5 walks in Newcastle Upon Tyne you can enjoy on your lunch break

*This is a collaborative post

The month of May is National Walking month and I've joined forces with Westfield Health and vowed to get out there walking on my lunch break more often, in fact I hope to get out walking every day if possible and I hope I inspire a few others to sign up and join in with the #WalkingLunch challenge.

I work from home in Cramlington but I usually travel into Newcastle at least once every week for meetings (or lunch reviews) and have discovered that our city centre is the perfect place to enjoy a quick lunch time walk. Walking for just 20 minutes in your lunch hour has been proven to improve both your health and wellbeing and I know that I certainly feel much better after getting some fresh air in my lungs and tearing myself away from my screen. Today I thought I would share with you my top 5 walks in the Newcastle Upon Tyne that you can complete in your lunch break: 

1 - Newcastle Quayside with Crumbs

You can download the FREE Crumbs app here and complete one (or more) of their city trails. I tried the Newcastle Quayside trail last week and thoroughly enjoyed solving the various clues and picking up bits of trivia en-route. You can pause the app at any time so if you only have time to complete 20 minutes at a time, you can still join in. Just pick up where you left off next time. 

2 - Exhibition Park

We are so lucky to have such a beautiful and accessible park in the heart of our city. There are clear walking routes marked out on various maps in the park and a walk around the lake is a must. It's a lovely place to enjoy the great outdoors and when the weather's a little warmer you could even enjoy a picnic lunch here too. 

3 - Newcastle Central Station with Crumbs

Westfield Health have joined forces with Living Streets to create the Crumbs app which has been developed especially for those taking part in their #WalkingLunch challenge. You can sign up to the free challenge here and submit your daily steps. You can work as part of a team, create a friendly challenge with rival businesses or just challenge yourself as an individual as I am doing. There are lots of prizes to be won! One of the free trails on offer is a walk around Newcastle's Central Station. The Crumbs app will show you the way and will ask you trivia questions along the way which adds to the fun. 

4 - Ouseburn

It has to be said, the only time I usually walk from Newcastle to Ouseburn is when I'm partaking in an afternoon pub crawl in the sunshine but I think the distance is perfect for a lunch time stroll if you work on the Quayside. Why not pop into Ouseburn Farm for some lunch while you're there.  

5 - Baltic to Monument

A walk from the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art up to Grey's Monument is just under one mile and should take around 19 minutes. I'm sure the hike up Dean Street must burn extra calories too. This is a quick and easy walk for those in a hurry. Next time you're tempted to take the Quayside bus, think of your health and walk it instead :-) 

The benefits of joining in with #WalkingLunch

• Sign up as a team and work together to boost workplace morale
• It's free and you can win prizes
• Walking has countless health benefits including strengthening your heart, can help with weight loss and can help to prevent dementia
• Using the Crumbs app is a fun way to learn about the city where you work
• If you're taking part alone, there is a fantastic #WalkingLunch community across Social Media - just search the hashtag

You can sign up for Walking Lunch here