Newcastle or Durham for a long weekend away?

[Cheeseandlobster]

Dp and I are hoping to go away in Jan for a long weekend. We like to amble around, see some sights and have a nice meal and drinks.

I am leaning towards Newcastle and he is leaning more towards Durham.

Which do you recommend? I posted something similar a few months ago and had a lovely time in Harrogate on our last weekend away thanks to some really helpful posts on here

Durham. Surprisingly lovely.

To be honest you could easily do both. Base yourselves in Newcastle and have a day in Durham. There really isn't a lot to do in Durham city centre now. You can see the cathedral and castle, have a nice walk by the river and be spoiled for choice for eating and drinking, but that's about it.

I’d go to Newcastle and have a day in Durham and one in tynemouth.

@CremeEggThief

To be honest you could easily do both. Base yourselves in Newcastle and have a day in Durham. There really isn't a lot to do in Durham city centre now. You can see the cathedral and castle, have a nice walk by the river and be spoiled for choice for eating and drinking, but that's about it.

I would agree. While Durham is lovely there really isn’t a huge amount to see. I’d stay in Newcastle and visit Durham for the day

Durham is smaller by quite a bit , but if it's your thing , the cathedral is fantastic.

Newcastle. We had a long weekend in Durham and it was very dull! Once we'd seen the cathedral and castle and had a walk that was it. No nice shops or restaurants really. We did have good fish and chips though.

Durham is lovely, but can be fully enjoyed in a day.

Newcastle has stacks of things to do for a full weekend.

Durham is nice but you don't need more than one day; the city centre is tiny. Newcastle is great; lots to do to keep you busy for a few days.

I much prefer Newcastle. Awesome place if you like mediaeval and industrial architecture, as well as bits of Hadrian's Wall! Great museums, galleries, shops, cafés, restaurants, markets and leisure, and transport is easy. Very atmospheric at night under the bridges.

Newcastle, definitely

Newcastle for sure. Durham is great for the day, but there's more to do in Newcastle. Also, the food choice is amazing.

Personally I'd choose Newcastle because there's more to do and you don't need the car so much but Durham is lovely. You could spend a day in the centre and do the cathedral and the castle. We went to Finchale Priory (just north of Durham) earlier this year and that was in a really beautiful location, it feels like a bit of a hidden treasure, and you can walk along the river Wear after exploring the ruins. I have a soft spot for the small Oriental Museum in Durham as well. You are close to Raby Castle as well which is worth a visit and the now infamous Barnard Castle as well which as well as having an excellent opticians has the truly wonderful Bowes Museum (has a fab restaurant so deserves a day itself) and yet another castle (we like our castles in the north).

In Newcastle I'd agree a day in Tynemouth is great, the Priory is a really interesting site. But wrap up warm in January! I love the Hancock Museum, or you could go and have a look at some of the sites on Hadrian's Wall, the museum at Vindolanda with the Roman postcards is fab.

Newcastle.

Durham has a distinctly run down feel to it these days, with lots of boarded up shop fronts. The Cathedral is okay apart from you're harangued on the door to sign up to regular donations.

Durham is lovely. But very little to do, other than the cathedral.

I work in Durham - there really is not much here other than a sprawling network of university offices, a few restaurants a couple of wetherspoons and a cathedral.

Newcastle is more of a place to visit! If you really want to, you can get the train Newcastle to Durham for a fiver/10 minute journey, but I wouldn't personally bother.

It's sort of like Beverley if you've ever been there, but imagine everyone in the town is a student.

I'd go to Durham on the way there or on the way home, but base yourself in Newcastle.

Durham is beautiful but small. Stay in Newcastle and visit Durham on the train.

What kind of thing do you like doing? The two places have quite a different 'feel' to them.

I really enjoyed Durham. I think at the same time the OH and I went to the Treehouse Restuarant (cant remember irs proper name) in Alnwick

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

What kind of thing do you like doing? The two places have quite a different 'feel' to them.

I really enjoyed Durham. I think at the same time the OH and I went to the Treehouse Restuarant (cant remember irs proper name) in Alnwick

We just like doing what I mentioned above really. Having a mooch around the shops and interesting streets, seeing the main sights, stopping for hot chocolate and cake from time to time. Then in the evening going for a drink and a nice meal.

I think we will take the advice on here. We will need to drive past Durham so we will spend a few hours there on the way then will stay in Newcastle with a trip out to the Priory at Tynemouth on one of the days.

Does anyone please have any recommendations of nice things to do in any of these places. Particularly Newcastle as I think we know what we will probably do in Durham and Tynemouth but are still open to ideas. Thank you

I'd spend one of the evenings in Ouseburn:-
Cake and a coffee at Cake Stories in Hoults Yard, then into Ghetto Golf (also Hoults Yard) for a round of (very adult themed!) crazy golf and some drinks.
Then try a few of the bars nearby - my favourite is Brinkburn street Brewery, and next door it, The Kiln. These are all walking distance to one another.

If you are heading out to The Priory, I'd say do it Sunday morning - check out, drive out to Tynemouth, explore the market they have at their metro station (massive!), a walk round the high street, down to the Priory and coastline. Then grab fish and chips before doing the drive home.