Visit Durham

Durham by night – Photo © Graeme Peacock

Travel

By road

Durham is just two miles from the A1 motorway, between London and Edinburgh. For the city centre, leave the A1 at Junction 62 and follow signs to the city centre. There are three Park & Ride sites around the city: at Belmont, Howlands and Sniperley. You can find exact information at www.durham.gov.uk.

The peninsula will be closed to traffic during the Festival between 5pm and midnight. Please try, where possible, to use public transport or come to the festival on foot. If you need to drive, please do try to travel with friends and family so that your car is full!

Please also use the Park & Ride services wherever possible. An extended service will operate, with the last shuttle buses leaving the centre of Durham at 10:10pm.

By rail

Durham train station is 10 minutes’ walk from the city centre. Trains run frequently to Manchester (2 ½ hours), York (45 minutes), Birmingham (3 hours), Edinburgh (1 ½ hours), Sheffield (2 hours) and Leeds (1 ½ hours). There are also direct cross country links to Scotland, the Midlands and the South West and trains run from London up to 14 times per day. You can find out exact times and journey details by going to www.nationalrail.co.uk.

By air

Both Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley airports are around 30 minutes’ drive from the city centre and have regular domestic and international flights. Visitors can get from Newcastle Airport (www.newcastleairport.com) to Durham by rail or metro, and there is a free Sky Express bus service that runs between Durham Tees Valley (www.durhamteesvalleyairport.com) and Darlington, which also has good links to Durham.

By bus

There are many coach and bus links to Durham from the local towns and from further away. You can find details of particular buses at stagecoachbus.com and nationalexpress.com. There is also a Cathedral Bus (numbers 40A and 40B) which runs between the Freemans Place Car Parks to the Cathedral: tickets cost 50p and are valid all day. Please note that the Cathedral bus will be re-routed via Prebends Bridge to The College during the Festival. The last bus will depart The College at 10:30pm.

Staying in Durham

Durham has a range of accommodation options both in the city centre and in the surrounding countryside. We have also negotiated a special 15% discount on travel and hotel accommodation with the tour operator Superbreak – visit www.superbreak.com/lumiere after the 14th October to book, or go to www.visitcountydurham.com for more accommodation ideas.

Tourist attractions

Durham is a veritable haven of places to see and things to do. For a full low down go to www.visitcountydurham.com, or here are some excellent attractions to get you started:

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Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral is the greatest Norman building in Europe. It is loved and admired not only for its stunning architecture but also for its incomparable setting. Bill Bryson called it the Best Cathedral on Planet Earth. Together with the Castle it was one of Britain's first World Heritage Sites.

Durham Castle

Founded by William the Conqueror in 1072, Durham Castle is one of the first fortified castles built by William in his ‘harrying of the north’. It is now a World Heritage Site alongside the Cathedral. In 1836 it became the University’s foundation college, University College and is still part of Durham University today. No other college in the British Isles has a more ancient or impressive home!

Durham Light Infantry art gallery

The Durham Light Infantry Museum holds a superb collection of uniforms, equipment, weapons, silver, photographs and battlefield relics covering the whole history of the Regiment from its formation in 1758 to the final laying-up of the Colours in 1968 in Durham Cathedral. The building also boasts two art galleries, featuring a regularly changing series of exhibitions.

Visit the Durham Light Infantry art gallery website

Auckland Castle

Auckland Castle has been the home of the Bishops of Durham for over 800 years, and is still the Bishop's official residence today. It is also home to a unique collection of priceless paintings by Spanish artist Francisco de Zurburan. While you’re there it’s worth having a walk around the stunning deer park as well.

Oriental Museum, Durham University

This is the country’s only museum devoted entirely to Oriental art and antiquities and boasts superb collections from all major cultures of the East. Since its founding, the Museum’s collection has been constantly added to and now totals more than 30,000 objects, from the cultures and civilisations of Ancient Egypt, China, India, Japan, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Islamic North Africa.

Visit the Oriental Museum, Durham University website

The Bowes Museum

One of the county’s grandest surprises, the Bowes Museum is a splendid 19th Century French style chateau containing over 15,000 important and precious works from all over Europe. The building is a treasure in itself but despite its size it does not dominate the town, tucked discretely into its own world of parkland and gardens.

Visit the The Bowes Museum website

Raby Castle

This impressive building, first built in the 11th Century, is steeped in history: 700 knights plotted the ‘Rising of the North’ in the Barons’ Hall, and the Medieval Kitchen was used until 1954. Now, Raby houses a fabulous art collection and splendid interiors. The grounds are equally fascinating, where visitors can explore a Deer Park, ornamental walled gardens and a coach house with a collection of 18th and 19th century coaches and carriages.

Visit the Raby Castle website

The Guildhall and Town Hall

These are easily the most impressive two buildings on the Market Square. First built in 1356, the Guildhall has long associations with the old city guilds which were the regulatory bodies for various trades in Durham. By the mid 19th century, the building had become too small, necessitating the building of the new Town Hall. The Town Hall was modelled on London’s Westminster Hall and features an impressive hammer-beam roof as well as superb stained glass windows, heraldic symbols, paintings and a magnificent fireplace of local stone.

Rokeby Park

The romantically set Rokeby Park was designed by the talented amateur architect, Sir Thomas Robinson. The building contains an unique collection of needlework paintings and a late 18th Century print room. The House and its park were the inspiration for Scott’s poem ‘Rokeby’, Turner’s painting ‘The Meeting of the Waters’’ and Cotman’s painting ‘Rokeby on the Greta’.

Visit the Rokeby Park website

Crook Hall

This 14th century Grade I listed Medieval hall, just a short walk from the market place, boasts a minstrels’ gallery, 4 acres of fine gardens and cream teas. The main hall was restored in the 1980s. The circular turret was an interesting late addition allowing the ancient wooden stairs to remain in place. These stairs are now for the sole use of the White Lady, who supposedly haunts the area.

Visit the Crook Hall website

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Where to eat

Durham has a huge choice of restaurants and cafes to choose from. In addition to chain restaurants such as Bella Italia, Pizza Express, The Slug and Lettuce, La Tasca, Nando’s and Hide, there are numerous local restaurants that come highly recommended. For a wide range of snacks and meals in beautiful historic surroundings try the Cathedral's Undercroft Restaurant. For local, fresh produce in magnificent industrial surroundings try the Oldfields Restaurant or The Pumphouse. For fine dining in style there’s the County Restaurant, which has an AA Rosette, and Gourmet Spot, which is chasing a Michelin star. If you want to venture outside the city centre Bistro 21 is a charming converted farmhouse. For those of you craving non-British food El Coto serves tapas and Zen provides Asian food inspired by traditional recipes from Thailand, China, Vietnam and India.

For more ideas of where to eat, visit www.visitcountydurham.com.

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