Best Hairdressers and Barbers in Newcastle City Centre

Newcastle city centre is unusually well served for hair. The barbers have quietly turned the lanes of Grainger Town into something close to a grooming quarter, with two of the most decorated shops in the North East within a couple of minutes of each other on and around High Bridge. On the salon side, the centre holds a handful of colour specialists with national reputations, the sort of places people travel in from the coast and the Tyne Valley to visit.

This is a guide to both halves of that: the salons for cutting, colour and occasion styling, and the barbershops for a modern fade or a proper traditional shave. Nearly all of it works by appointment rather than walk-in, and the best chairs book up well ahead, particularly on a Saturday, so plan rather than chance it.

The salons

Collective Hairdressing

Collective Hairdressing on Ridley Place, a short walk from Monument, is the city's standout colour salon and one of the best known in the country. The team specialise in hand-painted balayage and dimensional colour, and have collected a long run of awards including Salon of the Year honours, sitting near the top of the national salon rankings.

It is firmly at the premium end, and colour correction is a large part of what it does, so a consultation before any major change is strongly encouraged. Book the senior colourists well ahead.

Best for: The pick for balayage, colour correction and a considered, unhurried colour transformation.

The Diamante Rooms

The Diamante Rooms sits on the upper floors overlooking the green at Old Eldon Square, moments from Eldon Square and Northumberland Street. It is one of the busiest and most reviewed salons in the centre, holding a strong score across many hundreds of reviews for cutting, colour, styling and beauty.

It covers everything from precision cuts and blow-dries to full colour and occasion styling, which makes it a popular choice for weddings and events as well as regular maintenance. Mid-to-premium, and bookable by phone or online.

Best for: A reliable all-rounder in the heart of the shopping district, strong for occasion hair.

House of Savannah

House of Savannah is tucked into Leazes Arcade on Leazes Park Road, close to Eldon Square. An accredited L'Oreal Professionnel and Aveda salon, it pairs a skilled cutting and colour team with a full spa, so you can have hair and treatments under one roof.

The colour work runs from subtle root tints to balayage and correction, and reviewers single out the calibre of the technicians and the relaxed feel of the place. Premium end, appointments by phone or online.

Best for: Best if you want hair and a spa treatment in a single visit.

Urban Image Hairdressing

Urban Image is a small independent on North Street with one of the highest review scores of any salon in the city, working with L'Oreal Professionnel, Wella, Olaplex and Neal and Wolf. That gives it real strength in colour and bond-building treatments at a more mid-market price point.

Being small, it runs on appointments rather than walk-ins, and regulars tend to book their next visit before they leave. The value against the larger central salons comes up again and again in reviews.

Best for: The value pick: high ratings and strong colour work without the premium-salon price.

The barbers

There is a genuine cluster of top barbershops in the middle of Newcastle, concentrated on High Bridge and Nun Street in Grainger Town. If you want a modern skin fade or an old-school wet shave, you can walk between the best of them in a few minutes.

Mr Tilly's

Mr Tilly's on High Bridge, founded by Phil Tilly in 2016, is one of the best-regarded barbershops in the city. It sits at the high end of male grooming and combines modern styling with traditional craft: skin fades and scissor work, beard sculpting, and proper hot towel wet shaves.

It holds a near-perfect reputation across well over a thousand reviews, with customers picking out the relaxed feel and the barbers' willingness to deliver exactly what is asked. Book ahead; the chairs get busy.

Best for: A considered, bespoke cut or a traditional hot towel shave in a polished setting.

The Hoi Polloi

The Hoi Polloi set up on Nun Street, near the Grainger Market, in early 2020 and has become one of the city's favourite barbershops. Between its Newcastle and Whitley Bay shops it holds thousands of five-star reviews and has won Modern Barber awards for customer experience and team.

Contemporary cuts, skin fades, beard work and classic styling in a design-led space. It is also notable for a Silent Haircut option for clients who experience social anxiety, a thoughtful touch that has drawn wide praise.

Best for: Award-winning and inclusive, with a Silent Haircut option for anyone who wants a quiet chair.

Patrick Forster Barber and Shop

Patrick Forster, also on High Bridge, is run by a barber with more than 25 years in the trade who has worked in and managed shops in Newcastle and Dubai. It is pitched as a men's sanctuary, a calm and social room where the emphasis is on a considered, high-end cut rather than a quick trim.

Cutting and styling, beard trimming, shaving and head shaves, with a focus on the detail. A strong alternative to its High Bridge neighbours for anyone wanting a more personal, unhurried visit.

Best for: The unhurried, personal end of the High Bridge cluster.

Faded Studio7

Faded Studio7 is at Blandford Square, a short walk from Central Station, and has built a name as a friendly, inclusive shop that caters for all ages and hair types. It specialises in precision cutting, fresh skin fades, line-ups and beard work, and handles textured and Afro hair as well as classic short back and sides.

Skin fades start from around seventeen pounds, which makes it a solid mid-market choice, and bookings run through its online system to suit the busy trade near the station.

Best for: The nearest sharp fade to Central Station, and a good option for textured and Afro hair.

Booking, walk-ins and the rest of the centre

The pattern across the centre is appointment-first. Most of the salons and the busiest barbers take bookings online or by phone, and the top chairs fill quickly, so a Saturday cut is worth arranging days ahead rather than turning up. Some barbers near Central Station handle walk-ups, but booking is always the surer way to a slot.

This guide leads with the standouts rather than trying to list every chair in town. There are more good salons and barbers across the centre, from the Northumberland Street department stores to the smaller rooms off Grey Street, so if your regular is not here it is not a slight. For everything else on keeping active and well in the middle of town, our guide to sport and fitness in Newcastle city centre covers the pools and gyms, and the shopping guide covers the arcades these salons sit within.

Run a city-centre salon or barbershop we should know about? Get in touch via our contact page.