Starting with things closest to the hotel, here's a list of pubs, clubs and kebabs in Durham.
Walkergate and North Road, right outside the door. Should be good for a quick pint when we get back from golf, before going into town.
Large Wetherspoons in the same complex as the hotel. Good range of local and national cask ales, and on Friday nights it turns into one of the busiest places in town.
Seemingly a chain Irish pub in the same complex as the hotel. Has a dress-code policy?!.
Big former Yates's on North Road. Two changing cask ales and plenty of lager.
Used to be a Wetherspoons, now run by Amber Taverns – still plenty of cask ale.
Durham's first micropub – a hatch bar with an ever-changing line-up of cask ales and real ciders served straight from the cold room. NE Region Pub of the Year in 2022.
Continental-feel bar. Four changing real ales, a big bottled beer list from around the world.
At the station. The original 1872 Ladies' Waiting Room on the station platform, restored with period fittings and a dark wood bar. Three handpumps of local beer – downside, it shuts early.
Built in the 1850s as lodgings for the navvies who built the railway viaduct it sits under. Currently closed, but might be worth a check.
Across the river, around the Market Place, Crossgate, Saddler Street and the Cathedral, and down onto Elvet. This is the proper old town – cobbles, listed buildings, and Durham's best pubs.
Traditional wood-panelled ale house right on the market square. Five local and national cask ales.
A great, historic local up in Gilesgate with a welcoming atmosphere, proper pub vibes, and solid real ales.
One of Durham's oldest pubs, trading since around 1600 (about tea-time!). A proper mix of locals, students and visitors, a good range of ales, and a spacious rear patio. Twice named the CAMRA's Town Pub of the Year.
Craft beer bar opened in a former board-games café. Keg taps plus two handpulls and a big fridge of bottles and cans; the vaulted basement hosts occasional live music.
Small and characterful, close to the Cathedral, named for its 19th-century theatrical regulars. Four real ales across a compact bar and a bigger back lounge.
Outside patio right over the river on the road up to the Cathedral. Relaxed, sports on the TV – doesn't serve cask ale, but still a solid venue.
Sam Smith's pub sitting right on Elvet Bridge, with a lovely patio down by the water. Again, no phone, and none of Lish's disgusting potty-mouth.
Named after the crescent-shaped bar running front to back. Traditional decor, and a large beer garden looking over the river.
Grade II-listed, part of it dating to the 15th century. A friendly front snug and a bigger lounge behind, with the legend of St Cuthbert's journey to Durham told on the corridor wall. Three real ales.
Family-run and Grade II-listed, barely changed since it was built in 1899 – coal fires, a cosy snug, a genuine Victorian cash drawer, and a serious whisky selection. A regular local Pub of the Year.
For that moment in the night when Pete wants to start dancing. Mostly clustered on North Road, five minutes from the hotel, with one down on Elvet Bridge.
Durham's biggest club, in a former cinema – sports bar with huge screens by day, mezzanine dance floor after dark.
Durham's only underground club, next door to Babylon..
Riverside cocktail bar and restaurant by day, with a heated terrace over the Wear; DJ and a packed dancefloor take over as the night goes on.
A Durham institution, previously known as Klute, in the vaulted cellars of a former House of Correction under Elvet Bridge. Free entry, cheap drinks, and a genuinely spooky backstory involving a piper who died in the cells.
It's the Spoons near the hotel, but worth a second mention: on Friday nights it effectively becomes a de facto nightclub. And it's the latest-open pub on the list.
Chippies, kebab shops and pizza-and-a-burger places. PLEASE NOTE: Durham doesn't have a walkable McDonald's or KFC from the hotel!
A Durham institution for over 80 years, and the closest place to the hotel. Fish and chips plus kebabs, burgers and pizza, open into the small hours every night of the week. The last stop-off on the way home?.
Durham's classic after-the-pub stop, open to 3am every night of the week. Could be the answer to Dav's "where can we get a kebab?" at 1am.
Just across the road from Pizza Uno and open just as late. Same 'babs, different venue. Handy if the first one's rammed.
Showing all pub guide locations across Durham.
Large Wetherspoons in the same complex as the hotel. Good range of local and national cask ales, and on Friday nights it turns into one of the busiest places in town.
Seemingly a chain Irish pub in the same complex as the hotel. Has a dress-code policy?!.
Big former Yates's on North Road. Two changing cask ales and plenty of lager.
Used to be a Wetherspoons, now run by Amber Taverns – still plenty of cask ale.
Durham's first micropub – a hatch bar with an ever-changing line-up of cask ales and real ciders served straight from the cold room. NE Region Pub of the Year in 2022.
Continental-feel bar. Four changing real ales, a big bottled beer list from around the world.
At the station. The original 1872 Ladies' Waiting Room on the station platform, restored with period fittings and a dark wood bar. Three handpumps of local beer – downside, it shuts early.
Built in the 1850s as lodgings for the navvies who built the railway viaduct it sits under. Currently closed, but might be worth a check.
Traditional wood-panelled ale house right on the market square. Five local and national cask ales.
A great, historic local up in Gilesgate with a welcoming atmosphere, proper pub vibes, and solid real ales.
One of Durham's oldest pubs, trading since around 1600 (about tea-time!). A proper mix of locals, students and visitors, a good range of ales, and a spacious rear patio. Twice named the CAMRA's Town Pub of the Year.
Craft beer bar opened in a former board-games café. Keg taps plus two handpulls and a big fridge of bottles and cans; the vaulted basement hosts occasional live music.
Small and characterful, close to the Cathedral, named for its 19th-century theatrical regulars. Four real ales across a compact bar and a bigger back lounge.
Outside patio right over the river on the road up to the Cathedral. Relaxed, sports on the TV – doesn't serve cask ale, but still a solid venue.
Sam Smith's pub sitting right on Elvet Bridge, with a lovely patio down by the water. Again, no phone, and none of Lish's disgusting potty-mouth.
Named after the crescent-shaped bar running front to back. Traditional decor, and a large beer garden looking over the river.
Grade II-listed, part of it dating to the 15th century. A friendly front snug and a bigger lounge behind, with the legend of St Cuthbert's journey to Durham told on the corridor wall. Three real ales.
Family-run and Grade II-listed, barely changed since it was built in 1899 – coal fires, a cosy snug, a genuine Victorian cash drawer, and a serious whisky selection. A regular local Pub of the Year.
Durham's biggest club, in a former cinema – sports bar with huge screens by day, mezzanine dance floor after dark.
Durham's only underground club, next door to Babylon..
Riverside cocktail bar and restaurant by day, with a heated terrace over the Wear; DJ and a packed dancefloor take over as the night goes on.
A Durham institution, previously known as Klute, in the vaulted cellars of a former House of Correction under Elvet Bridge. Free entry, cheap drinks, and a genuinely spooky backstory involving a piper who died in the cells.
A Durham institution for over 80 years, and the closest place to the hotel. Fish and chips plus kebabs, burgers and pizza, open into the small hours every night of the week. The last stop-off on the way home?.
Durham's classic after-the-pub stop, open to 3am every night of the week. Could be the answer to Dav's "where can we get a kebab?" at 1am.
Just across the road from Pizza Uno and open just as late. Same 'babs, different venue. Handy if the first one's rammed.