Getting to Newcastle
 

From across the Tasman, what is the best way to get to Newcastle?

Fly to Brisbane/Melbourne, transfer to QantasLink or Jetstar,
or fly into Sydney and catch the train changing at Central?

The train option is looking tempting as it takes you into Newcastle itself.

If you need to be in Newcastle itself, train from SYD is probably the way to go - the airport is some way out of town.

It is a bit of a hike from Williamstown Airport to the centre of Newcastle. (About 20-30 mins by car depending upon the time of day.)

I'd be interested to see how the train option goes. I always fly to Newcastle and rent a car.

If you are going into Newcastle CBD from NTL airport, catching the Hunter Valley Coaches 136 service which connects with the Stockton ferry to cross the harbour could be worth trying. The Newcastle ferry wharf is about 300 metres from the train station or you can cross the railway line by pedestrian bridge straight into the CBD.

You could also catch the Port Stephens Coaches 130 service right into town.

I've done AKL to Newcastle via Sydney. Used Aeropelican to fly Syd - Newscastle and return. Ok as long as you don't mind flying in a little turbo prop pencil, but its a reasonably quick hop

Link http://www.aeropelican.com.au/where-we-fly.html

The train is the way I would go

+1. Its a commuter train. Comfortable seats (2 x 2) and air conditioned.

www.cityrail.com

I normally take the train - but after having literally seen the Newcastle train leaving Central as I headed for the platform twice now (and thus having a full hour to wait at the station for the next one), my plan for future flights is to record the time the trains depart and if it doesn't look safe to make it then I'll look at killing half an hour at the airport since it is a much nicer environment than Central.

If hiring a car / getting picked up from the airport, I'd look at AKL-BNE-NTL. Qantaslink runs weekdays (and apparently a late Sunday flight when I booked it yesterday) from BNE to NTL. Otherwise Jetstar have a few flights a day from MEL and BNE to NTL. For cost reasons I'd probably recommend the direct flight to Sydney.

The train is quite pleasant (and if you are a tourist the view can be good in places too... not so useful when it is dark outside), I'd go that way except getting burned by just missing it was very frustrating. I'd try and avoid peak times on the train too, though if you're getting on at Central you should be right for a seat and luggage space.

Train, car, Aeropelican are all not the way to go.

There is only one way to get into Newcastle (and more importantly, to get out of Newcastle):

In Style

Nice!!!

Must try that one time, just because it would be fun!

This is a frequent flyer forum, man!!

Points, Status Credits anyone? :)

Consider this the definitive guide.....


If coming trans-tas on QF, best options (weekday) are:

1. AKL/etc-SYD-NTL with the final leg on Aeropelican. Call QF phone sales and have the OT leg on the same PNR to make check-through as seamless as possible. From NTL either rent a car or use Newcastle Hire Cars - +61 2 4960 1800. The hire car option is fastest as the driver will meet you @ baggage collection and the cars are parked just outside the terminal. There's always at least one agent at the SYD international-domestic transfer desk who knows how to put your bags on OT and get you a boarding pass.


2. AKL/etc-BNE-NTL with the final leg on QFlink. As above for all other details.


Weekend, these options are problematic as the OT timetable is slim (especially on Saturdays) and QFlink are weekday only.


Other choices:

3. As above but with the SYD-NTL component via train. This sucks, the train service is horribly unrelaiable, consistently late, and the trains are rife with human refuse. On the plus side if smack is your thing you should find it easy to score at some point along the line, especially at Newcastle or Civic stations in the CBD.

4. As above but with the seaplane service DUF recommended. Problematic if you have luggage as you need to get from SYD to the seaplane terminal (which is both time-consuming and inconvenient).

5. Arrive in SYD and rent a car to drive to NTL. Meh.

6. As per options 1 & 2 but via JQ (in which case AKL/etc-MEL is another option). Less seamless transition as you need to start again when checking in for JQ and if you have some time between flights, they won't accept bags more than 2hrs prior to scheduled departure. There is no landside bag storage at BNE but there is at MEL.

That can be arranged:

Sydney Seaplanes Flyer Plus

I was careful not to mention the b*s in post #4. Called it a "service" instead. However, for the record, you won't get points or SC on the 136 or 130 :D

There is another option - the same trip, but on the XPT. It's much more limiting in terms of time (2 a day), and costs a little more, but it's a much more pleasant trip - especially if you pay the few dollars more for First.

The XPT doesn't go directly to Newcastle but only to Broadmeadow, but it's only a 5-10 min trip on the normal Newcastle trains from Broadmeadow to Newcastle if that's where you really need to go.