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South Shields
Town in Tyne and Wear, England

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.

Plan a trip to South Shields→From Leeds, West Yorkshire

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.

Get in

Getting to South Shields

For long-distance routes by air, rail, bus or ferry see Newcastle upon Tyne. South Tyneside is on the Metro Yellow Line. This runs every 10-15 min from Newcastle city centre to Gateshead, Heworth, Pelaw, Hebburn, 1 Jarrow Metro, Bede, Simonside, Tyne Dock, Chichester and

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Arbeia Roman Fort

    Apr-Sep: Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 11AM-4PM, Sun 2-5PM.

  2. 02
    South 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.

  3. 03
    Jarrow Hall
  4. 04
    Souter Lighthouse

    This lighthouse, completed in 1871, was the first to use AC electricity, from its own generator.

  5. 05
    Cleadon Windmill
Do

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.

Eat

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,.

  1. 01
    Colmans

    176-186 Ocean Rd, South Shields NE33 2JQ,.

How locals move

Getting around South Shields the local way

  • 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. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.