Find your perfect one-day itinerary in Newcastle, from major art galleries, to museums, and to its famous Quayside.
A Day Visit to Newcastle
Find your perfect one-day itinerary in Newcastle, from major art galleries, to museums, and to its famous Quayside.
Newcastle upon Tyne or Newcastle is the jewel of the Northeast of England. It is a perfect destination for a fun-packed weekday or weekend especially if you have limited time. Newcastle is a great city for a day visit. The city is relatively easy to navigate and also well connected by public transportation from different cities and towns in England and Scotland. The city is also home to a thriving cultural and foodie scene and boasts a rejuvenated quayside punctuated by a series of elegant bridges across the River Tyne.
If you have just one day and want to visit the important sights, read on to know how you can manage your time in the most efficient manner. Follow this guide and make the most of your trip. These are the top sights and things to do on your one day itinerary in Newcastle and check out the three days Newcastle itinerary here.
Morning
Go to: Start your morning by visiting Hatton Art Gallery. This gallery is based in the Newcastle University Fine Art Building. The highlight in this gallery is the Merzbarn, it's the only surviving Merz construction by Kurt Schwitters. There are temporary exhibitions from time to time held here. Do check its website before you visit. Visit to: A short walk from the gallery is the Great North Museum: Hancock. This is one of my favourite museums in England and is where you can find natural history and the history of ancient civilisations. It exhibits some stunning items from ancient Egyptian to Greek, mammals to dinosaur skeletons. There is a library, a cafe and a small retail shop if you are looking for something to read, eat or buy. See arts at: After finishing at that museum, your next location is Laing Art Gallery. It displays some beautiful paintings including by J.M.W Turner and John Sell Cotman. It is particularly strong on Victorian and early 20th century art. In addition to the paintings you can see small glass and ceramic collections too. Explore: End your morning by exploring Grainger Town which is located a short walk from Laing Art Gallery. This area of the town was developed by Richard Grainger and is where you can see some stunning late Georgian buildings. This is where you can walk along Grainger Street, wander into Central Arcade, buy and eat at Grainger market and most importantly this is a popular spot among local people and tourists. In addition to these, there are plenty of places to eat here too. So this is a great stop for your lunch.
Lunch at: There are many choices for lunch in the city centre. I recommend Côte. The restaurant is located at Central Arcade and do make a reservation first before you go, because it's often full during lunch time.
Afternoon Explore: After lunch and resting your next place to go is St Nicholas Cathedral. This recently refurbished cathedral looks as good as before with a new sitting area at the back. Do take your time to walk around and look at the stained glass and the altar area. Do go outside the back of the cathedral to see the Vampire Rabbit which is just located a stone's throw away. Go to: Next is to go to the Black Gate. This is one of the parts of the "new castle". It has interesting stories where you can learn a bit about the city. A very short walk from the Gate is Castle Keep, which was at the heart of Newcastle Castle. In here you can see the exhibitions which tell the story about Newcastle. Do go to the viewing deck where you can see Newcastle's skyline towards the Quayside and the city centre. See: After, go down to Sandhill by the medieval steps which gives you a sense of going back in time. When you get to the bottom go to the left and find Bessie Surtees House. Originally this building was owned by a wealthy Newcastle merchant and survived during the great fire of Newcastle. It's a stunning Tudor building and a must-visit if you are an architecture lover. More reading // 20 Wonderful Things to Do in Newcastle
Evening Wander around: End your day in Newcastle by going to the Quayside. It is a busy and vibrant area. There are plenty of places to eat e.g. cafes, restaurants and bars. You can choose whichever suits your taste buds. If you manage to finish early you might want to cross to Gateshead Quayside, where you can visit Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Sage. Dine at: For dinner go to Chart House on the Quayside; it's highly recommended.
More reading // Discover Newcastle: Things to Do and See
Travel Practical Information Well prepared pre-planning and research will help make your travel plans easy. It also helps you to understand what you are looking for and what to do in each location. Here is the information I've prepared and that you might want to consider and use when planning your own trip to Newcastle upon Tyne. Getting to Newcastle upon Tyne There are a few options to get to Newcastle. You can reach the city by flight, by train or by cruise ship. The mode of transport depends on the last location before you go to the city. By flight. Newcastle upon Tyne is well connected via air and land transportations. Newcastle International Airport is the main airport in North East England. Emirates Airlines fly direct to Dubai; KLM fly direct to Amsterdam; British Airways and Lufthansa are full service airlines that fly to a wide range of major cities. Jet2, Ryanair, Easyjet, Logan Air and Flybe are budget airlines that connect Newcastle to different cities in the UK and in Europe. Newcastle International Airport has flights to and from more than 80 destinations. Tip | Take the local train, the Metro, from the airport to Newcastle city centre. It only takes about 30 minutes and the cost is much less compared to an airport taxi or Uber. By train. Newcastle Railway Station is a main intercity station. If your are traveling by train from other European countries via Eurostar, the city is well connected by train to London, with a journey time of about 3.5 hours. The journey time north to Edinburgh is just over 1.5 hours. Newcastle is also well connected to other cities in the north by train, such as York, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. By cruise. A mini cruise service from Ijmuiden port in Amsterdam to Newcastle is operated by DFDS Seaways. The cruise operates 7 times a week if you prefer to take the cruise between Newcastle and Amsterdam. Places to stay There is a wide range of hotels in the city. I recommend that you do careful research before deciding on where to stay. Here are a few of the hotels that are located in the city and that you may like to check before travelling to Newcastle upon Tyne. Maldron Hotel, The Vermont Hotel and Hampton by Hilton is one of the choices that you can find in Newcastle Places to eat There are hundreds of places to eat in the city from very traditional English restaurants to Asian restaurants. We have had lunch or dinner at the following restaurants and can recommend them. Infusion 2018, Red Mezze, Bar Loco, Chilli Padi, the French Quarter, Zizzi, Kimchi Planet, Olive and Bean, Les Petits Choux, The Factory Cafe, Chart House, the Blake's Coffee House, Tiny Tiny, Cotè Brasserie, Snackwallah, Siam Supreme, My Delhi, the Earl of Pitt Street, Mason + Rye, are highly recommended.
Getting around Newcastle
Getting around Newcastle is very easy, making the city and surrounding areas very accessible by public transport.
Metro | The trains run from around 5am to 11.57pm for the Monument line and from around 5.30am to 11.09pm for the Airport line. You must buy your ticket in advance of any journey. Many stations on the Metro service, especially in the city centre, have ticket controlled access and exit barriers.
Bus | Stagecoach and Arriva are the two main bus service providers in the city. Buses run from around 6am to midnight. You should check each of the bus providers online because different locations and days have different start and end times. Tickets can be purchased on boarding the bus. Some operators have online websites and tickets can be bought in advance on these. Increasingly, you can pay for your ticket by credit card even as you are boarding the bus. Always check in advance. Remember too that some discount tickets such as dayrovers might only be available for certain hours.
Hop on hop off bus service | The tour bus starts at Berwick Street, Central Station and goes to East Quayside. In total there are eighteen stops on the tour and you can join at any of the stops. In winter months, the tour only operates on Saturdays and Sundays.
How long to spend in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle is a city that you can visit for a day or up to several days. It really depends on what you want to see and do and also whether Newcastle is your travel base. If the city is your travel base, you could explore the city over a minimum of two days and visit nearby places, villages and towns e.g. Hexham, and Corbridge, and cities e.g. Durham, Sunderland, York or Edinburgh.
In the city itself there are plenty of things to do from its museums, art galleries and public parks to shopping and eating out at one of the many restaurants.
Concluding one day trip in Newcastle Upon Tyne This is only a suggested itinerary of how to spend your full one day in Newcastle city centre. You may have your own itinerary which you can mix and match with the one I propose. This itinerary gives you the best things to do and see. I hope this itinerary can help you to spend your day profitably in Newcastle city before you go to your next destination.
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