Newcastle: A world-class city with a world-class football stadium

If you’re looking for excellent football, look no further than St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Six venues have been chosen to host the football in the London Olympics, and apart from the Wembley Stadium, they are situated throughout the UK in cities such as Glasgow, Manchester and Cardiff.

Another such city is Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where there are many striking landmarks and fantastic attractions for tourists to enjoy.

As a city, Newcastle is infatuated with football, and the club that calls St James’ Park home, Newcastle United, has a lot of support from devoted fans. Visiting the city to enjoy the beautiful game is a great decision – and one that you won’t regret, with nine matches being held in total that include the quarter-finals for both men and women.

Nothing gets tenser than watching the football event reach its grand finale, with the semi-finals being held in Manchester’s Old Trafford and the climax taking place at the Wembley Stadium. The sixth-largest stadium in the UK, St James’ Park has 52,387 seats up for grabs for those who want to watch sporting history unfold.

An extravagant celebration of football that is going to be taking place around the UK

The Olympics is one of the biggest international tournaments in the football calendar, aside from the World Cup. For Britons and international visitors alike, the opportunity to watch 28 teams from six different confederations compete in the UK is a rare one that needs to be celebrated.

Indeed, with many of the 500 footballers participating being under the age of 23, it could be a great opportunity to discover some of the freshest young talents who will be dominating football’s world stage tomorrow.

Football at the summer games is a big event. Over 2,400 footballs are going to be used for the duration of the Games, and this begins to show the sheer size of the tournament. Because of this, you need to decide which games you would like to see the most, and compare this with the locations where you would like to stay. With Newcastle being a well-appointed and striking modern city, this decision won’t be too difficult to make.

When you’re in the arena and everyone is in uproar over a foul, or when the uncertainty and excitement is palpable when a match goes into extra time, there is no feeling quite like it. This is why choosing Newcastle-upon-Tyne for your summer 2012 getaway is a great opportunity – it allows you to visit a football-mad city that will be in the thick of the action.

Best summer 2012 holiday accommodation

So much to see and so much to do in Newcastle

Things to experience

If you want to try something different when visiting Newcastle, there is an array of attractions that fit the bill. For example, the Newcastle Wine School offers the perfect balance between savouring the finest wines from around the world and receiving an education in wine that you can use at home and when eating out.

Things to taste

This leads us nicely onto the restaurant recommendations. If you have been to a wine school before booking a table at one of Newcastle’s many eateries, you’ll have the gift of being able to critique an eatery’s wine list before matching an appropriate bottle of wine to your meal. One such venue to try is Blackfriars, which proudly boasts the title of being the oldest public dining room in Britain – with records dating back to the 13th century.

Things to buy

There’s an array of markets and on-street galleries to look out for in Newcastle as well, and purchasing a piece of fine art or a sculpture could be a lasting memento of your trip.

Getting around in Newcastle

Newcastle is conveniently situated on the East Coast Main Line, meaning that you can benefit from a quick connection to London in order to enjoy some of the events taking place at the Olympic Park in Newham.

Indeed, if you are racing around the country to watch the football unfold, you might wish to get the train to Manchester Piccadilly for the semi-finals before making your way to Wembley. This way, if you were lucky enough to get tickets, you can watch every part of the summer 2012 football play out.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne is also well-served by local rail routes, bus lines and motorways – meaning that you won’t have any difficulty reaching your accommodation by car or solely on public transport.