Travel to Newcastle
Flying to Newcastle
Airlines offering domestic flights to Newcastle from other UK airports include British Airways, Eastern Airways, easyJet and Flybe.
United operates direct flights from the USA to Newcastle in summer only.
Flight times
From London - 1 hour 15 minutes; New York - 8 hours; Los Angeles - 13 hours (including stopover); Toronto - 9 hours (including stopover); Sydney - 24 hours (including stopover).
Travel by road
Main roads are designated by a letter, followed by up to four numbers: ‘M' (motorway), ‘A' (major road) and ‘B' (minor road).
Traffic drives on the left and drivers must be at least 17 years old. The speed limits are 113kph (70mph) on motorways, 97kph (60mph) on single-lane main roads and 48kph (30mph) in built-up areas.
Overseas driving licences and International Driving Permits are valid for up to one year. Insurance is mandatory. Overseas visitors bringing their own cars should bring registration documents and check with their insurance company as to whether a Green Card is needed.
Breakdown service, traffic updates and general motoring information are available from the AA (tel: +44 121 275 3746; www.theaa.com) and the RAC (tel: +44 844 891 3111; www.rac.co.uk).
Emergency breakdown services
AA (tel: 0800 887 766, in the UK); RAC (tel: 0800 828 282, in the UK).
Routes
The A1 runs north to south past Newcastle, linking to the city centre via the A184 (from the south) then the A167 (just the A167 from the north). The latter then becomes the A167M motorway running right through the city centre. The A69 runs west to Carlisle.
Coaches
National Express (tel: +44 871 781 8181; www.nationalexpress.com) operates regular coach services connecting Newcastle with various destinations in the UK including London.
The main coach station in Newcastle is on St James' Boulevard in the west of the city, though budget coach operator Megabus (tel: +44 141 352 4444; www.megabus.com) stops beside the railway station on Neville Street.
Time to city
From Edinburgh - 2 hours 30 minutes; Birmingham - 3 hours 30 minutes; from London - 5 hours.
Travel by Rail
Services
Trains to Newcastle arrive at Newcastle Central Station located in the heart of the city centre on Neville Street, with all the main sites and shops within easy walking distance.
Newcastle is well connected to the rest of the UK by regular, and reasonably efficient, rail services.
Operators
Virgin Trains (www.virgintrains.co.uk) offers London-Edinburgh rail services via Newcastle, completing the journey from the south in about three hours.
Northern Rail (www.northernrail.org) operates an east-west service linking Newcastle to Carlisle, before continuing northwest.
First TransPennine Express (www.tpexpress.co.uk) offers direct services to Leeds and Manchester.
For timetable information contact National Rail Enquiries (www.nationalrail.co.uk).
Journey times
From Carlisle - 1 hour 30 minutes; Leeds - 1 hour 30 minutes; Manchester - 2 hours 25 minutes; London - 2 hours 50 minutes; Edinburgh - 1 hour 30 minutes.
Travel by boat
Ferries to the Netherlands leave from the international passenger terminal at North Shields, east of the city centre.
Ferry operators
DFDS Seaways (tel: 0871 522 9955, in the UK only or +44 330 333 0245; www.dfdsseaways.co.uk) runs regular overnight ferries between Newcastle and Amsterdam (journey time - around 15 hours).
Transfer
DFDS runs shuttle buses between the port and Newcastle Central station.
