Newcastle Self-Guided Walking Tour: Riddles & Landmarks

A medieval crown steeple, a Victorian market and a Norman keep. The app tells you why each one matters.

This self-guided scavenger hunt takes you through Newcastle on foot using phone-based riddles to navigate from one landmark to the next, with no guide and no fixed start time. You solve clues at Grainger Market, St Nicholas Cathedral, and Newcastle Castle across roughly two hours. Download the Explorial app, enter your game code, and walk at your own pace with total flexibility to pause, break or explore as you choose.

The experience

Start at Akenside Hill on the quayside, open the Explorial app on your smartphone, and the riddles begin. The app guides you from the river up through Newcastle's layers: first to Grainger Market, the 1835 covered market with over 100 stalls still operating inside Richard Grainger's colonnaded aisles, then to St Nicholas Cathedral, whose distinctive lantern tower is one of only four surviving medieval crown steeples in Britain. The route ends at Newcastle Castle, the Norman keep that gave the city its name, where the Black Gate still stands above the railway driven through the castle precincts in the 19th century. Each landmark comes with its own riddle, trivia challenge or photo task to unlock.

You walk at your own pace with no guide and no fixed start time, so you can break whenever you want, linger at a stall, or sit by the river. The app keeps score and lets you compete against your group or the city's high score. It works in 24 languages, so you pick yours when you start the game. The whole walk takes around two hours on one of the finest riverside stretches in northern England, though you set the rhythm.

You'll need a fully charged smartphone with active mobile data and the Explorial app downloaded before you arrive. The game code arrives by text and booking-platform message after booking. All the puzzles relate to public areas, so no entrance fees are required. You're solving riddles and learning the stories from outside or in the open parts of each site.

What’s included

• Free download of the Explorial app for iOS or Android.
• self-guided walking tour with interactive riddles, trivia challenges and photo tasks.
• points and scoring system to compete within your group or against the city high score.
• live location navigation with marked stops on the map.
• stories, history and local legends about each landmark.
• total flexibility to start anytime, walk at your own pace and take as many breaks as you want.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day

AgesAdult (10 to 90 years) · Child (under 10): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Cantonese, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 15 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Explorial

Is this one for you?The app delivers the commentary in 24 languages, so you pick the one you speak when you start the game: anyone in your group can follow at their own reading pace. Groups up to 15 people book as one. Larger groups make multiple bookings.

Traveler reviews

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Romanian, Danish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian, Czech, Norwegian, Hungarian, Cantonese, Greek, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Hindi and Turkish.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (under 10): free.

What is Grainger Market and why does it matter to Newcastle?

Grainger Market is a Victorian covered market built in 1835 by Richard Grainger, with over 100 stalls still operating inside its long colonnaded aisles. It represents the height of Victorian market architecture and remains fully operational, buzzing with daily life: one of the landmarks the riddles guide you to solve.

Can I start this tour whenever I want, or is there a fixed time?

There is no fixed start time. You download the app, enter your game code, and begin whenever you're ready. You walk at your own pace and can take breaks whenever you want, making it completely flexible around the rest of your day.

What is St Nicholas Cathedral's lantern tower and why is it significant?

St Nicholas Cathedral's distinctive lantern tower is one of only four surviving medieval crown steeples in Britain. It has guided travellers to Newcastle across the Tyne for over 600 years and is one of the three main landmarks the scavenger hunt takes you to.

Do I need to pay entrance fees to visit the sites on this tour?

No entrance fees are required. All the puzzles relate to public areas of the sights, so you solve the riddles and learn the stories from outside or in the open parts of each location.

What happens if bad weather or illness stops me from starting?

The Weather & Health Guarantee lets you reschedule the tour for another day, rebook to a different city, or request a refund if bad weather or illness prevents you from starting.