Just two hours from Sydney and with its many attractions, outdoor experiences and natural beauty, Newcastle is the ultimate weekend getaway in NSW. A city that’s big enough to get lost in and small enough to enjoy on foot, we decided to spend two days in Newcastle and let's get into the itinerary straightaway!
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Day 1
Getting there and Parking
The drive from Sydney to Newcastle takes slightly over two hours. Also, there are intercity trains that run every 30 minutes between Sydney Central Station & Newcastle Interchange Station and take anywhere between 2.5 to 3 hours; the train timetable can be found in Transport for NSW's website.
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There are many paid carparks in Newcastle as well as time-restricted free carparks that you can choose from. You can also check with your hotel if they provide free parking and if they do, park your car in the hotel and use Light rail, Bus, and/or walk to get around the city. The option that we'd recommend is to park the car in the all-day free carpark in the Stockton Wharf like we did and take the 5-minute ferry across to Queens Wharf, Newcastle.
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Upon disembarking from the ferry at the Queens Wharf, we stopped at Scottie’s for a quick lunch fix. The food was so good and we definitely recommend trying them out.
Stop #1: Fort Scratchley
We then headed straight to Fort Scratchley Visitor Centre to purchase our Tunnel Tour tickets.
The Tunnel Tours provide unique insight into the history of the site and are offered at regular intervals each day the Fort is open; visit their official website for more details on the tours including timing and prices. The Visitor Centre (Artillery Store) is also your souvenir shop! After purchasing the tickets for the 1:10PM Tunnel Tour as well as some souvenirs, we then headed to the top of the fort for some spectacular views of Newcastle and Stockton followed by field gun firing demonstration that occurs at 1PM each day, except Tuesdays.
We then lined up again at the Visitor Centre for the Tunnel Tour. The Tunnel Tour commences and terminates at the Visitor Centre and takes about an hour. Unfortunately, due to the narrow stairs and hallways, the tour is unsuitable for wheelchairs, walkers, prams & strollers and you can’t take your backpack with you either. You are only allowed to carry water bottles with you during the tour so plan accordingly.
Stop #2: Nobby's Lighthouse
After the Tunnel Tour, we visited the Nobby’s Lighthouse. The lighthouse grounds are open every Sunday from 10AM to 4PM and entry to the site is free.
Stop #3: Newcastle Breakwater
Then, we walked along the Macquarie Pier that extends 900m north along the water from Nobbys Beach to the Newcastle Breakwater and had so much fun with the waves crashing on us while in the Breakwater. The Pier as well as the Breakwater provide great photo opportunities so don’t miss it out!
Last (Short) Stop: Nobby's Head, Nobby's Beach & Horseshoe Beach
We then spent some time in the Nobby's Head, Nobby’s Beach and Horseshoe Beach on the way back before heading to Queens Wharf to take the ferry back to Stockton.
There is also the Stockton Shipwreck walk that you can do once you disembark from the ferry at Stockton if you have time. However, we’d recommend trying either the walk along the Macquarie Pier or the Stockton Shipwreck Walk as we think they both give you pretty much similar experience. We then had our dinner and headed to our hotel for a good night’s sleep!
Day 2
Day 2 was a bit tricky for us! We wanted to do the Newcastle’s Famous Tram Tour (more on the tour below) on Day 2 however the tour was cancelled for that entire week as the owner was out of town; so, we headed straight to the Blackbutt Nature Reserve to spend the entire day there. However, if you could secure a spot for the Tram tour, we recommend you follow the itinerary below for Day 2. The Tram Tour is a unique and nostalgic way to explore the city, it’s beautiful beaches and historic sites so you don’t want to miss it out!
A couple of weeks before your trip to Newcastle, contact Newcastle's Famous Tram and see if you could book the Tram Tour while you’re in Newcastle. The tram tour departs from Queens Wharf at 11AM on weekdays and most weekends and runs for 75 minutes. More details including ticket prices can be found on their website.
Stop #1 & #2: Hunter Street / Tram Tour
On Day 2, head to Hunter Street in the morning for a shopping spree and spend a couple of hours there including breakfast in one of the many nice cafes. Either park your car in the all-day free carpark in the Stockton Wharf and take the ferry to Newcastle or park in one of the many paid carparks or time-limited free carparks in Newcastle. After exploring Hunter Street, head to Queens Wharf for the Newcastle's Famous Tram Tour that starts at 11AM.
Last Stop: Blackbutt Nature Reserve
Upon completion of the tour, head to Blackbutt Nature Reserve to spend the rest of your day there.
Blackbutt Nature Reserve is a unique natural attraction where you can explore 182 hectares of amazing natural bushland, over 10 kilometres of walking trails, wildlife exhibits and a variety of flora and fauna. Blackbutt Reserve has 2 main entrances off Carnley Avenue and Freyberg Street (Richley Reserve); refer their website for more details on the location and facilities.
We parked off Carnley Avenue as we wanted to visit the wildlife exhibits first as the kids were more interested on the exhibits (of course!) than the nature walks and also due to the fact that they are open only until 4:30PM; the nature walks, on the other hand, are open until 7PM. Blackbutt Kiosk is open from 10am - 3pm (closed on Wednesdays, Sundays, Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day) for your souvenir needs.
Entry to the wildlife exhibit is free and we felt that the quality of the exhibits was at par with the other paid exhibits that we had visited so far! Unfortunately, the animal encounters and shows were closed when we visited so make sure to check out their website before your visit to see if they are on.
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After enjoying the wildlife exhibits, we went on to explore the nature trails. Blackbutt has 7 different interesting and challenging walking trails incorporating magnificent scenery and natural features through varying forest types and along creeks. These trails are signposted at each major intersection with the name of the track and the distance. More details on the nature walks can be found on their website. We did the 2.6KM Tall trees walk, which is a great family walk through the Richley picnic area and everyone including the kids enjoyed it.
| Tall Trees Walk - Key Facts | |
|---|---|
| Trailhead | Blackbutt Kiosk |
| Trail Type | Loop |
| Distance | 2.6km |
| Duration | 50 min |
| Accumulated Elevation Gain | 28m |
| Difficulty | Grade 2 |
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It was then time for us to head back home so we started to Sydney and on our way, we visited the gorgeous Caves Beach. We will cover this beach and the caves in detail in another post soon!
Here’re few other famous attractions in the region for you to explore, if you have got more time:
- Explore Newcastle Beach and Merewether Beach.
- ANZAC Memorial Walk, where you can experience the incredible panoramic vistas the coastline has to offer.
- The Bathers Way Walk that follows the coastline from Nobby's Beach to Merewether Beach.
- Take a dip at the Ocean Baths or the iconic Bogey Hole.
- Hunter Wetlands, a conservation sanctuary with over 200 wildlife species.
- Glenrock State Conservation Area, renowned for its mountain biking trails and bushwalking trails.
- 4WD sand driving adventure in Stockton Beach.
Our Itinerary
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