Sunderland Travel Guide

Sunderland is the largest city between Leeds and Glasgow, was once an industrial town, but is now undergoing a cultural renaissance.

The city has the largest area of Green Belt land and Beaches within any city in the UK and is hope to plenty of spectacular attractions.

The city centre has been, and is planned to undergo more, renovation and regeneration and is home to one of the region's most popular shopping centres, The Bridges, which has doubled in size. The Mowbray park, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens has been regenerated, with the park restored to its Victorian Splendour, and the Museum and Winter Gardens winning the 'best large visitor attraction' in the UK.

The beaches, country parks, wildfowl park, Railway Museum, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art are some of the other attractions on offer to visitors of the city.

The University also offers its own Reg Vardy Art Gallery, with the Library and Arts centre also being home to various displays and a fantastci gift shop.

The regenerated Riverside provides a hugely interesting Riverside Sculpture train, leading to the National Glass Centre ( The Nation's centre for glass and glass-making), the stunning arcitecture of the St. Peter's Campus of the University oif Sunderland, and on to the beaches and marina.

The nightlife of the city is fantastic, with a new super-club recently opened in September, to add to the wide variety of pubs and clubs offering something for everyone.

More specialst shops can be found in the Park Lane Shopping Village, and the city's cultural quarter, Sunniside, is planned to undergo major regeneration and will soon be a home for live entertainment, street cafés etc.

Sunderland Empire is the largest theatre in the North-East, the only one capable of hosting west-end productions such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Dec 2005 - March 2006.)

Visitors can also visit the ancestoral home of George Washington at Washington Old Hall, take in the countryside on the River Wear trail, visit the stunning Penshaw Monument, take a tour around the Stadium of Light, home to SAFC, see the huge range of gigs and live music events happening in the city voted by NME as being the best place for live music, or indulge in the glorious cuisine offered by the city's host of restaurants and eateries.