By bus
By bus
City Centre
Quaylink (http://www.stagecoachbus....) services run every few minutes between the city centre and the Newcastle/Gateshead quayside. Single fares are 80p and the distinctive yellow livery makes the service easy to recognise.
Suburbs
There are 2 bus stations in the city, Haymarket with services to the north of the city and Northumberland. Eldon Square Bus Station mainly serves Gateshead, County Durham and Teeside.An extensive and efficient network of bus routes radiate out of Newcastle into the surrounding towns and suburbs. Though the services are operated by several different operators they are coordinated by Nexus (http://www.nexus.org.uk/w...), Tyne and Wear's transport authority. Maps and timetables can be found on the Nexus website (http://www.nexus.org.uk/w...), though it may be easier to use a personalised journey planner such as Transport Direct (http://www.transportdirec...).
Bus operators include:
By Metro
The Tyne & Wear Metro is a fast, safe and reasonably cheap way of getting around the city and also to outlying suburbs and surrounding towns including Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North and South Shields, Sunderland and Newcastle International Airport.
There are two lines: the Green Line runs from Newcastle Airport to South Hylton in Sunderland and the Yellow Line runs from St James Park to South Shields via a lengthy loop via the coastal towns of North Shields, Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. Note that the east-west and north-south sections of the Yellow Line cross at Monument Station, so if, for example, you are travelling from St James Park to South Shields, it is much quicker to transfer to the southbound Yellow Line at Monument rather than riding along the entire route. The Green Line shares tracks with the Yellow Line for the majority of the section through central Newcastle and Gateshead.
Services run approximately every 6-10 minutes between 6:00 and 23:00. Single tickets range from £1.40 to £3.60 depending on the distance travelled, return fares and day passes are also available. Note that ticket machines currently only accept coins 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 although change is given: the information counter at large stations can provide change although if boarding at a smaller station outside of the city this service is not available; however, after 2010, all stations will be fitted with new ticket machines that accept notes and credit/debit cards. Although there are no ticket barriers at stations and hopping riding without paying is widespread, it is advisable to keep your ticket handy as trains and stations are patrolled by ticket inspectors. After 2010, major stations will be fitted with automatic ticket gates.
Smoking is banned on the entire system, including open-air stations. However, this rule is often overlooked and it's not uncommon to see people smoking on the trains, particularly late at night, despite the CCTV surveillance cameras.
By bike
Newcastle is a reasonably cycle-friendly city. There are a number of places to lock a bike up in the city centre and cycle lanes exist though these are often shared with buses or taxis. A few Metro stations also provide secure storage for bicycles, but note that only fold-away bicycles are permitted on Metro trains. Unless you're touring the UK on pedal power, the best use for a bike is to explore the Quayside, Ouseburn and Jesmond Dene areas, travel to out-of-town attractions or head off to more distant places such as Whitley Bay and Seaton Sluice on the coast.
The Sustrans (http://www.sustrans.org.uk/) National Cycle Network Route 1 East Coast passes through Newcastle from the North to the South.
Bicyle hire:
Tyne Cycles
19-20 Rudyerd Street, North Shields, NE29 6RR, +44 0 191 2562266, [email protected], (http://www.tynecycles.co.uk/).
On foot
Newcastle city centre is relatively compact and is therefore easy to navigate on foot. Many areas are pedestrianised. Being on the banks of the River Tyne, some areas slope quite steeply. Buses and taxis are fairly cheap and plentiful should this pose a problem.
Newcastle and Gateshead walking directions (http://www.walkit.com/new...) can be planned online with walkit.com (http://www.walkit.com/) walking route planner.
By train
Regional rail services are regular and offer quicker access to nearby towns such as Durham, Sunderland, Hexham and Corbridge. Details are available from National Rail Enquiries (http://www.national-rail....) or Northern Rail (http://www.northernrail.org/).