If you’re seeking to make some unbelievable household recollections and have a weekend break with the children that features a mixture of:
- A ravishing metropolis
- Outdoor enjoyable
- Avisit to the UK’s first railway city and an unbelievable rail museum
- Filming places from blockbuster films
- Great locations to eat
- A world-famous dwelling museum
- Beautiful, historic buildings with actions to maintain the children busy
Then look no additional than Durham….
I’ve simply returned from a protracted weekend break to Durham with my husband and our three kids and we had such a good time.
This journey was in collaboration with This is Durham and I’ve made some quick movies from our beautiful weekend in Durham. If you’d prefer to see them you may verify them out on the This is Durham Memorable Moments web page.
My mum is from Durham so it’s an space I’m acquainted with and I used to be actually excited to go as much as the north east with my family.
This was our first city-based break as a household of 5 and it felt like we have been broaching a brand new period of household life. We’d beforehand caught to straightforward seaside holidays or cottage breaks, however right here we have been, in a metropolis centre resort, going out for dinner, tiptoeing round cathedrals and even studying concerning the previous at instructional museums! It’s undoubtedly a brand new fashion of household journey for us and we beloved it.
We had a incredible, bespoke itinerary created for us by This is Durham, so I’m going to share that with you right now as a result of it’s such a incredible 3-day Durham itinerary for households!
Where to remain in Durham with youngsters
Radisson Blu Durham – Best for metropolis centre comfort
Number Nine in Lanchester – Laidback luxurious and self catering
Derecroft Glamping – Best for summer season enjoyable
We stayed on the Radisson Blu Durham and it was nice. We had a spacious household room and there’s an enormous swimming pool. The resort overlooks the River Wear and it’s a 5 minute stroll into the town centre and there’s loads of parking too.
The swimming pool was an enormous bonus for us. It made the children really feel like they have been on vacation and gave them someplace to let off steam (and tire them out earlier than mattress!)
The buffet breakfast was additionally scrumptious and an excellent, relaxed choice to set us up for the day.
If you propose to be out and about exploring for a lot of the day then I extremely suggest the Radisson Blu Durham. It’s easy and straightforward and offered an excellent base to discover Durham City and the broader county.
Day One in Durham with youngsters
Locomotion
We started our weekend in Durham at Locomotion, an unbelievable rail museum in Shildon.
There are over 70 rail automobiles within the museum and it’s arrange completely for households so youngsters can discover and study in a enjoyable setting.
Shildon was the world’s first railway city so it’s solely proper to have such an enormous and superb rail museum right here.
If you’ve bought little practice lovers with you then you may’t miss this!
We additionally had lunch on the Locomotion cafe the place we may sit in practice seats with a practice desk. This clearly made lunch much more thrilling!
There’s an enormous out of doors play space at Locomotion too. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain so we didn’t get an opportunity to make use of it.
Travel Hack Tip: The play space makes Locomotion a great choice in your first cease in Durham as a result of the youngsters can run round should you’ve had a protracted automobile journey.
Entrance and parking at Locomotion are free and the cafe is small however has every little thing you’d need akin to sandwiches and salads, soups, truffles and sizzling meals like chips, pies and sausage rolls.
Hamsterley Forest
Our second cease was Hamsterley Forest within the Durham Dales, a 2,000 hectare forest and the most important in Durham.
There’s one thing magical a couple of forest of this measurement and we have been fortunate sufficient to reach between bouts of rain so it was very quiet and felt like we had the entire forest to ourselves.
There’s tons to do within the forest akin to mountain biking, strolling trails, wildlife watching and stargazing.
We did the Gruffalo Trail which is a brief, toddler-friendly stroll with plenty of play parks alongside the best way. Honestly, I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen so many play parks throughout a brief stroll!
So the children beloved it and my husband and I loved the chance to seize a espresso from the cafe, take a deep breath and calm down and absorb that peaceable forest ambiance.
The Food Pit
After our journey within the forest we made our approach into Durham City Centre and checked into the resort.
We had a fast cuppa earlier than heading again out to The Food Pit for dinner.
The Fire Pit is Durham’s first avenue meals market and it has six bars and eating places inside it.
There’s:
Sam and I had Mexican meals from Holy Guacamoley whereas the children had rooster nuggets and chips (predictable a lot?) from Taste & Feast adopted by ice lotions from Bubble Waffle Society.
We then headed again to the resort for a fast swim earlier than getting everybody prepared for mattress and to have a glass of wine whereas watching Strictly!
As far as Saturdays go, that was an ideal household Saturday.
Day Two in Durham with youngsters
Beamish, The Living Museum of the North
Our second day in Durham was all about Beamish, a world-famous dwelling, working museum. Visiting Beamish Museum is like stepping again in time and visiting actual villages. Not solely do you time journey however you’re given permission to go inside the homes and companies, retailers and cafes and discuss to all of the individuals who dwell there! It’s like time journey for nosy individuals!
You can ask about their geese and chickens, go to their vegetable gardens, see individuals working within the coal mines and learn the way all of it works. You can go inside a dentist and discover out some gory particulars about dental care within the 1900s!
The completely different areas of Beamish present what life was like within the North East within the 1820s, 1900s, Forties and Fifties. It’s unfold out over 300 acres so it’s huge and you’ll take classic buses, trams and different automobiles to get round. Each space is sort of a mini village the place costumed folks are going about their enterprise, whether or not that’s cleansing out the geese, checking on the newly born piglets, tending to their gardens, stoking the fireplace or crafting on the kitchen desk.
We may have spent a full weekend simply at Beamish Museum and there’s really a Beamish Hall Hotel close by should you needed to make the museum the principle focus of your go to.
Kingslodge Inn
That night we had a stroll across the metropolis earlier than strolling to The Kingslodge Inn.
The Kingslodge Inn is a family-friendly restaurant/gastro pub 10 minutes from Durham metropolis centre. It’s set in a woodland and had nation pub vibes and a comfy ambiance, however was conveniently positioned close to our resort!
We all loved a hearty meal after such a busy day and headed again to our resort for our ultimate swim.
Day Three in Durham with youngsters
On our ultimate morning we had a protracted and leisurely breakfast. We’re a 3-course breakfast sort of household so it was nice to have an enormous buffet to select from.
We then had a ultimate stroll across the metropolis, stopping at cute espresso retailers and making our strategy to Durham Cathedral.
Durham Cathedral
The kids have been significantly excited to go to Durham Cathedral as a result of areas of it had been used to movie blockbuster movies akin to Avengers Endgame, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!
The cathedral is a part of the Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site and it’s a stupendous place to go to. Guests really feel very welcome and there’s such a peaceable ambiance as you wander by means of the cloisters, admire the stained glass home windows and look as much as the vaulted ceilings.
Ushaw Historic House Chapels and Gardens
Our ultimate cease earlier than heading dwelling was Ushaw Historic House Chapels and Gardens on the outskirts of Durham City. The youngsters had a run across the gardens, we learnt concerning the historical past of the constructing inside after which had an impressive lunch within the Refectory Cafe.
Ushaw is a former seminary for Catholic Priests and two of my uncles really attended boarding faculty right here, so it felt further particular to wander round the home and chapels and see the place they used to dwell.
They do a superb job at Ushaw at utilizing these spectacular buildings to teach individuals concerning the previous whereas nonetheless utilizing them for contemporary actions. They have plenty of occasions and exhibitions to repeatedly convey individuals in, whether or not it’s infants visiting for Singing Bunnies, younger kids having fun with the forest faculty, adults becoming a member of the choir, artwork fanatics practising their abilities with skilled artists, book-lovers becoming a member of a library tour or just mates assembly for a espresso within the spectacular cafe.
There’s tons occurring and loads of seasonal actions for youngsters so undoubtedly verify the web site earlier than you go to!
Before leaving, we headed again by means of the forest for a ultimate have a look at the wood animal sculptures (and for one more pre-car run round!) earlier than we reluctantly left Durham after an unbelievable weekend.
Useful data in your weekend in Durham
I’d prefer to say an enormous thanks to This is Durham for creating such a incredible household itinerary for us. I made some movies throughout my journey which you’ll be able to see right here. You can see different movies on Memorable Moments web page that different bloggers and creators have made too!
Here’s a Google Map with all of the locations we visited. Feel free to avoid wasting this into your telephone:
Here are some helpful hyperlinks should you plan to observe this itinerary:
