket Metro Station. 

Before you travel on Metro you will need to buy a ticket. Ticket machines are located inside each station entrance. A single and return ticket to the city-centre will cost between £1.30 and £3.50 depending on how far you are travelling.

There is an international airport less than six miles from the city centre, which has international connections via Amsterdam, Paris and Dubai, and cheap flights to key European and UK cities.

From the city's Central Station, you can pick up fast rail connections to London, Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The comprehensive transport service in Newcastle also includes the local bus network. Services run frequently across the city including to Leazes Parade and Henderson Hall accommodations from the city centre Haymarket and Monument bus stations.  Tickets can cost between £1 for a single journey to £3.30 for an all day ticket.

Although taxis are generally a more expensive mode of transport in the UK, the compact nature of the city make them a fast means of getting around the city. In the UK, it is usually not possible to hail a taxi on the street, and so you either need to pre-book or go to an official taxi rank.