United Kingdom · England · Newcastle upon Tyne
Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Quayside is the riverside district of Newcastle upon Tyne, its old warehouses turned to galleries and bars below the castle.
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Where to stay in Quayside
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
Quayside puts you on the waterfront of Newcastle upon Tyne, within a short walk of the bars along the river and the galleries that fill its converted warehouses. Beds cluster in two moods. The lanes below Newcastle upon Tyne Castle keep the old cobbled streets and the medieval merchant houses close at hand, while the newer blocks nearer the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art trade that history for open views across the water.
Sandhill anchors the historic end. Choose the waterfront for the nightlife and the walk to Bessie Surtees House.
Find hotels in Quayside
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Sandhill and the old Quayside
Sandhill gathers the oldest fabric of the Quayside, so a room here sits between Bessie Surtees House and the climb up to Newcastle upon Tyne Castle rather than out among the modern blocks.Find hotels in Sandhill and the old Quaysideopen river views facing the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ArtThe waterfront by the Baltic
The newer stretch of the Quayside looks straight across the water toward the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, trading the medieval lanes for glass frontage and a flat riverside walk. Few places to stay nearby — book ahead.Find hotels in The waterfront by the BalticHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Newcastle upon Tyne
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Laing Art Gallery Heritage
- Seven Stories
- Hatton Gallery
Churches & Religious Sites
7- All Saints' Church, Newcastle upon Tyne Heritage
- St Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne Heritage
- St John the Baptist Church, Newcastle upon Tyne Heritage
- St Stephen's Church, Low Elswick Heritage
- Church of St Thomas the Martyr Heritage
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- Church of St Matthew Heritage
- Church of St Michael And Presbytery Attached Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
2- Newcastle upon Tyne Castle Heritage
- Grey's Monument Heritage
Landmarks & Notable Places
3- Morden Tower Heritage
- Alderman Fenwick's House Heritage
- Mansion House, Newcastle upon Tyne
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Newcastle upon Tyne
About Quayside
What are the main landmarks in Quayside?
The Quayside carries the older markers of Newcastle upon Tyne. Its defining survivor is Bessie Surtees House, a pair of merchant houses on Sandhill whose Jacobean fronts recall the trade that once crowded this waterfront, while Newcastle upon Tyne Castle stands on the rise just above the quay. Turbinia rests nearby.
That pioneering steam vessel is kept at the Discovery Museum, one of the Newcastle upon Tyne collections that draw visitors up from the water and out into the wider streets of the city.
What is the history of Quayside?
Trade made the Quayside. It grew as the working waterfront of Newcastle upon Tyne, the strip where ships loaded and merchants built their halls, and Bessie Surtees House survives from that mercantile age as a rare timber-framed front on Sandhill. Above it all sat the fortress.
Newcastle upon Tyne Castle gave the town its name and guarded the crossing of the river long before the warehouses rose. When the docks fell quiet the old sheds were left standing, and later hands turned them into the galleries and bars that line the water now.
Where is Quayside?
Quayside runs as a narrow riverside shelf below the old core of Newcastle upon Tyne, its cobbled lanes climbing from the water past Sandhill to Newcastle upon Tyne Castle, while the far bank carries the eye across to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Quayside?
Sandhill and the old Quayside: cobbled streets and Jacobean merchant houses beside the water. The waterfront by the Baltic: open river views facing the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Good for
Another area in Newcastle upon Tyne
Updated October 2026