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City in Tyne & Wear, England
Photo: User:Zaphodzuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city in Tyne and Wear in the north-east of England. It's an industrial but lively, cultural place on the north bank of the River Tyne, with a population of just over 300,000 in 2019, and another half a million residing in its outlying areas.
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Only in England does a "new" castle mean from 1080 AD. The old one was Pons Aelius, the 2nd century Roman bridge and fort, later the site of a Saxon monastery. The new structure was a motte and bailey, a wooden fort perched on an earth mound, built when Robert (son of William I) had been bashing the Scots and reckoned there might be some comeback. In the 1170s, Henry II replaced this with a stone castle. The Black Gate was added in 1350 then the walls were extended to protect the whole town. It fell derelict in the 16th century, was repaired for the Civil Wars nicely in time to be wrecked again, then again restored in the 19th century. It finally suffered an unforeseen and devastating invasion: in 1850 the railway came through, as this was the most practical route to cross the Tyne and link up with the railway from Edinburgh. Only the Keep and Black Gate survived this assault, with the tracks between them, so you get a good panning view as your train slows on the tight curve into Central Station.
St Nicholas
This is the Anglican cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Newcastle. It was completed in 1350 in Perpendicular style, and its distinctive lantern spire was added in 1448. The Church of St Nicholas was upgraded to a cathedral in 1882 when a Diocese of Newcastle was separated from Durham as the city population grew.
The gallery was established in 1977 within Northumbria University and has rotating exhibitions. The University's permanent art collection is for teaching and research, and not generally on public display. However the Woon Gallery, opened in 2018, is a long-term loan of Asian (mostly Buddhist) art.
Contains fossils, mummies, stuffed animals and local history exhibits.
An art gallery founded in 1925 within Newcastle University, and redeveloped in 2017. It has 3500 exhibits from the 14th century to modern work.
National Centre for Children's Books
Housed in a Victorian mill, Seven Stories is the first gallery and archive in the UK wholly dedicated to the art and production of children's books. There are exhibitions and events for children.
Britain's biggest original art store is with two floors of exhibition space and artist's studios. The commercial gallery sells paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewellery and glass by contemporary artists hailing from all over the world.
Centre for Life is a research facility and within it is an interactive museum covering fields such as genetics, embryology and developmental biology, and climate science.
Science and engineering museum including Turbinia designed by Sir Charles Parsons in 1894, the world's first turbo-powered ship.
Traditional art gallery built in 1901 in sort-of Edwardian Baroque. It has artistic local glass, silverware and ceramics and a notable collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings. (Contemplate the fiery Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah before heading out for a night on the town.) "The Blue Carpet" is the tiled street installation outside, expensively fitted in 2001 but only then did they realise they'd made it green. 20 years of skateboarders and other urban wear and tear have turned it blue-grey.
Documentary photography gallery and archive. The gallery also has a 50-seater cinema showing independent films, but as of 2025 this is closed since 2023 due to funding difficulties.
In summer they have 3-hour boat trips upriver to the countryside or downriver to the sea, embarking from St Anne's Quay near Premier Inn. Weekends they have one hour city trips, embarking from City Marina beneath Tyne Bridge.
Opened in 1837, with a year-round programme. It's one of the bases for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which usually do several shows here in autumn.
Grand old theatre opened in 1867, seating 1100. It hosts opera, theatre, concerts, comedy and panto.
Small independent theatre producing new works by writers from the North East.
Gulbenkian Studio Theatre
This has three performance spaces and hosts various independent productions.
Long-established amateur theatre company with 500-seat auditorium and 90-seat studio.
formerly Metro Radio Arena
This is the largest music venue in Newcastle with capacity up to 12,000. It's south of the station near the Centre for Life.
2000-capacity venue in a former bingo hall hosting musical acts.
This concert venue is now managed by Academy Music.
They play the 15-a-side game in the Premiership, the top tier. Their home ground Kingston Park is in the north of the city.
Chain multiplex showing mainstream releases.
Art-deco cinema with 3 screens showing independent and mainstream films.
Delightful salon-style cinema where you recline on sofas and are served food and drink. Obviously that's reflected in the ticket prices.
Volunteer-run indie cinema and performance venue.
Generous portions. Quick service. Worth waiting in the queue. A sandwich is for about £4.
Italian specialising in Sardinian.
Cheerful trattoria on Quayside.
Lively tapas restaurant near the football stadium.
It serves burgers and the like.
Good quality Mexican, great value.
Reasonably priced Italian chain.
Friendly Italian restaurant.
Reliable mid-price Italian chain.
Stylish and popular Italian.
Indian restaurant opened in 2021.
Great reviews for what may be the UK's oldest restaurant. You sit at long tables in a 13th-century monastery refectory, and consume better monkfish than ever the locally-sourced freshly-shrived Black Friars got to eat.
Upscale Punjabi restaurant, gets very busy with the post-match crowd.
Slick restaurant serving quality British and French bistro food. The same group runs Café 21 within Fenwick's on Northumberland St.
Great reviews for this high-class Chinese restaurant and bar in Chinatown.
Idols
This spacious club features three bars, different music in different rooms, and big screens for showing football on match days. Topless dancers and scantily clad bar staff abound. As if all that wasn't enough, they serve food, including sandwiches, burgers, salads, and curries.
Fizing atmosphere for cocktails and music.
An impressively designed bar and restaurant in the restored Victorian lounge of the Central Station, the Centurion is a favourite stop for commuters. Live sports on a drop-down big screen. Choose from the bustling main bar or the more intimate cafe-deli.
formerly Floritas
Split-level cocktail bar with outdoor garden bar.
Rock n' roll themed bar with good live music and cheap drinks.
Spacious, ultra-modern vodka bar with cool architecture (pillars, high sculpted ceiling, stainless steel bar and huge windows) and great selection of flavoured vodkas and cocktails. Dress is "smart casual", which means no baseball caps or hoodies. Music ranges from pop to indie to R&B to house.
A beautiful Victorian pub with ornate stained glass domes, friendly bar staff and a great selection of real ales and premium lagers.
Cosy pub with a great selection of real ales, imported beers and wine, serves food. It doesn't have accommodation.
On the first floor, you'll find a wide selection of real ales, lagers, cider, wine and spirits in a comfortable atmosphere. The basement, which holds 50-some, is a live music venue showcasing up-and-coming bands.
Handy for station, charming interior and roof terrace. They often have DJs or live bands.
Cosy pub with L-shaped bar, with a large selection of real ales, craft and premium lagers and ciders, serves decent food.
A stylish, modern venue with an elegant rooftop garden bar and a good selection of cocktails, spirits, wines and beers.
JD Wetherspoon pub with large 3-storey bar serving food, big enough to find a seat at the weekend.
formerly Baron and Baroness
Lively gay bar near the station.
Newcastle's longest running and biggest gay dance club, with four floors of music from the 1990s to disco and more.
Quirky cocktail bar with a range of 30 cocktails, with retro-chic interior.
A great craft brewpub: reasonably priced and always busy, serves food. 10+ taps on the bar which change regularly.
formerly Flynn's
Pleasant quayside place for a quiet drink and meal, with no tears shed for its rough predecessor.
An extensive list of beers, wines, shooters and cocktails. The glass fronted building has two floors and a rooftop terrace, nice views of the river and Millennium Bridge. DJs and occasional live music.
Relaxing sports bar, decent food. There's a good view of the river and Guild Hall from the front, and a DJ provides the music.
Beautifully preserved 1880s long-room pub, with stained glass windows and wood-panel ceiling. A gramophone in back cranks out vintage tunes, and it's a great place to try real ales from local breweries.
Primarily a music venue, with live bands most nights.
A cosy trad pub by the Tyne, with an excellent selection of beers. A free jukebox supplies the music. Limited food, but there's deli sandwiches, and a pizza van visits.
Beneath Walker St bridge where Ouseburn flows into the Tyne, this has a good selection of real ales and a beer garden. Live music at weekends, and bands in the garden during summer.
Atmospheric 1860s pub with real ales, a roaring fire and live music, large outside seating area with heaters.
Relaxing place with a mixture of locals and hotel guests, shiny decor and a large outside seating area.
This spacious bar shows live sports on wide-screen TVs and has an outdoor beer garden.
Trad pub with a relaxed atmosphere. Quiz nights, digital juke box, and monthly live music.
Cask beer and great selection of whisky, dog-friendly.
Old-style pub with great ales, dog-friendly.
Pub with decent food and patio garden, dog-friendly.
Ocean liner decor redolent of Tyneside's shipbuilding days. A long drink list includes wines, cask ales and microbrews.
Chain sports pub, okay-ish food.
JD Weatherspoons chain pub, good value for drinks and food.
Next to both universities, so it has a student vibe with juke boxes, pool tables, big screen TVs and game machines, plus an array of DJs four nights a week.
A shrine to next-door Newcastle United, displaying a huge amount of club memorabilia from down the years, and packed around home games. It has real ales and bar meals, big screen TVs, a jukebox, pool table and a roof terrace.
Friendly pub with a great selection of real ales, beers and spirits, but most famous for their free jukebox playing soul, rock and 1970s music. It's heaving when Newcastle Utd are playing at home.
Great place to go clubbing for the night with cheap drinks and a crazy audience.
Large youth hostel in a former bank near Central Station. Basic but clean, 24 hr reception.
formerly Jury's Inn
Boxy modern hotel, usually clean. They have another in Gateshead.
Budget chain offering, very central, a bit grubby. They also have two other city hotels, one in Gateshead, one at Metro Centre and two next to the airport.
Basic hotel in a residential area, value for what you're paying.
Small budget hotel near Jesmond metro station. Poor reviews 2021-23.
Hostel with dormitories, private rooms and cafe. There is no self-catering kitchen.
Basic, but smart and comfy, city centre hotel. Ask for a room with a view, as the castle, Tyne Bridge and railway tracks are all in sight. Good buffet breakfast, but very limited vegan and vegetarian options.
A business hotel equipped with wireless internet and a 400-person conference hall.
Comfy central place, pet-friendly. Parking is in the public multi-storey.
In 2021 this is acting as asylum-seeker accommodation.
Opened by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in 1858, this is a grand old Victorian railway hotel. Modern interior, gets good scores for comfort and service.
formerly Thistle
Comfy place in Victorian pile, very central, the downside is street noise and lack of parking.
Newcastle Central
Reliable chain hotel, inevitably they get a lot of stag and hen parties. Travelodge have two other central sites plus one in Gateshead and three further out by racecourse, airport and Seaton Burn.
Decent central mid-price hotel. They don't accept stag / hen parties.
Good central hotel with river views, some railway noise.
Great value in this central hotel on elegant Grey St.
This hotel in the former fire station opened in 2025,
A leafy boutique hotel, great reviews for service, comfort and cuisine.
Smart upscale hotel, very central.
Opened in 2025, 118 rooms.
A bustling indoor market in a hall from 1835.
Built in the 1980s and expanded in the 1990s and again in 2005, this is Europe's largest shopping centre and leisure complex. Flagship stores include Marks and Spencer. Parking is plentiful and free, but traffic can be heavy, so use public transport if possible. Despite its name, it's not served by the Metro, but the Carlisle-Hexham-Newcastle trains stop here plus several bus routes.
By train
Newcastle is a busy station on the East Coast Main Line:
By car
From north or south follow A1(M), which passes west of the city by Metrocentre. For most central destinations, use Exit 69 onto A184, which brings you in via Gateshead and A189 Redheugh Bridge.
By bus
National Express buses take 7-8 hours from London Victoria via Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Leeds, Middlesbrough and Sunderland; one-way fares from London start from £7.
By boat
Port of Tyne, 7 mi east of city centre, has overnight DFDS ferries from IJmuiden near Amsterdam. See Tynemouth#Get in for how to get there.
By bicycle
Newcastle is a reasonably cycle-friendly city, with cycle lanes and lock-up points. A few Metro stations have secure storage for bicycles, but only fold-away bikes are permitted on Metro trains.
By bus
Newcastle is served by a network of bus services operated by Arriva, Go North East and Stagecoach.
By Metro
Tyne & Wear Metro is quick and inexpensive, and is the best option for outlying areas. There are two lines, mostly overground, but running together underground through the city centre.
By taxi
Operators include Premier (incorporating Newcastle Taxis) +44 191 638 0 638, LA Taxis +44 191 287-7777, Blueline +44 191 262-6666, and Uber.
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Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear · International · NCL
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