Durham

paul2468

Hi we are going Durham for to take our 3yo to diggerland, staying from Fri - Mon can anyone tell us what is the nearest seaside town ? and also anything else that we must do.

CIS

To Durham , the nearest seaside town worth visiting would be SouthShields, nice beach and a nice little shopping area.

Durham itself is enough for a day but wouldn't keep you occupied for any longer, so for a good day out head to the Metocentre and/or in to Newcastle.(about 1/2hr drive)

phill79

paul2468 wrote:

Hi we are going Durham for to take our 3yo to diggerland, staying from Fri - Mon can anyone tell us what is the nearest seaside town ? and also anything else that we must do.

Hmm, I live there and I still don't know of one that can compair to the likes of Scarborough and Whitby. You do have Hartlepool (south West) about 10miles away or Seaham (north west) 10miles or so, after that you enter Sunderland and so on.

alanrowell

Beamish Open Air Museum

Toon

For an excellent shopping day out definitely go to the Metrocentre. You could probably spend a full day there. For the seaside you could try Southshields and Seaburn (part of Sunderland) which are pretty close together. South Shields is definitely worth a visit. I wouldn't really bother with Hartlepool though.

wannabedebtfreebeth

From Durham you could go straight across to Sunderland - Roker beach is lovely. Beamish is also great but depending on the age of parents and children - my kids got very bored by my sister and I going on a nostalgia trip about all the things there that we remembered!! But it does have lots of open space, a tram and old style oroundabout which a 3 yp would enjoy. If you do go the Metrocentre be sure to leave upwards of an hour to actually get parked!! Have a great time wherever you end up.

md_14uk

If you're into trains (and perhaps if your not), tanfield railway is an excellent day out. It's around 10 mile from Durham and it's usually only open on sundays and you can take a trip on and old steam train.

Depending on the age of your kids Durham Cathedral is a must see a World Heritage site and it's Durham's most reconisable feature.

Beaches, seaburn/whitburn in sunderland are the nearest my favorite spot on the northeast coast is Tynemouth and you'll get great fish and chips at Kristians in the North Sheilds Fish Quay

Try http://www.northeastengland.co.uk for other ideas...

Karb

I'd choose Sunderland every time, but then I was born and brought up there :-)

A bit of a trek but further north on the A1, Seahouses is a great little fishing village, there's also a lifeboat station there that you can look round, and the nearby Bamburgh Castle is well worth a visit, though whether it will appeal to a 3 year old is another matter.

As phill79 says, Whitby is also a good choice, and you could tie it in with a trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Steam railway - the one used in the Heartbeat tv series.

Beamish is great, if a bit expensive, and Durham Cathedral and castle are worth allocating a couple of hours to, perhaps on your first or last day if you don't have a lot of time to kill.

Eagle_1

Toon wrote:

I wouldn't really bother with Hartlepool though.

why ever not ?
Have you been down to the Marina ? or Seaton Carew for lovely fish and chips and a stroll along the beach ? or what about the shopping centre ?

paul2468

The weather was not to good on the sunday so we went to Hall hill farm by lanchester great for the little one and the onto mr twisters a massive indoor play area in consett..we had a great day....we stayed an innkeepers lodge called the churchmouse just outside Chester le street...fantastic value and spotless...we also went to river park in chester le street if you have little ones and are visiting the area you must vist this park...it is 1st class great gardens and a massive play area...also a nice paddling pool, and it is right on the river, there is also a small cafe by the river where you can buy bags of food to feed the ducks....this place is a must do if you are visting the area......a real hidden gem.

Eagle_1

paul2468 wrote:

The weather was not to good on the sunday so we went to Hall hill farm by lanchester

Ive never been there but have had good reports from others. Sounds as though you had a good time