Spanish City's grotto only opens through a booked meal, from £18.50 a child. The Elf Express steam train at North Shields starts at £20.50 and is on sale now.

There is no walk-up Santa’s grotto in Whitley Bay this year. The two that are booked and on sale are both sit-down events you pay for in advance: the grotto at Spanish City, which you can only reach by booking a meal, and the Elf Express steam train at the Stephenson Steam Railway on Middle Engine Lane.

Both are published with 2026 dates and prices. Tynemouth Park, which ran a grotto in its maze last year, has not listed one for 2026 yet.

Spanish City: three ways in, and none of them is just the grotto

Spanish City runs the grotto through its restaurants. There is no ticket that buys the grotto on its own, and there is a minimum party of three on every one of them, plus a £1 a head booking fee and full payment up front. All prices below are from Spanish City’s own event pages.

Event Dates Time Adult Child Baby
Breakfast with Santa 13, 19, 20, 23 and 24 Dec 8.30am to 11am £26 (£29 on 24 Dec) £19.50, ages 2 to 12 (£21 on 24 Dec) £5
Festive Lunch with Santa 5, 13, 19, 20, 23 and 24 Dec 12pm to 4pm £35 £19.50 £5
Afternoon Tea with Santa 5 Dec (12pm or 3.30pm), 6, 13 Dec, 19 Dec (12pm or 3.30pm), 20, 23 and 24 Dec 12pm, some 3.30pm £33 £18.50 £5

The £5 baby ticket is grotto only, with no food, on all three. Breakfast adds a buffet, Santa’s grotto and a disco with the resident DJ; the festive lunch is three courses in the St Mary’s Suite with a family disco; the afternoon tea is sandwiches, scones and desserts with the grotto after.

Two things worth knowing before you plan around it. Spanish City’s own breakfast page says plainly: “Please note, this event sold out early last year!” And the deadline for dietary requirements and children’s menu choices on the lunch and afternoon tea is 1 October 2026, which is earlier than most people expect. Payments are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Groups of eight or fewer share a table of ten at the festive lunch. Larger parties get split across tables. Booking is online or on 0191 691 7090.

The Elf Express: 5 to 23 December, from £20.50

The Elf Express at the Stephenson Steam Railway, Middle Engine Lane, North Shields, NE29 8DX, is the other confirmed one, and it is on sale now.

  • Dates: 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 22 and 23 December 2026
  • Times: 9.45am, 11.15am, 12.45pm, 2.15pm and 3.45pm
  • Price: from £20.50, booked online only
  • Included: a live show with Santa and his chief elf, a heritage train ride, a hot drink and a seasonal treat, and a gift for every child aged 0 to 12
  • Length: about 90 minutes in total, of which the train ride is 40 minutes

The single most useful line on the railway’s FAQ page is this one: your timeslot is for the interactive show, not the train departure. You watch a 15-minute performance in the museum first, then board. Arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before your slot and no later than ten minutes after.

Which carriage you book changes the experience, and it is easy to pick the wrong one:

  • Bauble: open plan, shared with other families, with elf entertainment
  • Sparkle: five private compartments, up to eight people plus one baby
  • Jolly: three private compartments, up to six people plus one baby
  • Merry: open plan, up to 12 people, £1 less than the others, and no elf travels in it

Babies aged 0 to 11 months with a ticket get a gift too. Parking is free, 74 spaces on site. Quiet compartments are available on request for autistic visitors. The heritage carriages cannot take wheelchairs: the door openings are only 55cm. Tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded once booked.

The Grinch, if Santa is not the draw

Spanish City has also put on a Breakfast with the Grinch and a Festive Lunch with the Grinch, both on Saturday 12 December, as a single-day alternative.

Tynemouth Park has not announced its grotto

Tynemouth Park, Grand Parade, NE30 4JL, ran a grotto inside its maze last year, with a meet and greet, a gift, a certificate, a hot chocolate and a biscuit while you waited in the greenhouse cafe.

Its 2026 events list runs from September through to a 90s and 00s Christmas disco on 12 December and does not include a grotto. The park has published its Halloween event for October, so the Christmas listings are being added as they go. Expect the grotto, if it runs, to appear in October or early November.

Where else to look

The North Shields Christmas market on 5 and 6 December and the Spanish City Christmas market from 20 to 22 November both carry festive traders but neither has advertised a grotto. The Christmas tree switch-on on 15 November is ticketed separately.

Parking for Spanish City is the seafront car parks, which charge 9am to 6pm, so a breakfast or a lunch sitting is inside charging hours. Tariffs are on our parking page, and anything shutting the roads on the day will show on our roadworks and travel page.