Newcastle-upon-Tyne in north-east England is on the north bank of the River Tyne, and was founded in Roman times under the name Pons Aelius. People from Newcastle are commonly called Geordies and their northern English dialect has a large amount of vocabulary that does not exist in other parts of England which can make the friendly locals hard for visitors to understand.

Newcastle has a reputation for being a fun-loving city with many bars, restaurants and nightclubs. There are many around the Bigg Market, and the Quayside area areas of the city centre. The Gate in the city centre is a new indoor complex consisting of bars, upmarket clubs, restaurants and a 12-screen multiplex cinema.

The city has an extensive and impressive neoclassical centre, largely developed in the 1830s. Grey Street, which curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the Tyne, was voted as England's finest street in 2005. In the middle of the city is the large Eldon Square shopping centre.

Newcastle Airport is located about 6 miles (11km) north of the city centre and is connected to the Tyne and Wear Metro service linking it directly with Newcastle on a 22 minute trip.

Newcastle is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line railway with half-hourly high speed trains to London, with a journey time of a little less than three hours. The Central Station was the first covered railway station in the world and was much copied across the UK.