Your North East Christmas Guide

National World - LocalTV

With Christmas just around the corner, we’ve put together an all you need to know guide on travel, opening times and festive activities around Newcastle.

Transcript

00:00If you're planning to do some last-minute Christmas shopping in Newcastle, Eldon Square

00:06is open from 9am until 5pm on Christmas Eve. Shops on Northumberland Street are following

00:10similar opening times, with Primark open from 7am and closing at 5pm. Fenix and JD Sports

00:16are open 8am until 5pm, so it looks as though shops will be closing at 5pm and will reopen

00:20Boxing Day. However, some may differ slightly, so it's worth double checking to avoid disappointment.

00:27Some shops are also trading at reduced hours on Boxing Day with there being a bank holiday.

00:31For instance, Eldon Square will be open from 10am until 6pm. However, many stores this

00:36year will be closed on Boxing Day too, including Next, M&S, John Lewis and O2.

00:43If you're hoping to drive into Newcastle, just be wary that the Gateshead flyover is

00:46still closed and there's still only two lanes open on the Tyne Bridge, so make sure you

00:50plan ahead.

00:51But if you're thinking about using the Metro, a revised weekday service will be in place

00:57until around 6pm, then there'll be an hourly service thereafter.

01:01The Tyne and Weir Metro will also be closed on Christmas Day, with a revised Sunday service

01:05starting from around 8am on Boxing Day, which will run until around 8pm.

01:11If you're busing it into the town, Go North East will be running a normal school holiday

01:14timetable, with the majority of final departures being between 6pm and 7pm on Christmas Eve.

01:21Some services will be operating special timetables on Boxing Day, so it's worth checking out

01:26your normal bus route online or through the apps just in case.

01:31Arriva are running their normal Tuesday service until around 6pm as well, and both Go North

01:36East and Arriva services won't be running on Christmas Day.

01:40If you're looking for something fun to do around the festive week, the Christmas markets

01:43will finish in Newcastle on the 22nd of December, but there's still plenty to do in and around

01:48the city.

01:50Fenwick's Window is open to enjoy until New Year's Day.

01:53If you haven't seen it yet, it follows the 12 days of Christmas with a magical twist.

01:58The Life's Open Air Ice Rink will be open until the 5th of January, so a good one to

02:02tire the kids out with during the Christmas holidays.

02:06They also have a Skated Off Evening, which of course is a Taylor Swift themed event that

02:10will take place on the 3rd of January, so if there's any Swifties mourning over the

02:13era's tour coming to an end, this one's for you.

02:17And it obviously wouldn't be Christmas without a pantomime or two.

02:20So the Theatre Royal are presenting The Little Mermaid with lots of amazing performers, including

02:24Joe McElderry, until the 12th of January.

02:28The Tyne Theatre and Opera House are presenting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with performers

02:32including Britain's Got Talent's act Twist and Pulse.

02:35The show will be running until the 5th of January, and they have adult-only performances

02:39on their final weekend too.

02:42But if you're wanting to avoid the busy city completely, the Met Rock Centre will be open

02:46from 9am until 5pm on Christmas Eve, and will reopen on Boxing Day at 10am.

02:51They too have an open-air ice rink located in the Yellow Mall car park, and that will

02:55be running until the 5th of January as well.

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