How to get to Durham

Flying into Newcastle International Airport (NCL)

It is best to fly into Newcastle International Airport (NCL). NCL isn’t a particularly large airport but it connects well to London, Amsterdam, Paris CDG (several flights per day to each). From NCL, there's multiple options to get to Durham (see below for details).

Flying into other UK airports

While we recommend flying into Newcastle, it is possible to get to Durham from any other UK airport. The two closest options, other than Newcastle, are Manchester or Edinburgh. It is also possible to use one of the big London airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick or Luton. These are all much bigger airports and more likely to have direct flights.

From any UK airport it is relatively easy to get to Durham on the National Rail, where there will be regular trains (likely every ~1 hr). We would recommend pre-booking your train tickets and seat reservations from sites such as the trainline . Typical times are ~3 hrs from Manchester, ~2 hrs from Edinburgh (including a ~30 min bus from the airport to the city centre) and ~4 hrs from any of the London airports.

Getting from NCL to Durham

From the airport, you can get to Durham via taxi, public transportation (e.g., metro, train, bus), or rideshare (uber). From Durham train station, it is about a 25 minute walk to Grey College and Calman Learning Centre.

  1. Taxi. £60-70 is the prevailing rate for one-way, and takes about 35-45 minutes depending on traffic. You don’t have to book in advance, just walk up to the taxi service directly as you exit immigration and give them the postal code you’re going to.
  2. Metro + train. There is a Tyne and Wear metro station at the airport, ~2min walk from baggage claim. Take the metro to the Newcastle Central Station (~20 min) with a A+B+C ticket (you can buy tickets on the day from any metro station). From there, you can take the train to Durham which should take about 15 minutes. The metro costs ~£5 and the train will cost about £5-10. You can buy train tickets on the day from Newcastle station, or buy one in advance from the trainline . Overall travel time will be about an hour, depending on the train schedule.
  3. Metro + bus. Take the metro from the NCL airport to Gateshead Interchange and then take a bus (either X21 or X12) to Durham bus station. You can buy bus tickets directly on the bus when boarding. The metro cost is the same, the bus is £2 per ticket. This takes a little longer (90 minutes) but is cheaper and you’ll end in the city center.
  4. Rideshare. You can also hail an uber though it is more subject to availability than the above options. This would similarly cost around £60-70 for one-way, and sometimes can even be cheaper.