Newcastle

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.