COVID-19 UPDATE: There have been so many changes for businesses lately it’s hard to keep up! This section will be updated in due course as things return to normal, in the meantime you can use the ideas here as a rough guide or can check our A-Z of Days Out here for more recent info and links. You can also like our Facebook Page here for updates
If you run a relevant activity or business that’s not listed yet (or if you’re a parent with a recommendation) please feel free to get in touch with details.
Basic listings are free, information on upgraded listings (with up to 200 words, social media links & photos) can be found here.
Daily: 10am – 5pm
Grand Parade, Tynemouth, North Tyneside, NE3O 4JF
Tel: 0191 2581031
Over 40 different displays, from local waters to the more exotic, including black tip reef shark and cownose rays. Watch colourful fish all around as you walk through the ocean tunnel.
Prices: £8.50 – £10.95
Family: from £37.90
(show bus/metro ticket when purchasing your tickets to save £2 pp).
📌 114 Park View, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 3QL
Arts & Crafts Studio offering drop-in craft & create sessions, Sunday workshops, pre-school sessions Wed-Fri mornings, parties & events and a monthly ladies night. Hot and cold drinks available.
👉 For more info, visit @crafthousene
🎫 Drop in sessions from £3.50-£6 per hour
Materials costs vary (e.g. canvases, MDF shapes, wooden letters, journals etc.)
📌 Cullercoats Bay, North Tyneside, NE30 4BY
A sandy bay enclosed by two piers, with nearby dining options including cafe, takeaway and pub. Moderate coastal walks of around 3-4 miles to Whitley Bay beach or Tynemouth beach.
👉 Free
📌 Albion Road, North Shields, North Tyneside, NE30 2RQ
An old church with three-tiered soft play, two separate toddler areas, car track, large ball pool and bouncy castle. Cafe serving breakfast, lunch, main meals and treats.
👉 For more info, visit @kikiskabin
🎫 From £3.95-£4.25 (under 1’s free)
📌 9 Marine Avenue, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 1LY
Role play cafe including supermarket, cinema, doctors, American diner, beauty salon, ice cream palour, dress up and ride on toys and road. Cafe serving snacks and treats.
For more info, visit @littleybay
🎫 From £2.50-£6 per child, additional adults £2 pp (0-6 month old siblings free)
📌 Grand Parade, Tynemouth, North Tyneside, NE30 4JL
Beach with around a mile of dunes and cliffs. Tynemouth Park with boating lake, dinosaur themed mini-golf, pirate themed maze & scavenger hunt, and inflatable play areas for toddlers and older children. Cafe serving snacks and takeaway serving fish & chips.
👉 For more info, visit @tynemouthpark
🎫 Pedalos/Golf/Inflatables/Maze: from £3
Film times vary, see website for details.
Osprey Drive, Wallsend, North Tyneside, NE28 9NP
Tel: 0333 006 7777
‘ODEON Newbies’ are regular baby-friendly screenings of the latest releases with softer volume and slightly brighter lights for the comfort of under 2’s. ‘ODEON Kids’ are special value screenings every Saturday and Sunday morning, plus throughout the school holidays.
Tuesday, Thursday – Saturday: 10am – 6pm
Wednesday: 10am – 9pm
12a Russell Street, North Shields, North Tyneside, NE29 0BL
Tel: 0191 2728333
Offering sit in and mobile pottery painting services, with a wide selection of pottery to choose from, plus delicious pancakes! Various parent and child courses run throughout the summer holidays (6+ years), such clay building, mosaic and polymer clay.
Pottery from £4.
📌 North Road, Wallsend, North Tyneside, NE28 8RH
Victorian park with formal gardens, lake and woodland walks, sports courts, skate park and playground with swings, slides and toddler playframe. Plus a water play feature with trough and pump. Cafe serving snacks and treats.
👉 Free
📌 Rising Sun Countryside Centre, Whitley Road, Benton, North Tyneside, NE12 9SS
162 hectares of woodlands, grasslands, farmland and nature reserve with ponds. Walking and cycling trails, play area and a hillside water play feature with shallow stream, mini waterfalls and pebble mosaics. Cafe with terrace.
👉 For more info, visit North Tyneside Council
📌 Buddlestreet, Wallsend, North Tyneside, NE28 6HR
The most excavated and developed fort along Hadrian’s Wall, featuring a 35m high observation tower, Roman garden and colliery. Museum displaying Roman artifacts with interactive displays, kids craft activities and cafe.
👉 For more info, visit @segedunum
🎫 Adults: £5.95 (under 16s & NE28 residents free)
📌 Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 4RS
St Mary’s Island is reached by a short causeway covered by tides twice a day, with exhibits on the lighthouse’s history and surrounding Nature Reserve, including cliffs, grassland, beaches and rock pools. Brave the 137 steps to enjoy spectacular views from the top.
👉 For more info, visit @St. Mary’s Lighthouse
🎫 From £1.70-£3.30 pp / Family from £7.70
📌 Middle Engine Lane, North Shields, North Tyneside, NE29 8DX
Steam railway museum with interactive exhibitions and a range locomotives and carriages. On Sundays, bank holidays (and selected dates) take a four mile return trip on a vintage locomotive in 1950s passenger carriages.
👉 For more info, visit @stephensonrailway
🎫 Museum free (donations welcome).
Train rides from £5-£7 pp / Family from £17 (under 5s free)
Seasonal opening, typically closed Nov-Jan (excluding special events)
📌 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 2HU
Cafe with three-tiered soft play, plus separate baby/toddler area with toys and sensory corner. Regular activities such as crafts and stories included with entry fee. Additional classes for babies to teens offered. Shop selling traditional toys and children’s wear. Cafe serving snacks, lunches and treats.
👉 For more info, visit @The Splat Centre
🎫 From £2.50-£4.50 per child (under 1s free)
📌 Claremont Crescent, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 3HL
Three-tiered soft play with rope bridges and slides, plus toddler area with log climb and slide and baby area with play mats and toys. Story time on Mondays and Fridays included in entry fee, also two resident talking trees. Cafe serving lunch and main meals.
👉 For more info, visit @TheWBTreehouse
🎫 From £1-£4 per child
Toddler discount selected times Tuesdays/Thursdays: £2
📌 Pier Road, Tynemouth, North Tyneside, NE30 4BZ
An English Heritage site on the headland of Tynemouth, with fantastic views overlooking the river Tyne and North Sea. There are interactive exhibits on the history of the site, including the ruined castle, priory, 15th century chapel, restored gun battery and cannon.
👉 For more info, visit @TynemouthPriory
🎫 From £4.70-£7.80 pp / Family £12.50-£20.30 (under 5s free)
Seasonal opening – varies from daily to weekends only throughout colder months
📌 The Links, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 1TQ
Swimming pool with wave machine and flume slides, and children’s play pool featuring pirate ship with small slides. Compact two-tiered soft play, gym, spa and coffee shop serving snacks and treats. Also after school and school holiday activities offered.
👉 For more info, visit @wavesNTC
🎫 From 70p-£6.50 pp / Family from £9.30 – £21.70
Cardholder discounts
Monday – Sunday: 10am – 9pm
Hillshead Road, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE25 8HP
Tel: 0191 291 1000
Open all year round for fun, exercise and developing skills. There are open sessions and various classes, including a gentle introductory class for 2-6 year olds. There is a weekly skate disco on Friday nights. You can also watch Whitley Warriors Ice Hockey team matches.
Prices from £6.50
📌 Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, NE26 4RS
A long sand and rock beach, with a tearoom, pancake house and restaurant within the seafront Spanish City dome, which hosts an annual fun fair in late August. Nearby is Whitley Bay Water Park playground & sports area, with sand pit and water splash pad, including a variety of spray features and a paddling pool.
👉 Free. For more info, visit North Tyneside Council
