Saltburn Surf School

In County Durham, just half an hour from Sunderland, is the beautiful old country hall now converted into a hotel: Hardwick Hall. This award-winning hotel is situated within Hardwick Country Park. The park was refurbished in 1999 at a cost of £4.1 million granted by the heritage lottery fund. This allowed the park to be restored, with many of the buildings, such as the temple of Minerva, restored to the beauty enjoyed in the 18th century.

Now known for its wild flowers and cliff-top views, this stretch of the Durham Coast was once home to the biggest coal mine in Europe and used to film Alien 3.

Seaham Hall is a hotel like no other. The hall itself is a Georgian Country House with its own rich history, boasting the Pride of Britain Hotel status; a body of fifty outstanding independent hotels nationwide, which are run by the most dedicated teams.

The Ryhope Engines Museum is a volunteer-led museum that preserves the history of the pumping stations that provided Sunderland with fresh water and helped combat disease.

With more than three hundred and fifty years of history Old Durham Gardens, less than a mile from the historic city centre of Durham, is a popular location for pleasant walks and relaxation.

Doxford Park has a long history with human habitation back to the stone age, though the name of Silkworth comes from a Scandinavian Chief Silki who settled the land and created a community there a ‘worth’.

Locomotion is a railway museum found in Shildon, known as the world’s first railway town, telling the historic story of train travel.

Easily accessible from the city centre the Riverside Walk is best joined from either Elvet or Framwellgate Bridge and then takes you on a circular walk beside the River Wear. Perfect on a sunny day, the riverside is covered in woodland and is cool even on the warmest days providing a cool breeze and the smell of trees and plants that is evocative of native British woodlands.

The Botanical Gardens are a short distance from the city centre and cover ten hectares of land, taking you across the world and introducing you to the beautiful diversity of plants.

A two miles from Durham city and off the historic Great North Road is Low Burnhall – sixty eight hectares of stunning natural beauty; a wonderful natural woodland that ranges from newly planted trees through to ancient British woodlands.

Durham University displays a devoted exhibition, looking at the art and archaeology of the great cultures of Northern Africa and Asia.

Built in the heart of Sunderland city centre, the Museum, Library and Winter Garden tells the fantastic history of Sunderland from its earliest days.