Is Darlington nice for a weekend away?

[Cheeseandlobster]

We are looking for somewhere to go for a long weekend and fancy a nice town rather than a large city. It will just be dp and I and we were thinking about staying in a travel lodge type place in the centre. We fancy strolling through nice streets, having drinks in a bar or two with a nice view and a meal out

So does Darlington fit the bill and if not are there any other suggestions? We will be coming from the South Yorkshire area and don't want a mammoth journey if possible

So is

I used to live in York, but now live in Darlington. I wouldn't move back to York ever, but do agree Darlington is an odd choice for a weekend away yet moving here was one of the best things I ever did

I stayed in the Premier Inn at Darlington a couple of summers ago. We used it as a base as it was so close to the station and we spent a week visiting lots of lovely places on the train. It was a great week and dirt cheap 🙂

So I think we have narrowed it down to either Harrogate or Durham. Both sound beautiful

@RozHuntleysStump

Not as nice as Hull.

haha

The west End of Darlington is a lovely place to live and there's certainly enough bars and restaurants for a weekend visit but not many tourist sites in town. It would be a cheaper place to stay than Durham et al so I'm tempted to be controversial and say stay in Darlo but have day trips to Durham (which apart from the cathedral and castle is a bit of a studenty shithole), Barney, Richmond, NY Moors, Yorkshire Dales, York, or Harrogate.

Another vote for Harrogate or Durham.

@BaronessOfTheNorth

Harrogate: YES, Durham: YES, York: YES

Darlington: NO

I'm speaking as someone who lives there. You are welcome 😉

I'm pretty close to Darlington too and am desperate to leave it!!

I was going to suggest Skipton as well. Pretty little place It has a castle, canal walks, independent shops & lovely countryside round about

@MooseBeTimeForSummer

I have spent many hours in the brick wind tunnel that is Darlington station. It’s a no from me too.

What about a little b&b in Runswick Bay or Whitby?

Aha, so it isn't just me. I'll swear that the design of that station is such that whatever direction the wind blows in it is funneled through about 20 mph faster and 5 degrees colder.

It’s a Victorian station, they were all designed like that for steam trains, because they needed the ventilation.

Ok, as another local-Darlo god no.
Durham-an afternoon at most
Barney-Cummings effect,crowded, nice if you like tea shops, antiques and chazzas.
I like Northallerton but maybe not for a weekend
Ditto Yarm.
However-you could stay in Darlo and travel to all those places.

Definitely Harrogate.

Durham, definitely.
I have no idea why anyone would suggest Yarm for anything other than a pub crawl. You can see the whole street while sitting in the traffic crawling along it.

Durham is a good option.

Has all the new stuff been finished in Bishop Auckland?

Skipton/Ilkley/Grassington/Bolton Abbey, with a visit to Saltaire on the way home would be a nice weekend from S Yorks.

Durham, definitely.

I live here, its great as a base if you want to visit other places. It really depends on what you want to do. We have plenty of pubs and places to eat. There is the train history so a visit to the railway museum is nice. There are lots of nice walks and the South Park is lovely.

Yes there are nicer places than Darlington but there are much worse to!

Not really fair to judge Darlington based on sitting in the train station…
I didn't sit in the station, i went for a walk round the town centre.

@colouringcrayons

Durham is a good option.

Has all the new stuff been finished in Bishop Auckland?

Bishop Auckland is ongoing but the market place has quite a lot of history to visit now.

Harrogate is nice but doesn’t really stretch to a whole weekend. Agree that Durham would be perfect.

Durham for me. I'm just down the road in the north east but me and dp have had a couple of nights in Durham

Stayed at the marriot. Perfect location - right in the centre and on the river. It has a spa too but isn't too spendy.

Champagne bar is lovely and even the whetherspoons by it is nice. Lovely Italian upstairs on the way up to the cathedral and obviously the cathedral is lush for a walk around.

I am laughing as I have never ever seen Darlington and nice in the same sentence before.

Durham is lovely ☺️

@colouringcrayons
Bishop Auckland has had to pause the last year and a half due to covid unfortunately, during this more shops have closed on the main street, however the market place is looking good with the miners museum, looking Tower, the castle and the building works externally have finished on the Spanish art gallery....Personally I would say they are at least 5 years away from being up and running properly the way they want it.
Kynren is now back showing this year also, aswell as having more onsite during the day...
Hope it all works out for the town and people living there.

Really hope it does work in Bishop Auckland. I plan to visit anyway once this bloody pandemic clears off a little more!

Seriously there's someone on here recommending Durham Wetherspoons?!. Agree that Durham's an afternoon at best to look round the cathedral - the town centre itself has gone to rack & ruin. Yarm's just a load of chain pubs now. God I feel old. Go to Harrogate or Skipton.