Newcastle

Newcastle is the capital of the northeast of England. It is a big industrial city with a couple of universities. Why should you go there then? Well for a kick off it is one of Britain's finest party cities - every weekend it is alive with thousands of young beautiful people, all up for a drink and a laugh. Well, okay, not necessarily beautiful people as such - there is the same range of good-looking folk and shockingly ugly shellsuit wearing monsters as anywhere else in Britain - but they are certainly up for a laugh, and there are cheap clubs and pubs to serve it up.

If that doesn't sound like your scene, consider going for the impressive city centre, with its collection of bridges over the tyne, and Nelson's Column-style tribute to Earl Grey (of the tea fame). Or get out of town and have a look at Whitley Bay - a typical small English seaside town, or at the beautiful countryside of Northumbria and County Durham. Either way the northeast is a really underrated destination, and Newcastle is not to be missed.

Climate and weather

Once you get to Newcastle you are clearly not in the South anymore. Northumbria has the largest reservoir in England, and the reason it is overflowing is thanks to the rain. In the winter Newcastle is rainy, and the proximity to the coast means that it is windy too. Not intolerably so, and actually a bit nicer as a rule than Scotland, but you will lucky not to have a day when you don't stagger back to your accomodation shivering and soaked, so don't spend December up here in a tent.

With that warning in mind, don't forget that the summer is not too bad at all, and nobody even wears a coat to go out, so it surely can't be that cold. Can it?

Landscape and scenery

Newcastle city centre is pretty much urban sprawl for a couple of miles, with nothing but the Tyne to break up the buildings. Not far to the north of town, just past St. James Park (home of Newcastle United Footbal Club) the park starts. The typical laid-out urban park here basically continues as green open space through Jesmond Dene and Nunsmoor to the edge of town.

If you want to see some real scenery just head north a little way into Northumbria. The beautiful coastline here stretches from Whitley Bay past the mystical (and mist wrapped) island of Lindisfarne, and up towards the pleasant border town of Berwick-on-Tweed. Inland, rolling hills provide lovely views as you head to pretty market towns such as Alnwick.

Crime and punishment

Newcastle City Centre used to have a reputation as a hard drinking violent place on a Friday and Saturday night, and the Bigg Market where many of the louder bars and clubs are located was somewhat of a no-go area for tourists and discerning students. This area, and Newcastle as a whole has been transformed over the last ten years, with better policing and less acceptance of anti-social attitudes. Now the Quayside and Bigg Market provide a generally safe if rowdy night to more or less anyone. That is not to say that the place is completely tame - it is still possible to get into a fight, and activities such as spilling pints and looking at people funny are probably still best avoided, but a little self-awareness should keep you safe enough.

Arriving by Plane.

Newcastle Airport is located around 12km from the city centre. One the the Tyne and Wear Metro lines runs to the city centre and station throughout the day, although there is no public transport for a few hours at night. Newcastle is a hub for Easyjet, with flights running from here to Berlin, Copenhagen and a range of destinations in southern Europe. The ubiquitous Ryanair fly to Dublin, and a number of smaller budget operators serve other UK and European destinations. Scheduled flights also run to a number of destinations, and dozens of charter flights run around the world in season.

The nearest other airport is Edinburgh (25 minutes bus to Waverley Station, then 1.5 hours by train. Around 20 pounds one-way).

Arriving By Train.

The main station in Newcastle is Newcastle Central. This is located at the bottom of the town centre (downhill from the majority of the shops and clubs). The following intercity trains arrive here:

• GNER trains run up the East Coast Mainline from London Kings Cross and York, with most continuing to Edinburgh, and some heading further into Scotland.
• Virgin Trains run their Cross Country service from stations in the south of England, Birmingham, Leeds and York through Newcastle to Edinburgh.

Arriving By Coach.

Newcastle Coach Station is located at Gallowgate in the northwest of the city centre and close to the St James Park stadium. This is about 10 minutes walk from the train station. National Express run coaches from around England to here - in particular there is a service to London and Birmingham. Newcastle is also served by budget operator Megabus, which runs cheap if slow and not especially comfortable services from London.

Arriving By Ferry.

Newcastle has a port located a few miles from the town. DFDS run an overnight ferry from here to Amsterdam.

Getting around by public transport

Travelling by train.

Northern Rail run a number of local train services to the surrounding area. These are the best way to get to slightly more distant places such as Anwick and Alnmouth, or for day trips to places such as Durham. It is also the best way to get to Gateshead Metro Centre. Full details of all their services, and more long-distance trains are available on the National Rail website.

Travelling by Metro.

The Tyne and Wear metro is a light rail system which runs underground through Newcastle city centre, and connects the station and town centre to Gateshead and Sunderland in the south, to the airport in the northwest and Whitley Bay and Tynemouth in the east. It is run by publicly-owned operator NEXUS. Prices are a little steep, at over two pounds single to the airport or other far flung destinations, and ticket checks are pretty common so it is not even worth trying to dodge the fare. The service is regular, reliable and pretty fast though. The metro does not run at night.

Travelling by bus.

The two main bus companies in the Newcastle area are Stagecoach Newcastle and GoAhead Northeast. Between them they run a large number of regular routes within the city and out to surrounding towns. Both operators offer a range of tickets, including return and day rover tickets which offer a discount over the single fare. Services stop at around 11pm to midnight. There is a very limited network of night buses running at pub and club closing time on Fridays and Saturdays with a flat fare of 2 pounds.

Both companies have route maps and timetables on their websites. Alternatively the NEXUS website offers a journey planner for the area including buses and the Metro.

Getting around by car

Central Newcastle is actually laid out pretty conveniently for cars, with motorway-style dual carriageways running right into the centre of town. Traffic can be a problem for much of the day, and on-street parking is hard to find so you will probably end up in a more expensive option, such as the multi-storey carpark at Eldon Square. If you are driving up from most of England it is dual carriageway all the way to Newcastle, though the motorway runs out somewhere in Yorkshire. If you are driving down from Scotland you will find that the A1 from Edinburgh is single carriageway for most of the route, with a guarantee of getting stuck behind a slow-moving caravan, and speed cameras to stop you making up time anywhere.

Newspapers

Metro publish a Newcastle edition of their free paper, available on buses and the Metro and pretty much everywhere else during the morning rush hour.

Hostels

Newcastle is not currently one of Britain's top backpackers destinations. Until 2006 the only hostel available was the YHA hostel, which is located a couple of miles out of town in Jesmond. There is now a large independent hostel in the town centre - the Albatross hostel. This provides adequate accomodation with free tea, coffee and toast all day for around 15 pounds a night, though it does appear to be a little large and soulless itself, and the stag and hen parties that occupy the place at weekends mean that you had better not want a decent night's sleep. Doubtless once it has been open for a few months it will seem a bit more lived in.

Bed and breakfast

Head for Jesmond, where most of the bed and breakfast accomodation is close to the two metro stations

Cinema

Of the large multiplex cinemas, the closest to central Newcastle is the Odeon on Newgate Street. There is also a multiplex at the Gateshead Metro Centre, a couple of miles by train from the centre.

There is also a large independent cinema in the centre of Newcastle: the Tyneside Cinema. This is not a cheap cinema, but does have an interesting range of european and independent cinema. The Tyne and Wear Metro passes right underneath and periodically shakes the auditorium, which can make for a scary additional effect during action scenes.