If you’re on the south side of the Tyne, you don’t need to cross into Newcastle to play. Gateshead has its own indoor padel venue, its own booking system, and – since summer 2026 – an 11-court indoor venue at Follingsby Park. For a player who books Playtomic slots and doesn’t fancy the bridge traffic, that’s a solid local option.

Gateshead is administratively separate from Newcastle, and its padel scene has grown its own identity on that basis. The venue branding reflects that – “Tyneside,” not “Newcastle” – and the operators here have picked sites on the Gateshead side deliberately, close to the retail parks and motorway links that make the borough easy to reach from across the wider North East.

Padel Up Tyneside – the venue open now

Padel Up Tyneside has 3 indoor courts at Metro Riverside Park, Gateshead, with court hire from £30–£45 per hour booked on Playtomic.

Padel Up Tyneside sits at Metro Riverside Park, Gateshead NE11 9DJ – close to the retail park cluster near the MetroCentre, on the Gateshead side of the river. It’s a purpose-built indoor set-up: 3 courts (2 doubles and 1 singles), changing rooms with showers, free parking, and a café run with Hobo Coffee House attached, so it works as a spot to hang around after a match rather than a court you book and leave.

Doubles courts cost £30 an hour before 4pm on weekdays and £45 from 4pm; the singles court is £25–£30. Split four ways, that’s roughly £7.50–£11.25 per person for an hour – in line with the wider North East market. Book through Playtomic. The venue opens 6am–11pm on weekdays, 7am–11pm on Saturdays and 7am–10pm on Sundays. Racket hire is available if you’re new to the sport and don’t own kit yet.

The venue runs coaching and social matches alongside open court hire, including a Thursday 9:30am coffee morning social (£8). If you want the social side of padel without joining anywhere formally, this is the kind of set-up to check for a beginner or intro session.

Three courts is a modest offering compared to the region’s bigger venues, and peak evening and weekend slots book up fast – if you’re planning a Saturday afternoon session, get in early on Playtomic during the week rather than trying your luck the night before.

Pikup Padel and Powerleague – the newer venues

Pikup Padel opened in summer 2026 with 11 indoor courts – 9 doubles and 2 singles – at Unit 17B, Follingsby Lane, Gateshead (NE10 8YA).

This is the bigger story for Gateshead padel. The 33,400 sq ft site at Follingsby Park sits just off the A194(M), with quick access to the A1(M), A19 and the Tyne Tunnel. All 11 courts are indoor and panoramic, and it opens 6am–11pm every day.

Follingsby Park’s motorway-adjacent location means it’s realistic to reach from Newcastle, Sunderland, and Durham too. For context, Pikup Padel Gateshead sits roughly 20 minutes from Sunderland by that same road network. With 11 courts it matches True Padel Sunderland and Project Padel Newcastle as the largest venues in the North East, ahead of True Padel Durham’s nine.

Courts book on Playtomic, from £30 an hour off-peak to £44 at peak times for doubles. There’s free parking, a café and changing rooms, plus beginner coaching and mix-in sessions by level.

Powerleague Gateshead, on Ropery Road (NE8 2HD), added 5 fully covered padel courts in September 2026. Courts cost £30 an hour on weekday daytimes and £40 on weekday evenings and weekends, booked on Playtomic, and the site opens 9am–11pm daily. It runs £5 intro to padel sessions and beginners’ mix-ins, with a bar, changing rooms and free parking.

Gateshead vs crossing into Newcastle

Gateshead has three venues open now; Newcastle has more options but a longer drive for south-of-the-river players.

If Padel Up Tyneside’s courts are booked out, Newcastle’s padel scene is the next call – Project Padel is open now, with Pure Padel Gosforth’s 10-court indoor club due to open in winter 2026. That’s a short hop over one of the Tyne bridges depending where in Gateshead you’re starting from, and it roughly doubles your court options on a Saturday afternoon.

For Gateshead and south Tyneside players who’d rather not cross the river, Padel Up Tyneside and Powerleague are the closest options to the river, and Follingsby Park is the bigger venue further out. Either way, you’re not short of courts within a 20-minute drive – which wasn’t true anywhere in this region three years ago.

Getting there and parking

Metro Riverside Park sits close to the MetroCentre retail cluster, and Padel Up Tyneside has free parking on site – a small thing, but one that matters when you’re carrying kit and trying to make a 7pm slot straight from work. It’s a short run from MetroCentre railway station if you’re travelling by public transport, and easy enough to reach from Newcastle city centre by car in under 15 minutes outside rush hour.

Follingsby Park suits drivers coming from further afield – Sunderland, Durham, or north Newcastle – given its direct motorway access. It’s less convenient without a car, so if you’re relying on public transport, Padel Up Tyneside remains the easier option.

Getting started if you’re new to padel

A padel court is enclosed by glass and mesh and is roughly a quarter smaller than a tennis court. Once the ball has bounced, you can play it off the glass.

Padel is a doubles game, always four players, and the underarm serve means you can be competitive in a rally within your first session – no need for a tennis background or a big overhead swing. Padel Up Tyneside’s coaching and social match set-up is built for exactly this: turn up, hire a racket if you need one, and get matched into a game with other players at a similar level.

If you’re weighing whether to commit to a membership somewhere or keep things casual with pay-to-play courts, the guide to choosing a padel club is worth a read before you decide.

The bottom line for Tyneside players

Gateshead’s padel scene is still young, but it’s moving fast. Padel Up Tyneside and Powerleague give south-of-the-river players local options, and Pikup Padel’s Follingsby Park venue is one of the region’s biggest. Between Gateshead, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Durham, this corner of the North East now has one of the densest padel networks outside London.

See how this compares elsewhere with the full directory of UK padel court guides, organised by region.