County Durham tourist information

The Land of the Prince Bishops

County Durham lies in the North-East of England, close to the border with Scotland. Its small city, Durham, stands around 18 miles south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 

A county with a long industrial heritage, but inland is a country area much missed by tourist. Lots of visitor attractions around here after you have visited historic Durham.

Once dominated by the coal industry, County Durham is still industrialised beside the sea. 

Inland, however, the county lies in the Pennines and is a remote and sparsely populated area of moors and dales.

Today the main industry of this relatively small county (covering 942 square miles) is sheep and dairy farming.

The county was historically controlled by the Bishops of Durham - known as the Prince Bishops. As the Durham estate included some outside areas the central part was distinguished from the rest as 'County Durham'.