It is surprising how many visitors to the UK rush from London to Scotland via York without a thought of Durham. Yet it is a lovely city with a magnificent castle and cathedral and is home to England's third oldest university.
In his Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson said: "I got off at Durham... and fell in love with it instantly in a big way. Why, it's wonderful — a perfect little city — and I kept thinking, Why did no one tell me about this?" The reason more people don't come is largely the rail schedules — Durham is just twenty minutes from Newcastle on the East Coast Main Line, but most expresses don't stop.
Durham Cathedral is one of England's — indeed, the world's — finest examples of Norman Romanesque architecture. Founded in 1093, it houses the tombs of St Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Durham Castle. The castle, a working university college since 1840, faces the cathedral across Palace Green in one of the finest medieval civic spaces in Europe. Both can be reached with ease from the city's train station — simply follow the cathedral on the skyline, or take the No. 40 shuttle bus direct to Palace Green.
The River Wear walk circles the base of the cathedral peninsula and gives the best view of the whole composition from below. Away from the historic core, the Oriental Museum on the university campus has an outstanding collection of Egyptian and Asian antiquities (free entry), and Crook Hall, a 13th-century manor house with exceptional gardens, offers a quieter counterpart to the tourist trail. If your visit falls on the second Saturday of July, the Durham Miners' Gala — the world's largest trade union event, held since 1871 — is unmissable.