Best Places to Visit Near Newcastle
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit near Newcastle are The Grainger Market, The Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle, The Lit & Phil, Sandhaven Beach, King Edward's Bay, Tynemouth Outdoor Pool, Tynemouth Priory and Castle and Starlight Castle.
Newcastle packs a lot into a small centre, and the Tyne carries you quickly out to a fine coast. Begin in the heart of the city, all within a few minutes' walk: the covered Victorian aisles of the Grainger Market, the strange fanged carving known as the Vampire Rabbit at Amen Corner, and the galleried reading rooms of the Lit and Phil on Westgate Road.
Then follow the river east to the sea. On the south bank, Sandhaven Beach stretches below the pier at South Shields, while across the water at Tynemouth you can drop down to the sheltered cove of King Edward's Bay, peer at the weathered shell of the Tynemouth Outdoor Pool, and explore the cliff-top ruins of Tynemouth Priory and Castle.
A little further up the Northumberland coast, Starlight Castle hides as a folly in the woods of Holywell Dene. City rooms, castles and sand await.
Here are eight places to visit near Newcastle.
The Grainger Market
Photo: Peter McDermott via Geograph.org.uk
The Grainger Market When Richard Grainger reshaped the centre of Newcastle in the 1830s, this vast covered market hall was part of his plan, opening its doors in 1835. More than a hundred traders now fill its aisles beneath the roof, their stalls heaped with meat, fish, fruit and vegetables alongside street food, cafes and a run of independent shops.
A curiosity worth seeking out is the tiny stall Marks and Spencer has occupied since 1895, dating back to the company's Penny Bazaar beginnings. The listed hall was refreshed in the mid-2020s, and it remains one of the most characterful places to browse in the city.
The Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle
Photo: David P Howard via Geograph.org.uk
The Vampire Rabbit of Newcastle Painted glossy black, its fangs and claws picked out in red, a grotesque carving glares down from above an ornate rear doorway at Amen Corner, off Dean Street, facing the back of St Nicholas Cathedral. It has perched there since the Cathedral Buildings went up in 1901, yet nobody can say what it means, or even settle whether the beast is a rabbit or a hare, so every tale about it is guesswork rather than record.
Small and strange, it has become a quiet quest for curious visitors on the passage behind the cathedral. Look up as you pass and decide for yourself.
The Lit & Phil
Photo: Mike Quinn via Geograph.org.uk
The Lit & Phil Light drops through glass domes onto a galleried reading room where shelves rise two storeys deep, more than 150,000 books ranged around you, with a large collection of recorded music alongside. This is the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle, an independent subscription library on Westgate Road housed in a grand Greek Revival building of the 1820s, and the largest of its kind outside London.
Started as a discussion society in 1793, it later saw Joseph Swan light his electric bulb here around 1880, the first rooms anywhere to be lit that way. It lends to members, opens its reference shelves free, and puts on talks.
Sandhaven Beach
Photo: Oliver Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Sandhaven Beach, also known as Herd Sand, is a long sandy shore backed by dunes at South Shields, on the Tyne and Wear coast just south of the pier at the mouth of the River Tyne. A seafront runs behind it with a car park, a cafe and toilets, and the sands are popular for surfing, windsurfing, kayaking and fishing, with lifeguards on duty in season.
This is a lively town beach, forming the northern half of the sands, with Littlehaven Beach just along the coast. Do note that part of the beach has a dog ban through the summer months.
King Edward's Bay
Photo: Anthony Foster via Geograph.org.uk
King Edward's Bay is a small sandy cove at Tynemouth, tucked below the cliffs beside the ruins of Tynemouth Priory. Grassy banks and cliffs wrap around it, and you reach the sand by a flight of steps down from the headland, which keeps it sheltered and rather quieter than the busier beaches nearby.
A cafe and toilets sit at the top, with lifeguards on the sand in season. The old priory and castle gaze down over the bay from the point above, giving this little cove a fine backdrop and making it a lovely spot to settle for an hour or two.
Tynemouth Outdoor Pool
Photo: Ian S via Geograph.org.uk
Tynemouth Outdoor Pool is a derelict open-air seawater lido set on the rocks at the northern end of Longsands Beach in Tynemouth. It opened in the 1920s and closed in the mid-1990s, and what remains today is an empty, weathered shell, its pool basin and walls still clearly visible from the beach and the coast path.
There is no swimming here and there are no facilities, so it is one to look at rather than use. A local campaign has long hoped to see it restored, though no rebuilding is under way, and for now it makes an evocative, slightly melancholy sight.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle
Photo: David Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Tynemouth Priory and Castle A monastery held this rocky headland at the mouth of the River Tyne from the seventh century until Henry VIII closed it in 1539, and the sea still wraps three sides of it. Priory and castle now stand together in ruin: a medieval gatehouse, the roofless east end of the priory church with its tall Gothic windows, the well-preserved fifteenth-century Percy Chantry chapel, and gun batteries restored from the Second World War.
English Heritage runs the site for an admission charge, and from the walls the view opens wide over King Edward's Bay and the river mouth.
Starlight Castle
Photo: Andrew Curtis via Geograph.org.uk
Starlight Castle is a small ruined folly hidden in the woods of Holywell Dene, near Seaton Sluice on the Northumberland coast, on the old Seaton Delaval estate. Little now remains but a fragment of ivy-clad wall on a wooded bank, reached along the walking paths through the dene.
Local legend says it was thrown up in a single night in the eighteenth century by Sir Francis Blake Delaval, a notably reckless member of the family, to win a bet, and used to house an actress he admired. The tale is more story than proven history, but it has clung to the ruin ever since.
FAQs
What is the Vampire Rabbit in Newcastle?
The Vampire Rabbit is a grotesque fanged carving above a back doorway at Amen Corner in Newcastle, behind St Nicholas Cathedral. Painted black with red fangs, its meaning remains a genuine mystery.
Which beaches are close to Newcastle?
Sandhaven Beach at South Shields and the sheltered King Edward's Bay at Tynemouth both lie around 13 kilometres from Newcastle, reached quickly by following the Tyne to the coast.
Can you go inside Tynemouth Priory and Castle?
Yes. Tynemouth Priory and Castle, on the headland at the mouth of the Tyne near Newcastle, is run by English Heritage, with an admission charge to explore the ruins and gun batteries.
Conclusion
Newcastle proves that a great day out can start on a city street and end on a windswept headland. Within a few minutes' walk you can browse the Grainger Market, hunt down the peculiar Vampire Rabbit and lose an hour among the galleries of the Lit and Phil.
Follow the Tyne to the sea and the coast opens up: Sandhaven Beach at South Shields, the sheltered sands of King Edward's Bay, the weathered shell of the Tynemouth Outdoor Pool and the cliff-top ruins of Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Further north, Starlight Castle waits quietly in its wooded dene.
From market halls to castles and coves, these are the places to visit near Newcastle.
