Things to do in Newcastle
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Newcastle
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall: warm sea, long days and manageable crowds outside Easter, Surfest week and school holidays.
Peak summer and school holidays: liveliest and most crowded, with humidity, storms and bluebottles on north easterlies.
Whale season and value season: peak northbound whales in June and July, cold surf, short days and lower hotel rates.
Late January honestly combines school holiday crowds, humidity and storm risk at the year's highest prices.
What's on
- Surfest February to March, main event in March
The largest surfing festival in the Southern Hemisphere at Merewether Beach, now headlined by a WSL Challenger Series event.
- Newcastle Writers Festival April
A respected regional literary festival centred on the Civic precinct, pairing well with autumn swimming.
- Lovedale Long Lunch May
The Hunter Valley's ticketed progressive winery lunch weekend, a short drive or tour from Newcastle.
- ORRCA Whale Census late June
Organised whale counting from the headlands, the festival moment of the May to November migration season.
- Newcastle Jazz Festival August
A three day jazz festival across city venues, and winter's best weekend in Newcastle.
- New Annual September to October
The City of Newcastle's contemporary arts festival of installations, performance and music across the centre.
- Mattara Festival October school holidays
Newcastle's official festival since 1961, a family fair style program of parades, rides and exhibitions.
Best things to do in Newcastle
Newcastle Memorial Walk
A 450 metre cliff walkway above the coast with the best free view in Newcastle, linking King Edward Park to Bar Beach.
Bathers Way Coastal Walk
The 6km promenade from Nobbys Beach to Merewether Baths that strings together every city beach, bath and headland.
Bogey Hole
A convict cut ocean pool from 1819 at the foot of the cliffs, clear and calm on the right tide and dramatic in any swell.
Merewether Ocean Baths
The largest ocean baths in the Southern Hemisphere, a free 100 metre pool flushed by surf below Merewether Beach.
Newcastle Ocean Baths
An Art Deco ocean baths in the East End, the convenient city swim before breakfast with coal ships queued offshore.
Nobbys Beach
Newcastle's postcard beach, patrolled and sheltered by Nobbys Head, and the start of Bathers Way and the breakwall walk.
Merewether Beach
The city's surf beach and a National Surfing Reserve, home of Surfest and the place to watch serious surfing up close.
Fort Scratchley
Tunnels and guns on Flagstaff Hill above Nobbys, with volunteer guided tunnel tours and the best harbour mouth view.
Where to stay in Newcastle
Newcastle East
first trip, beach mornings and walking everywhere
Heritage streets above Newcastle Beach and the Ocean Baths, with Nobbys, Bathers Way and Darby Street dining on foot.
Newcastle CBD and Honeysuckle
harbour views, hotels and transport
The Civic and Honeysuckle waterfront holds both five star hotels, the museum, light rail and the whale boat departures.
Merewether
surf first trips in a rental apartment
A beach suburb of houses and apartments by the surf beach and baths, ten minutes from the East End by car or bus.
Think twice about
- Maitland Road motel strip, Mayfield and Waratah
Highway motels built for drivers, with truck traffic, no beach and nothing to walk to at night.
- Wickham and the immediate Interchange surrounds
A transport and light industrial zone that is functional for trains but thin on restaurants, harbour access and charm.
- Stockton
A lovely village, but the ferry stops in the evening and the drive back is long, so Newcastle nights end early.
- Beaumont Street, Hamilton, directly over the pubs
A genuine eat street, but rooms over its pubs take Friday and Saturday late night noise. One street back is quieter.
Best restaurants in Newcastle
The Flotilla
Newcastle's benchmark dining room, a small set menu restaurant built around a charcoal oven and seasonal seafood.
Thermidor
An oyster bar and brasserie on the Honeysuckle waterfront, with live shucking, sashimi and coastal cooking over fire.
Jana Restaurant & Bar
QT's signature restaurant on Hunter Street, top tier modern Australian cooking and one of the city's best cocktail lists.
HUMBURG
A small pasta and wine bar on Hunter Street that locals treat as a secret, with house made pasta at mid prices.
Nagisa
The city's long standing Japanese benchmark on Honeysuckle Drive, with a sushi counter and harbour views.
Light Years Asian Diner
Modern Asian share plates and cocktails on Darby Street, in a tropical party lit room built for group ordering.
Bocados Spanish Kitchen
The East End's Spanish institution near Newcastle Beach, tapas and a deep Spanish wine list in a warm crowded room.
The Grain Store
A craft beer hall in a converted East End warehouse, with a standout independent tap list and generous pub food.
Outdoor things to do in Newcastle
Newcastle Golf Club
A championship links style course through dunes and bush at Fern Bay, the region's serious and scenic test of golf.
Merewether Golf Club
An inner city 18 hole course in Adamstown welcoming social golfers, with twilight rounds that are the city's golf bargain.
Fernleigh Track
A flat 15km sealed rail trail from Adamstown to Belmont through bush and a brick tunnel, best ridden with a hired bike.
Blackbutt Reserve
Free bush reserve in the suburbs with koalas, kangaroos and emus in natural enclosures, plus trails, playgrounds and barbecues.
Glenrock State Conservation Area
Rainforest gullies, a lagoon and a famed mountain bike network in the coastal reserve directly behind Bathers Way.
CoastXP
A fast adventure boat whale tour from the harbour, running late May to November with peak viewing in winter and spring.
Stockton Beach
The largest moving coastal dunes in the Southern Hemisphere, best entered on a guided 4WD tour with sandboarding.
Tyrrell's Wines
A family winery since 1858 and the benchmark for Hunter Semillon, the main cellar door for a Pokolbin wine day.
Best hotels in Newcastle
Crystalbrook Kingsley
Luxury rooms inside the old Roundhouse civic building, with a level 9 restaurant and rooftop bar above the harbour.
QT Newcastle
A design hotel in the heritage store building on Hunter Street, a short walk to Newcastle Beach and Darby Street.
NOAH'S On The Beach
The location hotel directly opposite Newcastle Beach, where ocean view rooms look straight over the surf.
Rydges Newcastle
A harbourfront full service hotel on the Honeysuckle promenade with a 25 metre pool and harbour view rooms.
YHA Newcastle Beach
The budget base in the East End, a social hostel streets from Newcastle Beach with dorms, private rooms and surf gear.
Is Newcastle expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | A$120 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | A$240 a person |
| Splurge | A$480 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Fort Scratchley: a few days ahead
- Newcastle Golf Club: weeks ahead
- CoastXP: a few days ahead
- Stockton Beach: a few days ahead
- Tyrrell's Wines: weeks ahead
- Crystalbrook Kingsley: weeks ahead
- QT Newcastle: weeks ahead
- NOAH'S On The Beach: a few days ahead
- Book The Flotilla on weekends and Thermidor on Friday and Saturday well ahead, not on the day.
- Hunter Valley tours from Newcastle sell out two to three weeks ahead on weekends and through harvest.
- Book whale tours early in your stay so weather cancellations can be rebooked.
- Book Newcastle Golf Club weekend tee times and city rooms during Surfest and school holidays.
Is Newcastle safe?
- Swim between the red and yellow flags, and treat the unpatrolled Bogey Hole with respect in any swell.
- Emergency number throughout Australia is 000.
- Bathers Way has long unshaded stretches and fierce UV, so carry water and sun protection even on breezy days.
- Cross light rail tracks at close to 90 degrees on a bike, because wheels can catch in the tracks.
Newcastle travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not pay for a harbour cruise to see the harbour. The Stockton ferry and Honeysuckle promenade show it for an Opal fare or free.
- Do not self drive a Hunter Valley tasting day without a genuine non tasting driver, and do three cellar doors slowly, not six.
- Never swim outside the flags at surf beaches, and use an ocean bath instead when bluebottles are on the beach.
Getting around Newcastle: public transport and more
- The light rail runs from Newcastle Interchange to Newcastle Beach on Opal or contactless payment, and covers the CBD and East End.
- Trains from Sydney take about 2 hours 40 minutes, driving about 2 hours, and Newcastle Airport is about 25 minutes north.
- Inside the city you do not need a car. The Hunter Valley, Fern Bay golf and the Stockton dunes need a car or a booked tour.
- The Stockton ferry from Queens Wharf takes about five minutes, but check the last evening sailing before dinner there.
Who Newcastle suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Newcastle your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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