The Metro from the terminal to the city in 25 minutes for £2.50, onward travel to Hadrian’s Wall, Durham and Northumberland – and the Newcastle Quaker women who bought Frederick Douglass his freedom.
Newcastle International is the airport of North East England – compact, friendly and, unusually for Britain, linked straight into the city by a cheap, frequent light railway. It is the best gateway for Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland's castles and beaches, Durham and the North York Moors.
The airport station is a short covered walk from arrivals. Green Line trains run roughly every 12 minutes in the daytime straight through Newcastle city centre and on to Gateshead and Sunderland – no changes needed. Tap in with a contactless card and the fare cap is applied automatically. For Newcastle's main-line railway station, get off at Central Station.
Go North East buses also serve the airport, and a night bus has filled the gap when the Metro is closed – check current timetables if you land late.
Metro trains to the airport leave from under Central Station and from Monument; allow at least 40 minutes door to check-in desk.
There are no direct flights from sub-Saharan Africa. The most common route is one stop via Dubai with Emirates, or via Amsterdam and other European hubs; you then clear UK immigration in Newcastle. Check the visa or ETA rules first: UK visa and entry from Africa. Liquids rules vary by airport – check Newcastle's current rule before you pack. See also flights from Africa to the UK.
Newcastle was built on coal shipped from the Tyne, and its merchants and shipowners were part of the Atlantic economy. But the city also has a proud abolitionist story. In 1846 the American writer Frederick Douglass, who had escaped slavery in Maryland, was lecturing in Britain when two Newcastle Quaker women, Anna and Ellen Richardson, raised the money to buy his legal freedom from his former owner, so that he could return to the United States without fear of recapture. A plaque on their former home in Summerhill Grove records it. Read more on abolition in Britain.
Tours from Newcastle cover Hadrian's Wall, Holy Island, Bamburgh and Alnwick castles, and Durham.
Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but are always welcome.
Every major UK airport compared.
Rome's frontier, an hour from the airport.
An hour south by train.
Bamburgh and Alnwick both make the list.
Hadrian's Wall was guarded by soldiers from across the Roman empire, including North Africa. For Africa's own story, see our partner sites African Independence, Egypt and Ghana-Net.
Britain Adventures is an independent partner website. Our partner sites on Africa and its history are where the stories on this page continue:
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