Accessible places to visit in Durham

Start your break with a relaxing session at Rockliffe Hall. This red-brick, resort-style country pile is home to a generously-sized spa, which spans the full thermal spectrum from an infrared room to an icicle-filled igloo. There’s wheelchair access to the spa, an accessible changing area and handrails into the hydrotherapy pool with timed water jets. And relax…

The Great Aycliffe Way is a circular route through a leafy combo of trees and woodland around Newton Aycliffe. Look out for the striking sculptures dotted around at various surprising locations. Sculptures in stone, metal and wood nod to aspects of local history, folklore and nature. The tarmacked route is wheelchair-friendly, despite a few steep parts along the path.

Hungry? Redworth Hall Hotel is a good-looking Jacobean manor house in Newton Aycliffe. Its 1744 Restaurant has a showstopping menu – think gin-cured salmon or Moroccan-spiced cauliflower steaks with lemon-and-thyme cannellini mash – enhanced by ruby-red walls and garden views. Located on the ground floor by reception, the hotel entrance is accessible with level access; adapted toilets are available, as are accessible parking spaces.

This collection of heritage attractions, galleries, gardens and parkland was created by a millionaire philanthropist to turn this former mining town into a cultural destination. The Auckland Project includes Auckland Castle (a palace-turned-museum); the Spanish Gallery, full of artworks by El Greco and a deer park. The restoration includes sustainable architecture such as Auckland Tower, a modern take on a medieval lookout. There’s accessible parking, lifts to each floor and adapted toilets.

Now it’s time to cosy up at Swallows Nest Holiday Cottage on a working farm in rural Teesdale. Rustic wood beams and a log burner suit the countryside setting, which you can enjoy from your own garden. Throughout the cottage there is ample space to manoeuvre a wheelchair; all the light switches, rails and coat hooks are lowered and the hob is lowered, with space underneath.

This atmospheric UNESCO World Heritage Site once drew worshippers for St Cuthbert’s shrine. Now Harry Potter fans join them, as the cathedral appeared in some of the magical films (the cloisters played a star role). The Norman place of worship features photogenic stained-glass windows and impressive stone arches. Accessibility-wise, there's a cathedral bus, which is suitable for wheelchair users and connects the cathedral with Durham train station, the coach park and the marketplace.

There’s so much to see at Durham University's sprawling teaching and research garden on the edge of the city. Follow signposts through the 10 hectares (25 acres) of alpine and winter gardens, bamboo grove, glasshouses, woodland garden and wildflower meadow. Returning visitors can spot the seasonal changes. Access is on one level and assistance is available at the car park, which has designated disabled bays.

Built after the Norman invasion in 1072, Durham Castle’s history took an unusual turn in the 1800s when it became student accommodation – a far cry from the usual college digs. Despite a potentially tricky layout of stone staircases and narrow passageways, the main entrance has step-free access and there are accessible toilets in the Palace Green library.

Now it’s time for lunch at what is, as the name suggests, a blue country pub in the rural village of Haswell, east of Durham. The menu ranges from hearty local dishes such as Doreen's black pudding with creamy peppered mushrooms to slow-cooked steak and ale pie. There are disabled parking spaces, an easy-to-negotiate wheelchair ramp and an accessible toilet.

The Beamish Museum was used as a filming location in, Downton Abbey, which is fitting as costumed actors add authenticity to this open-air experience. Explore life in North East England from the 1850s to the 1950s, including a pit village complete with a fish and chip shop and, for cuteness overload, pit ponies – Durham minefield had 22,000 in 1913. Ramps lead from the car park to the main entrance. The venue operates a wheelchair-accessible vehicle and free wheelchair hire is available; there are also adapted toilets.