A Family Day Out With The Shields Ferry

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The Shields ferry is such a great way to start a family day out and we recently used it to have a fun-filled family day out in South Shields. The Shields ferry runs every half an hour across the river Tyne between North and South Shields, journeys take under 10 minutes and it is such a fun way to travel. Even better children aged 11 and under travel completely free with a fare paying adult, making it a super affordable way to travel around the region.

Using The Shields Ferry 

We live in North Tyneside so we started our day in North Shields, the ferry terminal is just a short ten minute (downhill) walk from the bus and metro station in the town centre. There is also parking available close by or you can even get a bus from North Shields town centre that will drop you off right outside the ferry terminal.

The ferry runs every half an hour, seven days a week from morning until evening - times vary depending on the day of the week you can check the timetable online here. Fares vary but I paid £3.70 for a adult day ticket, you can only pay by card so keep that in mind and you pay at the door when you board the ferry. Up to three children aged 11 and under can travel for free with a fare paying adult. 

We travelled aboard Pride of the Tyne which is celebrating it's 30th birthday this year. The ferry is pushchair and wheelchair accessible and you can also take bikes and dogs onboard too. You can choose to sit downstairs or there is also seating on the top deck, which my children love to do. You get some lovely views of the river Tyne during the crossing which only takes 7 minutes. 

South Shields 

We arrived in South Shields in no time at all and decided to head to Marine Park which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the ferry terminal in a straight line down  South Shields high street towards the coast. We stopped off for a Gregg's for lunch (disclosure I get it half price as my husband works for them). 

Marine Park is lovely - one of our favourites. There is a big duck pond with stalls selling bird food, you can go on pedalos (£10 for 20 minutes) or ride the little train around the park for £1.50pp, which we did and was fun. The children also played in the big children section of the playpark. There are food stalls, ice-cream stalls, balloons for sale, a cafe, toilets and plenty of places to enjoy a picnic in the park. 

We then headed to Ocean Beach Pleasure Park fun fair, somewhere the children love to visit each summer. You need to buy a card that you top up at machines dotted around the park, we topped up £40 and that worked out about 14 goes on rides between the children. My children are aged 8 and 10 and are both tall for their age so they were big enough to go on all of the rides. The new log flume ride was the favourite for them, they also went on the jumper, flying swings, miami surf and matterhorn twice. 

We spent a couple of hours at Ocean beach fun fair and the children had so much fun! There are plenty of other things to do in South Shields too, there is the beach, mini-golf, amusment's, soft-play, laser quest and museums to explore. 

We finished the day off with ice-creams from one of the many ice cream stalls dotted around. Before taking a slow walk back up to catch the Shields Ferry back to North Shields. 

Journey Home

We travelled back to North Shields via ferry and it was another lovely crossing back over the river Tyne. Once we got back to North Shields we headed to the bus stop opposite the ferry landing and jumped on a bus (the 19) that took us home. 

We had a really lovely family day out, we used public transport all day and it was such an adventure for the children. The children had such a fun day out that they have already asked if we can go on the Shields Ferry for another day out in South Shields later in the summer (fingers crossed the weather improves). If you are looking for a fun family day out in Tyneside this summer then I would recommend a trip out on the Shields Ferry. 

You can see more about our day out using the Shields Ferry over on my TikTok and Instagram and I also share lots of day out ideas over on my Facebook page  too. 

Please note prices and info correct as of august 2023, please check prices and details before travelling.