Days Out in Durham

As one of the jewels of the North East, Durham is home to the iconic Durham Cathedral, which is one of the most recognised landmarks in the UK. It’s no surprise that it has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, along with Durham Castle, and home to Durham University. Durham can be easily reached by train or by the two nearby airports (Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley Airports). You can explore the city of Durham, the Durham Vales and the coast all in one visit. If you’ve never been to this area before, here’s our recommendations for Days Out in Durham.

Fun Activities

Beamish Museum is known as the ‘living museum of the north’, and is a renowned open-air museum with authentic buildings, vehicles and artefacts from the early twentieth century. You can get kitted out in a traditional carriage driver’s costume and learn how to drive horses on the cobbled streets or get your hands dirty learning how to be a Blacksmith. Elsewhere, there’s the huge family adventure park Adventure Valley, which offers over 50 attractions and shows for kids of all ages, plus you also have the Lightwater Valley Theme Park

As well as the above Durham can offer you a hugh list of activities and days out, which include Escape Rooms, Go Karting, Flight Simulator, Paintball, plus much more.

Eating Out

County Durham is definitely the place to go for outdoor types, with plenty of cozy pubs, cafes and tearooms to give you energy for all your activities. Durham takes eating out seriously and even has its own food awards, the Taste Durham Awards, which are celebrated every October during Taste Durham Month. The area offers all sorts of options from fine dining to pub grub, but if you look out for the award sticker in the window you’ll know you’re in for a good meal.

Culture Vulture

Any Harry Potter fan worth their salt knows that exterior scenes from The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets were filmed in Durham Cathedral’s cloisters. Other notable films and TV series that have filmed against the historic backdrops of the area include Billy Elliot. Victoria and Downton Abbey. If you’re interested in Britain’s mining history this a great area to explore, and at the award-winning Killhope Mining Museum you can don your hard and go down into the mines themselves. you can also download one of the many self guided walks from Curious About

After Dark

The Gala Theatre is the place to go to catch a show, whether it’s a comedy night, live music or theatre. If you’re planning a trip in the cinema you really should try and get tickets for Kynren, a one-of-a-kind live show that takes place on a huge landscaped stage that even has a lake! The performance has a cast of crew of over 1,500 people and tells the story of English history over the past 2000 years. An incredible night out if you can get tickets!

Something a bit different…

Stargazers, grab your telescopes and get yourselves to the Durham Dales! There’s not many places in the UK that allow you to spot the Milky Way, but you can here. Parts of the area have been recognised as a Dark Sky Discovery Sites, where you can see up to 2,000 stars at once. If you’re lucky you might even spot some shooting stars! There are loads of hotels that cater especially to people looking to experience the amazing dark skies, with some offering guided tours.

We hope that you enjoyed reading our article about Days Out in Durham, as you can see Durham really seems to have something for everyone, whether you’re looking for some peace and quiet, to learn something new or just take in the historic scenery. We hope we’ve given you some inspiration to explore

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