Look , its a great space and from time to time , over many years I have seen some stunning Contemporary Art there…but the last couple of visits have been really poor. There’s more art in the shop than in the gallery space…its a great space that is currently wasted space. I am sorry to say but I would curate things a lot differently and I am sure many other visitors would too…

Very friendly welcome as we entered, and café staff were lovely too! When we went through the exhibit on the 5th floor, the plant and herb room, there was a very abrupt male staff member - who was in charge of the tea samples. There was also a lady who was quite rude to us at the herb grinding table. When we accidentally lifted a lid, she scolded us and explained it was for herb grinding at 4pm. We apologised profusely and also suggested a sign as the pots are very inviting and it’s not obvious you’re not allowed to open them. Her response to this was “well there’s no sign saying to open them either so how about don’t open them”. From what was a lovely experience we felt quite embarrassed and left after this.

We went with friends to the free Sunday morning behind the scenes tour and it was excellent! The views from the top of the building are amazing. It was really interesting to see how art is moved around the building, the library facilities and the bee hives on the roof.

This is a good place for a wander when the weather is awful as there are nice views of the quayside and plenty of space. It's free. There is a nice cafe with decent scones. The shop has some unusual things in if you're a bit stuck for Christmas presents. There's a childrens area and sensory room. There's parking behind the Baltic, but most of the other carparks around there seem to be getting built on. The best bit at the moment (I felt) is floor 1 which has an exhibition from a workshop with local neurodivergent people - the walls are plastered with colour and there are short films of how the pieces are made. There's so much joy in the pictures - that's what art should be about. The top floor has the Waiting Gardens exhibition at the moment which was the reason I went to the Baltic. With the blinds up on the skylights it is a large, bright,airy space, and has so much potential with the lay out - but my gardener's fingers were itching to sort out the frequent dead and wilting plants (despite a sign which says the plants are attended weekly by a team of volunteers). The ferns on the back wall seemed to be doing well, shame about the cyclamen and the various dead shrubs, some of which looked like they had been there for some time. Unless it's some sort of metaphor.....I know nothing about art

Where to begin? There was so much to see and think about here. We particularly enjoyed seeing the Waiting Gardens of the North installation, which is in a huge, dramatic space, and the paintings by people who are neurodiverse - I wish I had half their talent and creativity. The cafe was also excellent and has stunning arrangements of hanging plants from the very high ceiling. Great views of the city from the massive windows too. Go if you can!

Come here for a great photo of ‘the bridges’ but obviously you’ll want to look around too. There was an interesting exhibition from lands afar when we visited - a great way to teach those younger ones about the world and other cultures, have a chat about our country’s role in regional politics whilst your at it (2 birds and all that). Makers market was on too to check out local artists. You could grab a bite or drink here but I’d recommend crossing the bridge for more options. Enjoy!

The use of the magnificent building is what drew us in . It’s commendable that the structure still stands in its original splendour at the side of the modern iconic bridge . Got to be honest the interior underwhelmed us , but maybe we didn’t give it enough time . We were hoping to see the North finally start giving the South a run for its money . However the staff were lovely and the viewing areas were fabulous.

We have been to the Baltic a number of times before but on this occasion found the art was somewhat underwhelming. May be this is down to taste. The area around the gallery are lovey and lively, I do love a bridge. The Baltic building is a fine piece of architecture. I would have like to see some information about the buildings past within the gallery but hey ho that’s what Google is for. The installation on the top floor was interesting but the rest of the spaces just didn’t do it for me, again it may be down to taste. As another reviewer wrote there isn’t a lot for children, particularly those above the age of 5. Even as an adult I do like some “interactive” parts of galleries, be it sounds, lights or movement. In a positive note the restaurant Six is great, we went up for a coffee and had a great view from up there. Even the ladies toilet was a “room with a view”. The maitre de was fantastic, professional and welcoming. It wasn’t even that expensive. It was nice, relaxing with great views. The viewing platform was open but as the birds were nesting it was a bit noisy and smelly! So we didn’t stay long. I’m not quite sure where this gallery is trying to pitch itself. I will come back again but may be leave it a year or two until it has had a revamp and a change of exhibition.

Another enjoyable visit to The Baltic today. Fav was the Franki Raffles photography exhibition which was great, very interesting work by a very committed talented woman well worth viewing. The pelvic sculpture Hannah Perry made a strong statement and the Fenwick's exhibition included a good selection of paintings and images. We also had some lovely food in the cafe - much improved since our last visit. Trout bagel, tuna toasties, blondie and coffees were all lovely and fresh at very reasonable price. Great helpful and friendly staff and service in comfortable airy space. We look fwd to returning soon x

Fabulous free resource in a brilliant airy building. Good location. Nice to see a real mixture of artists. Enjoyed the viewing platform. The shop had a marvellous selection of quirky pieces, worth the visit for that alone!