Earlier this year, after many months of planning and preparation, we launched our new Things To Do website! After undergoing a bit of a revamp, we wanted our new website to provide information about all our wonderful venues, research and learning and engagement, all in one place!
Our museums, collections and venues welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and are home to more than 100,000 objects from over 60 countries worldwide. Our new website was developed to showcase each of our venues and to make it easy to plan your visit to our sites.
Many of our venues are free to visit (Durham University members can visit them all for free 😊) and as they’re situated in two clusters in the city, it’s super easy to include more than one venue in your visit!
- Located in what was originally built as the University Library (now known as Palace Green Library) our Visitor Centre is the ideal starting point for your exploration of Durham World Heritage Site. In this building, you’ll also find Cosin’s Library, one of the earliest public libraries in the Northeast of England, and our Museum of Archaeology, which tells the story of Durham through archaeological finds from prehistory to modern times.
- During your time in the Visitor Centre, you can book tickets for a guided tour of Durham Castle. Located next to the Palace Green Library building, the Castle is now home to students of University College, part of Durham University, and you’ll learn about life in the Castle from one of our very knowledgeable tour guides, many of whom are current Durham students[CA1] .
- Our Botanic Garden is located on the southern outskirts of Durham city and offers a wide variety of landscapes to explore across 10 hectares. A 10-minute walk away is our Oriental Museum, which is devoted entirely to the art and archaeology of the great cultures of Northern Africa and Asia.
- You can enjoy the University art collection in buildings around the University campus, including the Palatine Centre and our outdoor gallery in Library Square (in front of Bill Bryson Library) – both are open to the public and free to visit. You can also enjoy our annual arts festival, Summer in the City, across a variety of venues in the city.
All our venues have fantastic family-friendly exhibitions, and you can find details of fun-filled activities during weekends and school holidays on our What’s On listing on our website.
Don’t forget our social media! While all this work was going on behind the scenes, we also updated our social media presence; our visitor attractions accounts joined forces and became Durham University Things To Do! We are now a one-stop shop for everything happening across our attractions, making it much easier for visitors to keep up to date with exciting news and events at all our venues, including Botanic Gardens, Durham Castle, Oriental Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Cosin’s Library. You can follow us on:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DUThingsToDo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DUThingsToDo/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duthingstodo/
You can also follow our newly named Durham University Collections account on Twitter and Instagram for updates and information from across our inspiring collections, including objects from our museums, art collection, archives, special collections and conservation work!