Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates. Visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +44 (0)191 286 5070. Open from 7.30am-11.30pm Monday-Friday and 9am-11pm at the weekend.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Train: Metro trains go directly to the city centre. Tickets: £2.70.

Taxi: The fare is about £18 to the city centre.

Bus: Buses depart from near the airport entrance. Tickets: from £1.90.

El Coto
( 21A Leazes Park. Tel. 0191 261 0555 )
Spanish restaurant offering tasty tapas dishes. The venue also hosts regular flamenco nights—well it would, wouldn't it?

Avanti Restaurant
( 52-54 Brentwood Avenue, Jesmond. Tel. 0191 281 4240 )
Cosy family-run Italian restaurant that, while contemporary in design, is subtly lit to prove a big hit with courting couples. There are a wide range of pasta and pizza dishes on offer.

Coco Mos
( 26 The Side. Tel. 0191 222 0808 )
Big and brash Italian restaurant on the Quayside. While it's a big venue, the management has divided it up to make it pleasantly cosy and inviting.

The Prickly Pear
( 5 The Side. Tel. 0191 232 5537 )
This up-market brasserie offers British cooking with a modern twist, ideally situated in the centre of the Quayside for people watchers. Try the decadent fillet of black gold beef with pomme dauphine and black truffle sauce.

Union Rooms
( 48 Westgate Road. Tel. 0191 261 5718 )
Few pubs can match this French renaissance-style building for grandeur or good-value beer. A truly mixed crowd of students, locals and businessmen.

Trillians Rock Bar
( Princess Square. Tel. 0191 232 1619 )
Named after a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, this has become a city institution, attracting those who love headbanging and playing air-guitar to the cream of local rock acts.

Baby Lynch
( 28-32 Collingwood Street. Tel. 0191 230 4114 )
Outlandish, lavish décor sets this new city-centre bar apart from the rest. Studiously cool without taking itself too seriously, Baby Lynch attracts a stylish and laid-back crowd.

Attica sells period clothing from the 1920s to 1980s with a great range of dinner jackets, ballgowns and footwear, as well as furniture and artefacts for the home (2 Old George Yard, off High Bridge. Tel. 0191 261 4062).

The Gateshead side of the river Tyne is taking off. Cross the Millennium Bridge and you're greeted by what looks like a giant glass-and metal slug. The £70 million home of music at the Sage Gateshead boasts state-of-the-art concert halls, recording studios, a restaurant and bar (Tel. 0870 703 4555).

Hip-hop star Kanye West arrives at the Metroradio arena with his Glow in the Dark show. West’s atypical set design includes a robot designed by acclaimed artist Christian Colon and characters from the Jim Henson Creature Shop (13 November).

Saltburn – Sitting high above the sea, Saltburn retains all the traditional charm of a Victorian seaside resort, including colourful Italian gardens and walks through wooded glens. It also has the oldest water-balanced cliff tramway in Britain, linking the town with the pier below. It's only an hour's drive from Newcastle (www.saltburnbysea.com).

The world's first dog show was held in Newcastle in 1859.

Compiled by Michelle Ord