South Shields
South Shields is a coastal port town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it lies on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne.
South Shields is a coastal port town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it lies on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was known in Roman times as Arbeia and as Caer Urfa by the Early Middle Ages. It is the fourth largest settlement in Tyne and Wear, after Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland and Gateshead; in 2021, it had a population of 75,337.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around South Shields
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Monkwearmouth–Jarrow, known simply as Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, was a Benedictine double monastery in the Kingdom of Northumbria, England. Its first house was St Peter's, Monkwearmouth, on the River Wear, founded in AD 674–5.
3.1 km · Benedictine monastery · Wikipedia - 02Arbeia
Arbeia was a large Roman fort in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England, now ruined and partially reconstructed. It was first excavated in the 1870s.
1 km · Roman fort and museum in South Shields, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 03Tynemouth Castle and Priory
Tynemouth Priory and Castle is an historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse.
2.6 km · historic coastal site in north-eastern England · Wikipedia - 04St Hilda's Church, South Shields
St Hilda's Church, South Shields is a Grade II listed parish church in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. It is part of the Church of England.
500 m · Grade II listed building in South Shields, South Tyneside, UK · Wikipedia - 05Chirton Hall
Chirton Hall or Chirton House, occasionally spelled Churton and originally Cheuton, was a country house in Chirton, in what is now a western suburb of North Shields, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically, the house was in the county of Northumberland.
2.4 km · country house in Chirton, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 06Christ Church, North Shields
Christ Church is a church North Shields, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England is an Anglican church in the parish of North Shields Christ Church, Diocese of Newcastle.
2.2 km · grade II listed church in North Shields, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, UK · Wikipedia - 07Jarrow Hall
Jarrow Hall is a museum in Jarrow, South Tyneside, England which celebrates the life of Bede; a monk, author and scholar who lived in at the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Wearmouth-Jarrow, a double monastery at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth,, England. The site features a museum dedicated to the life and times of the famous monk, with other features and attractions – including a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon farm and the 18th-century Georgian building Jarrow Hall house itself – reflected in a calendar of activities, including special themed events, an educational programme for schools and heritage skills workshops, alongside space for businesses and events.
3.1 km · museum in Jarrow, England, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 08Collingwood Monument
The Collingwood Monument is a Grade II* listed monument in Tynemouth, England, dedicated to Vice Admiral Lord Cuthbert Collingwood. A Napoleonic-era admiral noted for being second-in-command to Admiral Lord Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar, Collingwood is sometimes referred to as the forgotten hero of Trafalgar.
2.3 km · monument in Tynemouth, England · Wikipedia - 09
- 10Tyne South Pier light
South Shields is a coastal port town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it lies on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was known in Roman times as Arbeia and as Caer Urfa by the Early Middle Ages.
2.6 km · lighthouse in Tyne and Wear, England · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Arbeia Roman Fort
Apr-Sep: Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 11AM-4PM, Sun 2-5PM.
- 02South Shields lighthouse is at the end
It's just a stubby navigation light, like its counterpart on the north pier from Tynemouth: the long-range lighthouse is Souter, see below.
- 03Jarrow Hall
- 04Souter Lighthouse
This lighthouse, completed in 1871, was the first to use AC electricity, from its own generator.
- 05Cleadon Windmill
From Wikivoyage: South Shields, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Customs House in South Shields has a cinema and theatre and music hall. It's on Mill Dam 200 yards south of the ferry pier, Box Office +44 191 454-1234. Ocean Beach Pleasure Park is in Marine Park at the foot of South Shields pier. Golf: nearby courses are Whitburn Golf Club, South Shields Golf Club and Boldon Golf Club. You can also reach Tynemouth GC via the ferry.
From Wikivoyage: South Shields, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
South Shields eateries are in town centre around the Metro station and along Ocean Road towards the pier. They include Colman's (see below), The Wouldhave (see below), Mambo Wine & Dine, Tuscano's, Turkuisine, Orange Grass, Clover and Wolf, Bell Passi, Radhuni, Italianish, Pacino's, Kuzey, Zeera and Sambuca. Colman's Seafood Temple, Sea Road, South Shields NE33 2LD,.
- 01Colmans
176-186 Ocean Rd, South Shields NE33 2JQ,.
From Wikivoyage: South Shields, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to South Shields
- Airports
- Newcastle (NCL), 17 km · Leeds Bradford (LBA), 126 km · Edinburgh (EDI), 162 km
- Stations
- Percy Main, 2.9 km · Brockley Whins, 4.4 km · Fellgate, 5.5 km · Hadrian Road, 5.5 km · Meadow Well, 2.4 km
- Leeds, West Yorkshire → South Shields134 km · quickest by road, 2h 31m · £15–20
- Ingliston, Edinburgh → South Shields160 km · quickest by road, 3h 25m · £19–26
- Manchester, Greater Manchester → South Shields177 km · quickest by road, 3h 33m · £21–28
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for South Shields
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for South Shields. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inFor long-distance routes by air, rail, bus or ferry see Newcastle upon Tyne.
- Get inis served by the Shields Ferry across the Tyne from North Shields.
- Get inOn the far side, Shuttle Bus 333 links the pier to North Shields town centre and Metro station and is included in the ferry fare.
- Get inAlthough Port of Tyne is mostly on the south bank, the overnight DFDS ferries from IJmuiden near Amsterdam dock at the north bank terminal in North Shields.
- Get aroundBuilt in 1951, they're 884-ft (270-m) long, and entered by funicular lifts and by the original wooden Waygood-Otis escalators.
From Wikivoyage: South Tyneside, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01243 km
- 02269 km
- 03298 km
- 04369 km
- 05376 km
If you know how people move in South Shields – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to South Shields
South Shields is 12 km from Newcastle upon Tyne, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Tynemouthtown in north east England2.5 km
- South Tynesidemetropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, UK4 km
- Whitley Bayseaside town on the north east coast of England5.7 km
- North Shieldstown in England1.9 km
- Cullercoatstown in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom4.3 km
- Cleadonvillage in Tyne and Wear, England, UK4.8 km