We checked 9 Boxing Day walks near Whitley Bay, from St Mary's Island to Holywell Dene, for tide times, parking and what is open. Updated November 2026.
Whitley Bay has 9 Boxing Day walks worth getting out for in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with tide times, parking and what is open on the day. Most people head for St Mary’s Island, where the causeway is safe to cross until 2.21pm on Boxing Day, or the coast path south through Cullercoats to Tynemouth. Inland, Holywell Dene and the Rising Sun Country Park are the longer, muddier options. Every time and price was checked against the owner’s own pages on 12 November 2026.
Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. Before you set out:
- Light. The sun sets at about 3.40pm on 26 December, so a walk that starts after 1pm is a short one.
- Three big names are shut. Tynemouth Priory and Castle, Seaton Delaval Hall and St Mary’s Lighthouse all close on Boxing Day and reopen on Sunday 27 December. The walks round them stay open.
- The Pudding Run. The Boxing Day Pudding Run, North Shields Poly’s 5km fun run for Woodlawn School, has filled the seafront on the morning of 26 December for more than 35 years. In 2025 it started on the Links near the war memorial at 10.30am and sold out in advance. The 2026 entry has not been announced yet; expect the promenade to be busy until about midday.
- Metro and buses. Nexus has not published its 2026 Christmas timetable. Last time it ran a revised Sunday Metro service on Boxing Day, from about 8am to 8pm. Our Christmas travel page will carry the 2026 times when they appear.
Along the coast
1. St Mary’s Island and the Links
The Whitley Bay walk, and on Boxing Day the timing matters. St Mary’s is a part-time island reached by a short causeway, and North Tyneside Council’s safe crossing table says it is safe to cross from 7.12am to 2.21pm on Saturday 26 December, then not again until 7.21pm.
The 1898 lighthouse, its 137 steps and the shop are closed that day; they reopen on Sunday 27 December from 10.30am to 2.30pm, when entry is £7 for adults. The rock pools, beach and wetland of the nature reserve are there either way.
Walk back along the clifftop of the Links to Spanish City for a loop of about two and a half miles. The council lights the lighthouse in festive colours from 17 December.
Open causeway safe 7.12am to 2.21pm on 26 December; lighthouse and shop closed
Price free to walk; lighthouse £7 adults, £3.50 children and seniors, £17 family (from 27 December)
Parking pay and display car parks on the mainland
Call 0191 643 4777
Address St Mary's Island, Whitley Bay NE26 4RS
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/st-marys-lighthouse/about-st-marys
Good for rock pools, short legs, a clifftop loop, buses 308 and 309
2. Whitley Bay to Cullercoats and Tynemouth
The council’s coastal walk runs from St Mary’s Island through Whitley Bay and Cullercoats to Tynemouth Priory and on to the Fish Quay at North Shields. Starting at Spanish City, it is about three miles to Tynemouth along the promenade and clifftop, past the harbour at Cullercoats and the length of Longsands.
The council’s coastal heritage trail panels run beside the path from St Mary’s to the Collingwood Monument. Tynemouth Priory and Castle is closed on Boxing Day, says English Heritage, and reopens on Sunday 27 December from 10am to 4pm.
The headland and Front Street are open, and Cullercoats and Tynemouth Metro stations are on the way for the trip back.
Longsands is also where the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards have held their Boxing Day swim, starting at 11am from their clubhouse in past years. The club has not yet published 2026 details.
Walk about 3 miles one way, Spanish City to Tynemouth; level promenade and clifftop paths
Price free; Tynemouth Priory from £8.50 adults booked ahead (from 27 December)
Parking seafront pay and display car parks; Front Street, Tynemouth
Address Spanish City Plaza, Whitley Bay NE26 1BG
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/roads-pavements-and-transport/cycling-and-walking/guide-walking/heritage-walks-and-trails
Good for no car needed, Metro back, pushchairs, sea views the whole way
3. Holywell Dene and Seaton Sluice
The longer walk north of town, and the one to save for a dry day. The Ramblers’ Seaton Sluice route is a 4.8-mile circuit from the Fountain Head car park, up the wooded dene of the Seaton Burn to Holywell and back along the old waggonways and the avenue.
The National Trust’s own Holywell Dene and Old Hartley walk is five miles from Seaton Delaval Hall, mostly flat with some steps, and the Trust marks that route as not suitable for dogs. The dene paths get very muddy after rain.
From St Mary’s Island you can walk up the coast to Seaton Sluice and join it on foot.
Seaton Delaval Hall itself is shut from 24 to 26 December on the National Trust’s calendar. Its garden, stables and Brewhouse Café reopen on Sunday 27 December.
Walk 4.8 miles circular from Fountain Head; or 5 miles from the hall
Price free; Seaton Delaval Hall £15 adults, £7.50 children (from 27 December)
Parking Fountain Head car park, Seaton Sluice, NE26 4QZ
Address Fountain Head car park, Seaton Sluice, Whitley Bay NE26 4QZ
Website ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/routes/seaton-sluice-northumberland
Good for woodland, a longer walk, boots, the harbour at Seaton Sluice
4. Souter Lighthouse and The Leas
Over the Tyne, but the one coastal property near Whitley Bay with a café open on Boxing Day. The National Trust lists the café at Souter open from 11am to 3pm on 26 December, though the red and white lighthouse itself is closed.
The Leas, the open clifftop grassland between South Shields and Whitburn, is open all the time. The two car parks charge £1 for an hour up to £4 for the day, free for members.
It is a drive through the Tyne Tunnel from Whitley Bay.
Open The Leas always open; café 11am to 3pm on 26 December; lighthouse closed
Price free to walk; parking £1 an hour, £2 for two hours, £3 for four hours, £4 all day
Parking two National Trust car parks with pay machines
Address Souter Lighthouse, Coast Road, Whitburn, Sunderland SR6 7NH
Website nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/souter-lighthouse-and-the-leas
Good for clifftop walking, a café stop, sea birds, flat grass paths
Parks and country parks
5. Northumberland Park, Tynemouth
The Victorian park between Tynemouth and North Shields, opened in 1885 on the site of the medieval St Leonard’s hospital and chapel. The council lists woodland and lakeside walks, the Himalayan Dene and its water cascades, a medieval herb garden, a sculpture trail, a bandstand and a historic pet cemetery, all restored with £2.2m of lottery money.
Entry is free. It is a few minutes from Tynemouth Metro: leave platform 1 on the Birtley Avenue side and go through the metal gate at the bottom of the cobbles.
The visitor centre and tea room have not published Christmas hours.
Price free
Parking on King Edward Road and Tynemouth Road
Call park warden 07976 307 378
Address Tynemouth Road, North Shields NE30 2ES
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/sport-and-leisure/outdoor-spaces/parks-and-play-sites/northumberland-park-and-play-site
Good for no car needed, short legs, play area, public toilets, a lake
6. Marden Quarry Park
Ten minutes on foot from Whitley Bay town centre, and the quickest wild walk in town. The council describes it as a local nature reserve of mature woodland and limestone grassland round a large wildfowl lake, and virtually the only exposure of magnesian limestone north of the Tyne.
Swans, coots, moorhens and tufted ducks nest there. A loop of the lake makes a flat half hour.
The volunteers who look after it were in our story on the park’s free dog bags.
Price free
Parking free car park on site
Call park warden 07811 657129
Address Marden Road South, Whitley Bay NE25 8PN
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/sport-and-leisure/outdoor-spaces/parks-and-play-sites/marden-quarry-park
Good for no car needed, short legs, bird watching, a quick loop
7. Rising Sun Country Park, Benton
The big inland walk: 162 hectares of woodland, ponds and grassland, with bird hides, bridleways and waggonway paths, some of them wheelchair-accessible. The council says the wider park is open all day, every day of the year.
The Countryside Centre grounds and car park normally open 9am to 4.30pm on weekends and bank holidays, and the café 10.30am to 3.30pm; no separate Christmas hours are published. Entry and parking are free.
There is a Changing Places toilet and, the council notes, a dog wash.
Open wider park every day of the year; centre grounds and car park weekends 9am to 4.30pm
Price free entry and parking
Parking free in the grounds, or the neighbouring Asda Benton car park
Call 0191 643 2244
Address Whitley Road, Benton NE12 9SS
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/sport-and-leisure/outdoor-spaces/parks-and-play-sites/rising-sun-country-park
Good for longer walks, dogs, bird hides, Changing Places toilet, a café
8. Killingworth Lake
A flat lap of a big lake, and the one for pushchairs and bikes. Killingworth Lakeside Park holds a Green Flag Award, and the council lists open grass, woodland, a play area and the lake’s model boat and yacht clubs, with three car parks round the edge.
The council warns that ice can form in cold weather and walking on it is not allowed.
Price free
Parking three car parks round the lake
Call park warden 07583 103129
Address West Bailey, Killingworth NE12 6TN
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/sport-and-leisure/outdoor-spaces/parks-and-play-sites/killingworth-lakeside-park-and-play-site
Good for pushchairs, flat paths, play area, swans
9. Wallsend Parks
Three joined-up parks near Wallsend town centre: the Civic Hall grounds, laid out from 1790, the Prince Road Arboretum running down to a burn, and Richardson Dees Park, a Victorian park from 1900 with lakeside and woodland walks and a bandstand. The council opens the gates from 6.30am to 6.30pm in winter.
The park café closes from 1 November until the February half term, but the Bothy toilets are open from 10am to 3.30pm every day in winter.
Open 6.30am to 6.30pm (winter hours, November to March)
Price free
Call park wardens 07591 351872 or 07866 587269
Address North Road, Wallsend NE28 8RH
Website northtyneside.gov.uk/sport-and-leisure/outdoor-spaces/parks-and-play-sites/wallsend-parks
Good for short legs, play area, public toilets, Changing Places toilet
How we chose
These are the coast paths, parks and denes within a short drive or Metro ride of Whitley Bay that are open on 26 December, with the times taken from North Tyneside Council, the National Trust, English Heritage and the Ramblers, and checked on 12 November 2026. Opening times, tides and Christmas transport can change, so check the owner’s page on the morning. For a pub lunch afterwards, our Christmas dinner guide lists the local menus, and the things to do in Whitley Bay and what’s on this month pages carry the rest of the season.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@whitleybaynews.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@whitleybaynews.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
Frequently asked questions
Can you walk to St Mary’s Island on Boxing Day?
Yes, if you go in the morning. North Tyneside Council’s crossing table says the causeway is safe to cross from 7.12am to 2.21pm on Saturday 26 December 2026, and again from 7.21pm. The lighthouse, shop and visitor centre are closed that day and reopen on Sunday 27 December from 10.30am to 2.30pm.
Is Tynemouth Priory open on Boxing Day?
No. English Heritage lists Tynemouth Priory and Castle as closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2026. It reopens on Sunday 27 December from 10am to 4pm. The walk along Pier Road and round the headland below the walls is open as normal.
Is Seaton Delaval Hall open on Boxing Day?
No. The National Trust’s calendar has the hall, gardens, stables and Brewhouse Café closed from 24 to 26 December 2026. They reopen on Sunday 27 December, with the garden open from 10am to 4pm. The Holywell Dene paths are public rights of way and stay open.
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