Newcastle, England Port Day

[travl2day]

Hi,

We will dock in Newcastle in early September from 8A-8P.  It looks like an ideal city to just walk around for the day. Not sure where the dock is in relation to the city center or sights. If anyone has  tips/ideas on what to see or do I'd love to see them. Any good tours available? 

THANKS!

[ssawjo]

Well, if we were going to Newcastle, which we are not, I would go to Hadrian's Wall for a visit.  I have no tour info but I am sure there is something on the internet.

[Harters]

Hadrian's Wall can be fascinating if you have an interest in that sort of thing. But, if you havent got the interest, then it's just a pile of old bricks. I'm in the former camp. Driving from holidays north of Newcastle back home, we'd often been very close to the Wall but had never seen it. Last summer, we took ourselves off for a three day exploration of it and it was really interesting. Prior, I'd taken a short online course explaining its history, construction, place in the landscape, etc.

 

FWIW, my partner's cousin is employed by Tyne & Wear Museums and has worked on aspects of the Wall at Wallsend. Bill is interviewed about his work on this link:

https://culturalpeeps.wordpress.com/bill-griffiths/

[gumshoe958]

Newcastle itself doesn’t have an awful lot of interest for tourists - it’s probably the British equivalent of somewhere like Minneapolis: a busy regional centre with plenty of shops, bars and restaurants but not really somewhere you’d choose to go on vacation.

 

But, as already mentioned, there’s Hadrian’s Wall nearby - it’s also only about 15 minutes by frequent train to the beautiful university and cathedral city of Durham, or in the other direction the train ride up the Northumberland coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed is stunning.

 

You’d also have more than enough time to catch the train down to York (on the same line as Durham, but about an hour away).

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by gumshoe958

[fruitmachine]

21 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

... it’s also only about 15 minutes by frequent train to the beautiful university and cathedral city of Durham, or in the other direction the train ride up the Northumberland coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed is stunning.

 

You’d also have more than enough time to catch the train down to York (on the same line as Durham, but about an hour away).

 

I would second this for Durham and York.  Both (in particular Durham) are very walkable cities, with fantastic cathedrals to visit. For Berwick, the scenery is great, though it's the view from the train between Berwick and Edinburgh that's the best.

 

The train is easy, fast and frequent, with all these places on the East Coat Mainline.

[travl2day]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:44 PM, gumshoe958 said:

You’d also have more than enough time to catch the train down to York (on the same line as Durham, but about an hour away).

 

HMMM, didn't realize that York was an option! Thanks for the tip!

[Mrs.Dukes]

We visited Newcastle as a port stop in 2019. Based on a recommendation that we got on this board, we went to the Beamish open air museum. We took a taxi, it was about a 30 minute ride. The taxi driver asked if we wanted to be picked up later, so we arranged the return trip with him. On the way back, we had time so the taxi driver gave us a brief drive-by tour of Newcastle. We really enjoyed the day there.

[travl2day]

Thanks to you all for your insight & ideas. We decided to take a train to York. We saw a Rick Steves YouTube video on Bath & York. Looks like a great time in both locations!

Appreciate all of your time & efforts to read & respond!

 

[gumshoe958]

7 hours ago, travl2day said:

Thanks to you all for your insight & ideas. We decided to take a train to York. We saw a Rick Steves YouTube video on Bath & York. Looks like a great time in both locations!

Appreciate all of your time & efforts to read & respond!

 

Good choice. Trains run up to four times an hour and take between 50 and 60 minutes.

[Aloha 1]

Can you take the train from the cruise port at Tyne?

[gumshoe958]

36 minutes ago, Aloha 1 said:

Can you take the train from the cruise port at Tyne?

Not very easily. The nearest station, called Percy Main, is about a 20 minute walk from the cruise terminal. That’s on the self-contained Tyne & Wear Metro, which runs frequently into Newcastle city centre and stops at Central station where you can catch mainline trains to York, Durham & Edinburgh.

 

In reality it’s easiest to take a cab from the cruise terminal to the city/Central station.

[Aloha 1]

Just now, gumshoe958 said:

Not very easily. The nearest station, called Percy Main, is about a 20 minute walk from the cruise terminal. That’s on the self-contained Tyne & Wear Metro, which runs frequently into Newcastle city centre and stops at Central station where you can catch mainline trains to York, Durham & Edinburgh.

 

In reality it’s easiest to take a cab from the cruise terminal to the city/Central station.

Thanks!