Train
Train is by far the easiest way to travel to Durham (especially if you're coming from London, trains are very frequent and take just under three hours), there are direct connections from most of the UK. Book in advance on the website. We recommend getting a Two Together Railcard or a Group Card if there are more of you, even with the £30 cost you can often save back the cost of the card. You may have noticed that the Virgin East Coast is no more and has been replaced with London North Eastern Railway, don't worry your tickets will still be honoured on the trains.
Flight
Newcastle Airport is the closest airport to Durham, from there you can get the metro into Newcastle (about 25 minutes) and then the train on to Durham (about 20 minutes), there is also Durham Tees Valley airport nearby and Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow are all in easy reach by train.
Travel Note
You can also drive to Durham, take a bit longer but you get to see some of the countryside. I'll leave you to argue amongst yourselves about whether you use the A1 or the M1 (or the M74 if you're coming from the North!).
Travel Note
If you're staying in Durham City Centre you can easily walk to the train station, nothing is further than a 15min walk. We recommend a taxi for getting to the church and Fionn's parents house (although you can get a bus if you really want, they run every 30mins from the bus station and have wifi and usb chargers - v modern. It's bus number 24, timetable here - https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east/services/sapphire---24---durham-to-hartlepool/?direction=outbound) Some taxi firms in Durham are:- Pratts Taxis - 0191 386 4040 Paddys Taxis - 0191 386 6662 Durham Taxis - 0191 364 3665 And a taxi firm near Biddick Hall:- Washington Taxis - 0191 416 7808 If you're staying outside of Durham for example in Newcastle or Seaham we recommend you book a taxi from one of those locations.
Hotel
We recommend that you stay in Durham City centre, not only because Durham is beautiful but because you'll also be within walking distance of the train station and we're planning to run a bus back to Durham in the evening. There are plenty of hotels to suit all budgets in Durham from a Premier Inn to the Radisson and the newly opened Hotel Indigo. It's graduation week in Durham so we recommend calling hotels to check avaliblity on Friday evening if they look fully booked on the website, Saturday evening should be alot quieter. You can also stay further afield, the North East countryside is beautiful and there are plenty of holiday cottages and B&Bs closeby. There are also the bright lights of Newcastle and the North East coast for example Seaham.