Deck the Halls in County Durham

DAY 1

Journey from your home station to Durham and, on arrival, we will make our way to the Royal County Hotel, our hotel for the next three nights. We enjoy free time to explore our new surroundings before meeting for our first evening meal together.

DAY 2

After breakfast this morning, we travel by coach to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, to experience the magic of Christmas from a bygone time. A living, working experience featuring a recreated town including an Edwardian bakery, a coal mine, a local pub, and school amongst other things, all linked together by a historic tram system. After our nostalgic visit, we enjoy lunch together before returning to Durham for an evening at leisure.

DAY 3

Today, we journey to Bishop Auckland and make our way to Auckland Castle, one of the best-preserved bishop's palaces, where we explore the impressive rooms adorned in fantastic, traditional Christmas decorations. We can also visit the Faith Museum, home to a monumental Neapolitan Nativity and using over 421 individually carved figures, this is one of the most impressive examples outside of Italy. Afterwards, we make a stop at the Shildon Locomotion Museum, the world's first railway town housing the largest undercover collection of historic railway vehicles in Europe, before returning to Durham in time for our final evening meal together.

DAY 4

After breakfast, we bid farewell to Durham and make our way to the station for our homeward journeys.

*Important Note: Christmas at Beamish and Christmas at Auckland Palace have not been confirmed for 2025 at the time of tour compilation. We do reserve the right to make substitutions and changes to the itinerary should it be deemed necessary.

B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner