Originally flourishing during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, the region of Tyneside has all but thrown off its industrial past since the decline of manufacturing and shipbuilding - the area's major employers at one time.
Although the area's past connections with the coal and steel industries are only really evident in some of its older buildings, there are a few examples of Tyneside's heritage still operating to this day, such as the functioning shipyard in Wallsend.
In recent decades there has been a large degree of reinvention of Tyneside, with many new architectural sights to take in: the spectacularly beautiful curved Millennium Bridge that links Newcastle to Gateshead has, rightly, become a source of great civic pride.
For visiting culture-lovers, there stands the stunning Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on the banks of the Tyne; the region's history of glass manufacture is comprehensively covered by the impressive £16 million National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
A number of less state-of-the-art but no less interesting attractions are also present on Tyneside: the one-time home of the Venerable Bede - St Paul's Monastery - where the renowned monk and scholar penned much of his work is situated in Jarrow.
In North Tyneside lie the ruins of Tynemouth Priory and Castle, an 11th century Benedictine monastery built on the remnants of a Saxon castle; among the many quality local museums and galleries are two of the country's most visited arts venues, The Liang Art Gallery, which houses an extensive collection of both international and local art, and the Sunderland Museum and Gallery, which is more focussed on archeology and local history.