After the full-on festive celebrations, many people are already feeling the effects of the post-Christmas slump.
Even though there’s still New Year’s Eve to come, we can find ourselves fretting about the return to work; upcoming bills; promised diets and other new year resolutions that we know we’re going to break when we make them. But at the same time the start of 2025 – and these last few days leading up to it – can offer plenty to lift the spirits, if we know where to look.
Here we have rounded up just some events, activities and ideas for family days out that can be enjoyed in coming days. We’ve included suggestions spanning the North East but remember too that there are plenty easy-access options including our galleries and museums that are free to visit.
We also have ideas here for where to go for beautiful winter walks, as fresh air and exercise always boosts both body and mind, and here’s a reminder too of cosy pubs where you could always factor in a stop-off along your route.
Winter Warmer train rides
Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields is inviting people to ‘beat the post-Christmas blues with a journey on a heritage train’ – which sounds as good an invitation as any you’re likely to get in this dry spell between Christmas and New Year. Those interested will have to act fast as they’re on this weekend only but there’s a pick of time slots and tickets are still available.
The trip will take in four miles of a historic urban line with departure times between 11.30am and 3pm. Afterwards, visitors will be able to enter the museum and look at new displays celebrating the lives of local railway pioneers George and Robert Stephenson.
Also check out the 1816 Newcastle-built Billy – the forerunner of the Rocket and the third oldest-surviving locomotive in the world. There’s a new under-fives area too where young ones can play the role of a train guard. To book train ride tickets see here.
A festive trail at Beamish Museum invites families to track down 12 woolly characters hiding around the site
Twelfth Night celebrations at Beamish
After Christmas, festivities are continuing at the award-winning open-air museum in County Durham during its daily opening hours from 10am to 4pm until January 5 (after which the museum will have reduced Friday-Sunday opening until February 21). This current period offers visitors a chance to learn more about the traditions of Twelfth Night which in the 18th and 19th century was celebrated to mark the end of the Christmas season.
And those celebrations usually meant mischief and merrymaking, with partying, food, drink and traditional games. Visitors will be able to enter into the spirit of the occasion by, for instance, enjoying some old-style fun at Pockerley Old Hall where there will be Georgian music, fruit punch and a chance to make a Twelfth Night mask then learning about first-footing gifts, such as coins, bread, salt and coal, in The 1900s Pit Village.
There are also two family trails running during ‘twixmas’ with trail sheets available to collect from the museum entrance. Entry is free with the Beamish Unlimited Pass or Friends membership: otherwise see costs here.
Winter wander at Seaton Delaval Hall
National Trust properties across the region have been busy hosting festive activities in addition to their regular events programme and those at this Northumberland favourite have included a Robin’s Winter Wander trail and there’s a snow globes activity coming up on January 3 – see here – which is also included in the admission price: find a break-down of fees here.
And of course the hall is surrounded by huge grounds which are perfect for a family walk. Its novel children’s attraction, the Delaval Playdium, is a hit too.
The Making Studios at Life Science Centre in Newcastle which is offering half-price tickets for a limited time only
(Image: Life Science Centre)
Half-price tickets at Life Science Centre
The Newcastle visitor attraction is offering 50% off all tickets up until Sunday, January 5, which, as previously reported, also happens to be the last date that its annual outdoor pop-up ice rink will be in action. It means admission tickets for the centre are now reduced to £7.12 for adults; £5.25 for three to 17-year-olds and £6.62 for concessions for over-65s, students and the unemployed. Read more about it here and to take advantage of the 50% off deal use the code FESTIVE50 when booking here.
(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Tree-mendous sights at Cragside
Who wouldn’t want to see the UK’s tallest living Christmas tree? Well, you have your chance as it’s standing in the grounds of another National Trust property in Northumberland. Cragside’s huge 42-metre giant Redwood – twice as tall as the Angel of the North apparently – has been decorated with more than 2,000 lights as part of a Spirits of the Forest attraction.
The grand house at Rothbury – former home of inventor Lord Armstrong – has had a woodland makeover too which is on show until January 5. That’s the last date for seeing the UK’s tallest Christmas tree too, after which time it presumably will face nothing worse than having its decorations removed. Read more here and find admission prices here.
Raby Castle special offers
As previously reported, the County Durham castle hosted a new Christmas in the Entrance Hall experience this year and now the extra entry charge for this will be waived between December 30 and January 5 (note it will be closed on New Year’s Day, January 1 however) so that families can enjoy an extra treat before they go back to work or school.
The opportunity to view the festive decorations will be included in all tickets for its deer park and gardens tickets as well as those for The Plotters’ Forest woodland playground and trail (this will have discounted entry on New Year’s Day). For tickets see here. A second trail is available at nearby High Force waterfall until January 5 while the Yuletide Yurt in the castle grounds will be open between Christmas and New Year.
And those looking for something different to do on New Year’s Day might welcome the chance to enjoy a breath of fresh air while helping out a good cause: the annual January 1 charity walk will be taking place in the castle’s deer park and raising funds for the Great North Air Ambulance through donations: find out more here.
Raby Castle in County Durham. It might be snow-free at present but the castle, park and gardens look scenic year-round
(Image: Raby Castle PR)
Steam to Green exhibition
This exhibition now under way at Discovery Museum in Newcastle embraces the story of energy in the North East and will be telling it through exhibits and a programme of events until September 2026. Full-name Steam to Green: A North East Energy Revolution, it promises something for all ages with a look back to the industrial revolution and an eye on the future with regards to the region’s already pioneering work in in green technologies.
Look out for hands-on displays and a ‘cutaway’ electric NISSAN Leaf car when the exhibition, along with the rest of the museum, reopens from its festive break on January 1. Entry is free although donations are always welcome. For news of more highlight exhibitions set to take place across the North East in 2025 see our guide here.
National Glass Centre demonstrations
Inviting us to celebrate the area’s glass-making heritage, the free-to-enter Sunderland attraction is always stuffed with things to see and do and that includes fascinating glass-making demonstrations to watch which are running every day, save for January 3.
There are also drop-in activity trails available until January 31 while current exhibitions include Menagerie – a collection of animals and creatures made by glass and ceramic artists – and Veterans into Clay which features ceramics that have been created by a community of veterans, their families and friends over the past six months.
The centre is now home to the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art too, adding to the vibe of an endlessly creative hub. Find out more here.
Continue the festive magic at Bamburgh Castle
For those reluctant to see the end of Christmas, there’s still time to wallow in the most festive of atmospheres – and in the most lovely of settings. The Northumberland castle’s seasonal makeover, on the theme of A Christmas Through Time, can be seen until January 5 with daily opening from 10am until 4pm.
The Christmas Kingdom experience takes the form of a trail through 14 of the castle’s individually-decorated state rooms where there are re-imaginings of Christmases past as well as present and future. For our review of the annual event see here.
Entry is included in the castle’s admission price. For costs and to book see here.
Visit Adventure Valley
If your kids have trouble keeping still then a day out to this County Durham attraction could have them cavorting around a playground one minute then stumbling around on skates in a roller disco the next. Those are just two of the outdoor possibilities at the adventure park which also include go-karting plus an array of animals such as llamas, alpaca and donkeys to visit.
Indoor options meanwhile include a Wild West play town area and an animal barn. It’s also proud to be the home of Bertie, the world’s fastest tortoise. See him in action here when he was 10 years younger.
Adventure Valley is currently advertising a ‘beat the winter blues’ offer which means that one child can have free entry with each paying adult and this runs until February 21. Read more here.
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