North East England
Between the Scottish borders and the counties of Yorkshire, North East England is a region often overlooked by tourists and natives from other parts of Great Britain. The region, often characterised by an industrial age long since past, has gone through immense change and regeneration.
To those that know the North East, there is a wealth of beauty unspoilt by large numbers of visitors. The county of Northumberland is dotted with beautiful historic towns such as Berwick on the Scottish border, Alnwick and Hexham.
It is a region of contrast. The wild beauty of the Northumberland National Park and the modern life of Newcastle. The quiet pit villages of County Durham and the historic grandeur of Durham Cathedral. The new, the old and the disused all reside in stark relief.
The real beauty of North East England is its secret. So few know what this area really has to offer.
Counties
Most visitors approach from the south, first to County Durham then Tyne & Wear then Northumberland:
| County Durham The highlight is the city of 1 Durham. Its well-preserved old centre has an outstanding cathedral and Norman castle. The village of Beamish has a large open-air museum. To the west are hills, with the River Tees rushing over High Force waterfall. |
| Tyne and Wear You'll know you're there when you see the Angel of the North, a giant copper-coloured sculpture towering over the A1. The area revolves around buzzing 2 Newcastle upon Tyne, with one of Europe's largest retail parks at Metro Centre. The south bank of the Tyne is a separate town, 3 Gateshead, with the Baltic Gallery. |
| Northumberland This is mostly rural, with a long lonely coastline dotted with castles - mostly scenic ruins, but 4 Alnwick just inland has a more comfortable bastion. The coast culminates in 1 Lindisfarne, the "Holy Island", and the Scottish border just beyond 5 Berwick-upon-Tweed. Through those borderlands marches 2 Hadrian's Wall, an 80-mile long wall built by the Romans to keep the Scottish tribes at bay. 6 Hexham is a charming small town close to the wall, and 3 Northumberland National Park stretches over windswept moors. |
Understand
The North East is England's most northern and sparsely populated region. The area has a very long and bloody history, due to its proximity to Scotland and has fallen under Scottish hands at least once as the border shifted over time.
Get in
By plane
- 1 Newcastle International Airport (NCL IATA) (On A696 out of Newcastle). Medium-sized airport with good flight connections to western Europe, to London Heathrow & Stansted, and other UK cities. Six miles northwest of city centre with good metro service to main railway station.
- Consider Manchester MAN IATA for flights beyond Europe. It's obviously further, but it has global connections, competitive prices, and hourly direct trains to North East England.
- Durham Tees Valley is a very small airport, with scheduled flights only to Amsterdam and Aberdeen, and no public transport to nearby Darlington.
By road
The A1 is a major road that serves this region, running from London to Edinburgh. The A66 is a main road that connects the North-East to the North-West of England.
By rail
The East Coast mainline passes through this region with major stations at York, Darlington, Durham, and Newcastle, there are other smaller stations which can all be viewed here.
Get around
Transport in the North East is well-developed, despite the relatively rural nature of the area.
By rail
The North East is served by the East Coast Main Line, which is useful for connections between some of the main cities. There are also rail connections that run from Newcastle to Middlesbrough via Sunderland that serve many of the coastal towns in County Durham.
There are also more scenic routes, such as the Tyne Valley line, which runs parallel to Hadrian's Wall serving the towns of Hexham and Prudhoe. A little further afield is the Esk Valley Railway. This goes from Middlesbrough eastwards, arriving at the pretty North Yorkshire town of Whitby.
By road
The road network in the North East is decent, however traffic can build up severely, particularly on approaches to cities and on the A1 and A19 roads. For this reason it is often best to use public transport to get around the region, especially in urban areas.
By bus
The North East has many buses, which are provided by a range of operators. There are some tickets that are only valid on certain operators, so it is worth checking which bus you are getting on. In particular, some bus numbers are used by multiple operators, which can get very confusing. An Explorer Ticket, valid on all bus services across the North East (as well as some in neighboring parts of North Yorkshire and the service to Carlisle), costs £10.50 for an adult for one day.
Most towns and cities have some kind of internal bus route as well as longer range buses that run from town to town. Some of the more useful intra-regional bus routes are:
7: Durham to Darlington 10: Newcastle to Hexham 21: Newcastle to Durham 45: Newcastle to Consett X7: Sunderland to Middlesbrough X10: Newcastle to Middlesbrough X11: Newcastle to Blyth X15: Newcastle to Berwick (fast) X18: Newcastle to Berwick (scenic) X21: Newcastle to Newbiggin by the Sea X21: Newcastle to Stanhope X21: Newcastle to Bishop Auckland X21: Sunderland to Darlington
Some buses take scenic routes, such as the X18, AD122 (a bus for Hadrian's Wall) and even normal buses will still provide views of the picturesque scenery.
By Metro
The Tyne and Wear Metro is comprised of two lines which offer an underground service in Newcastle and Sunderland.
The Yellow Line begins in St. James in Newcastle city centre, before heading east to the coast and north to Whitley Bay. It then returns to Newcastle via the northern suburbs of Gosforth and Jesmond. After this, it runs south of the river through the eastern parts of Gateshead, and then ends at South Shields on the coast.
The Green Line begins at the Airport and offers fast connections to Newcastle City Centre, before running south and east to the coastal city of Sunderland and ending at South Hylton to the west of Sunderland.
By bike
Several cycle routes pass through the area and this can be a quick way to get around the region. In particular, National Cycling Route 1 runs along the coast and is arguably one of the most scenic routes in the country around places such as Bamburgh.
By ferry
The Shields Ferry is a nice way to cross the Tyne, and indeed is on Cycle Route 1. There are other scenic river crossings such as the Transporter Bridge which can provide an intriguing way around the region.
On foot
Last but not least, the North East benefits from having small cities because they are all easily walkable. It is easy to walk across Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough despite these being the biggest cities in the area.
Eat
Eating out in North East England is very much dependent on where you are. Fresh fish can be found at many of the coastal towns such as Redcar. Fast food chains, Italian, Indian and French restaurants are all common to most larger towns.
North Easterners pride themselves on serving what they argue is the best traditional English fish and chips. From the largest cities in the region to the smallest villages, the presence of a fish and chip shop and a pub are practically guaranteed.
Drink
Stay safe
Northerners are wonderfully friendly and can usually be counted on to look after those not familiar to the area. As in any large city, certain areas will not be as safe after dark . As a general rule of thumb, you should avoid travelling alone late at night.