Seven bridges across the Tyne, a quayside that comes alive at night and the Angel of the North on the way in: Newcastle is warm, proud and great fun.
Newcastle upon Tyne takes its name from the new castle built here by the son of William the Conqueror in 1080, on the site of a Roman fort near the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall. For centuries it was a frontier town facing Scotland, and later it grew into one of the great industrial cities of the world, exporting coal and building ships, locomotives and engines.
Today Newcastle is famous for its friendliness, its nightlife, its football and its dramatic setting on the steep banks of the River Tyne, crossed by seven bridges within about a mile. The people, known as Geordies, are some of the warmest in Britain. This guide covers ten things to see and do, followed by where to eat, a weekend plan and how to get there.
1. The Quayside and the bridges
The Quayside, along the northern bank of the Tyne, is the heart of Newcastle. It is lined with bars, restaurants, hotels and old merchants’ houses, and it looks across the river to Gateshead. Walking along it, with the bridges ahead of you, is one of the great city walks in Britain.
Seven bridges cross the Tyne within about a mile. The green arched Tyne Bridge, opened in 1928, is the symbol of the city. The High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson and opened in 1849, carries trains on the top deck and road traffic below, and the Swing Bridge, from 1876, can turn to let ships pass.
The newest, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, is a footbridge that tilts to let boats through, like a giant eyelid opening and closing. It is known as the Blinking Eye. Watching it tilt is a popular sight, and at night the bridges are lit up in changing colours.
Every Sunday, a market is held along the Quayside, with stalls selling food, crafts and art. In the evenings, the Quayside’s bars and restaurants are busy, especially at weekends. The Guildhall, the Custom House and the old Sandhill area remind you of the city’s trading past.
2. BALTIC and the Glasshouse
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art stands on the Gateshead side of the river, in a huge former flour mill built in the 1950s. It is one of the largest galleries of contemporary art in Europe, and it is free to enter. It has no permanent collection, so its exhibitions change regularly.
The exhibitions range from painting and sculpture to film and installations, by artists from around the world. There is always something surprising. The gallery also runs activities for children and families.
From the top of the building there are wonderful views over the river, the bridges and the city. There is a viewing box on an upper floor and a restaurant with panoramic windows. It is one of the best viewpoints in the city.
Next to BALTIC, the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, a curving glass building designed by Norman Foster, is one of the finest concert halls in Britain. It stages classical music, rock, folk, jazz and much more. It was known until recently as Sage Gateshead.
3. Grainger Town and Grey Street
Grainger Town is the historic heart of Newcastle city centre, a district of grand classical streets built in the 1830s by the developer Richard Grainger and the architects John Dobson and Thomas Oliver. Its elegant sandstone buildings are among the finest of their age in England. Walking its streets, you understand why Newcastle is sometimes called the most beautiful city in the North.
Grey Street, which curves gently down the hill, was once voted the finest street in Britain by listeners of a national radio programme. At its top stands Grey’s Monument, a tall column with a statue of Earl Grey, the prime minister who passed the Great Reform Act of 1832, and after whom Earl Grey tea is named. The Theatre Royal, one of the finest theatres in the country, stands on Grey Street.
The Grainger Market, opened in 1835, is a covered market with stalls selling food, clothes and goods. It is home to the smallest Marks and Spencer in the world, the original penny bazaar, which still trades much as it did more than a century ago. The Central Arcade, with its beautiful tiles, is nearby.
Grainger Town has many independent shops, cafés and restaurants, as well as the big names of Eldon Square and Northumberland Street. It is the best place to start exploring the city. Many of its buildings are lit up at night.
4. The Castle and the Black Gate
Newcastle’s castle, the new castle that gave the city its name, was first built of wood by Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, in 1080. The stone keep that stands today was built by King Henry II in the twelfth century. It is one of the finest Norman keeps in England.
You can climb the keep’s spiral staircases to the roof, where there are wonderful views over the city, the river and the bridges. Inside, the rooms include a Norman chapel and a great hall. The castle tells the story of the city’s history.
The Black Gate, the castle’s gatehouse, was added in the thirteenth century. It houses an exhibition about the history of the castle and the city. Between the keep and the gate runs a railway viaduct, built in the nineteenth century right through the castle grounds.
The castle is a short walk from Central station and the Quayside. Newcastle Cathedral, nearby, has a beautiful lantern tower, a crown of stone arches that was once a landmark for ships on the river. It is free to visit.
5. St James’ Park
St James’ Park, home of Newcastle United, stands on a hill in the heart of the city, and its huge stands can be seen from all over Newcastle. It is one of the largest football grounds in England, with room for more than fifty thousand fans. Football is a passion in the city.
Newcastle United is one of the most famous clubs in English football, with a huge and loyal following. Match days are an extraordinary experience, with the whole city turning out in black and white. The noise inside the ground can be deafening.
Stadium tours take you behind the scenes, into the dressing rooms, the press room and down the tunnel. The club’s history is told in displays around the ground. Tickets for matches are very hard to come by.
St James’ Park is close to the city centre and Chinatown, and the pubs around the ground are packed before and after games. On match days, a car booked ahead, with a pickup point agreed away from the crowds, is the easiest way to get home.
6. The Angel of the North
The Angel of the North, by the sculptor Antony Gormley, is one of the most famous pieces of public art in the world. It stands on a hill beside the A1 in Gateshead, just south of Newcastle, and it is seen by tens of thousands of people every day as they drive past. It was completed in 1998.
The Angel is twenty metres tall, with a wingspan of fifty four metres, almost as wide as the wings of a jumbo jet. It is made of steel that has weathered to a rich reddish brown. The wings are angled slightly forward, as if to embrace those who pass.
The sculpture stands on the site of an old colliery, and it was designed to mark the transition from the industrial age to the information age. At first some local people opposed it, but it has become a much loved symbol of the North East. It is especially dramatic at sunset.
There is a small car park beside the Angel, and you can walk right up to it and stand beneath its wings. It takes only a few minutes to visit, and it is an easy stop on the way into or out of the city. A driver can pull in so you can take photographs without worrying about parking.
7. The museums
Newcastle has several excellent free museums. The Great North Museum: Hancock, near the university, has collections of natural history and archaeology, including a large model of Hadrian’s Wall, Egyptian mummies and a planetarium. Children love its animal galleries and dinosaur skeleton.
The Discovery Museum tells the story of Tyneside’s science and industry. Its star exhibit is Turbinia, the first ship powered by a steam turbine, invented by Charles Parsons in 1894. It was the fastest ship in the world when it was launched.
The Laing Art Gallery has a fine collection of British art, including paintings by John Martin, whose dramatic scenes of fire and destruction were famous in the nineteenth century. It also has changing exhibitions. It is in the city centre.
Seven Stories, in the Ouseburn Valley, is the National Centre for Children’s Books, with exhibitions of original drawings and manuscripts by famous children’s authors and illustrators. It is a magical place for families. The Life Science Centre, next to Central station, is a science centre with hands on exhibits and a planetarium.
8. The Ouseburn Valley and the Victoria Tunnel
The Ouseburn Valley, just east of the city centre, is Newcastle’s creative quarter. It was once an industrial area of mills, potteries and workshops along a small river running into the Tyne. Today it is home to artists’ studios, music venues, independent pubs and cafés.
The valley has a relaxed, village like atmosphere, with old brick buildings, bridges and a city farm. Its pubs are some of the best in Newcastle, with real ale and live music. It is a lovely place for an afternoon or evening.
The Victoria Tunnel, which runs beneath the city from the Ouseburn, was built in the 1840s to carry coal wagons from a colliery to the river. During the Second World War, it was used as an air raid shelter for thousands of people. Guided tours take you into the tunnel by torchlight.
The tours are fascinating, with stories of the coal trade and the war. They need to be booked in advance. The Ouseburn is an easy walk from the Quayside.
9. Tynemouth and the coast
Tynemouth, at the mouth of the Tyne about eight miles east of the city, is a lovely seaside town. It has a ruined priory and castle on the headland, sandy beaches and a pretty main street of cafés, pubs and shops. It is one of the most popular day trips from Newcastle.
Longsands, a wide sandy beach, is popular with families and surfers. King Edward’s Bay, a small sheltered cove below the priory, is lovely. The priory, where early kings of Northumbria were buried, has views out to sea.
At weekends, a large market is held in Tynemouth’s Victorian railway station, with stalls selling food, antiques and crafts. The town has excellent fish and chip shops. Whitley Bay, a little further north, has a long promenade and the famous white lighthouse of St Mary’s Island, reached by a causeway at low tide.
The Tyne and Wear Metro runs from the city centre to Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. A car makes it easy to continue north up the Northumberland coast, one of the most beautiful coastlines in Britain.
10. Hadrian’s Wall and Northumberland
Newcastle stands at the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall. At Wallsend, a few miles east of the city centre, Segedunum Roman Fort has the remains of the fort at the very end of the wall, with a reconstructed bath house and a viewing tower. It is the best place to start exploring the wall.
West of the city, the wall runs across wild and beautiful countryside. Housesteads, Vindolanda and Chesters are among the best preserved Roman sites, each within about an hour. The views from the crags where the wall runs are spectacular.
North of Newcastle, Northumberland is one of the least crowded and most beautiful counties in England. Alnwick Castle, which appeared in the Harry Potter films, and Bamburgh Castle, on a rock above a huge sandy beach, are about an hour away. Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, is reached by a causeway that floods at high tide.
From Seahouses, boats sail to the Farne Islands, where puffins and seals can be seen in summer. The county is large and rural, and public transport is limited, so a driver for the day is the easiest way to see the castles, the coast and the wall.
Where to eat and drink
Newcastle has some local specialities. A stottie is a large, flat, round loaf, often filled with ham and pease pudding, a spread made from split peas. Greggs, the famous bakery chain, began in Newcastle in 1939. Newcastle Brown Ale was first brewed in the city in the 1920s.
The Quayside, Grainger Town and Jesmond have a wide choice of restaurants, and the city has a thriving independent food scene. Chinatown, near St James’ Park, has many good restaurants. The pubs of the Ouseburn and the city centre serve great real ale.
Nights out
Newcastle is famous for its nightlife. The Bigg Market and the Quayside are lined with bars and clubs, and on weekend nights the city centre is packed. Collingwood Street, known as the Diamond Strip, has more upmarket bars.
For a quieter evening, the pubs of the Ouseburn and the bars of Jesmond are more relaxed. At the end of a night out, taxi queues can be long, so a car booked in advance is the easiest way home.
A weekend in Newcastle
On the first day, walk along the Quayside and cross the Millennium Bridge to BALTIC, then explore Grainger Town and Grey Street and visit the castle. In the evening, have dinner on the Quayside and drinks in the city centre.
On the second day, take the Metro to Tynemouth for the priory, the beach and the market, then return for a stadium tour or an afternoon in the Ouseburn. With a third day, head to Hadrian’s Wall, Alnwick or Durham, which is only fifteen minutes away by train.
Getting there and getting around
Newcastle Central station, a grand Victorian building designed by John Dobson, is on the East Coast Main Line, with direct trains to London King’s Cross in around three hours and to Edinburgh in around an hour and a half. The Tyne and Wear Metro links the station with the airport, the coast and Sunderland.
Newcastle International Airport is about seven miles north west of the city centre, around twenty minutes by road or Metro. Ferries sail from North Shields, at the mouth of the Tyne, to Amsterdam. A car booked ahead is the easiest way to travel between the city, the airport and the ferry terminal, and to explore Northumberland.
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