15 Best Activity Centres In Tyne and Wear

Because the county has almost no spare land. Tyne and Wear is one continuous built-up area, so operators take over existing buildings rather than clearing ground, and fourteen of the fifteen entries here are flagged indoor as a result. The upside is that the weather stops being a factor. The downside is that a child who needs to run in a straight line for a while will not get that here, and Go Ape Matfen is the single entry that offers open air instead.

Newcastle Climbing Centre stands north of the river, Sunderland Wall south of it, and for most families the honest deciding factor is which one you can reach without a fight. Both are flagged indoor. Beyond location, ring ahead and ask about minimum ages, whether an adult must climb too, and how much kit you need to bring, because those rules differ from wall to wall and are the thing most likely to catch you out on arrival.

Laing Art Gallery is filed here but it is a gallery, and you should turn up expecting a gallery — rooms, pictures, quiet. It has drifted into the activity-centres list rather than being a soft play or a climbing centre in disguise. That is worth knowing before you promise a child a morning of running about, because the visit is a good one on its own terms and a disappointment if it has been sold as something else.

This is a strong county for that age. Active Reality Newcastle and Point Blank Shooting, Newcastle are built around a group doing something competitive in a dark room, which lands well with eleven-year-olds and up. Override Skate Park suits a child who already skates or scoots and wants somewhere to do it properly. The two climbing walls sit in the middle, taking beginners and giving an older child something they can visibly improve at.