Castle · Durham · County Durham

Durham Castle

Durham Castle is a grade I listed historic house museum in Durham. A short trip away is Durham Cathedral, 300 m off, the first of 29 within 15 km. Its Wikipedia coverage spans 46 languages.

Photo: Durham Castle, Carla Brain (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Where

In Durham

inside the built-up area

How well known

Top 1%

#35 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

Jun–Sep

highs of 17–20°C

In brief

Castle in Durham

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#35 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (46 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Durham

Durham Castle is inside Durham’s built-up area, with 7 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Grade I listed building

On the official list of protected heritage; Durham has 447 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

A month-by-month guide

Expect highs of 17–20°C in Durham from June to September.

Jan7° / 1°54 mm

Feb8° / 1°48 mm

Mar10° / 2°43 mm

Apr12° / 4°52 mm

May15° / 6°47 mm

Jun18° / 9°65 mm

Jul20° / 11°62 mm

Aug20° / 11°69 mm

Sep17° / 9°58 mm

Oct14° / 6°66 mm

Nov10° / 4°76 mm

Dec7° / 1°64 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Durham, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Durham. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Durham’s full climate →

About

Durham Castle

Grade I listed historic house museum in Durham, England, UK.

In Durham, inside the town’s built-up area.

Durham’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Castle
Listed: Grade I listed building
Wikipedias: Covered in 46 languages
Town: in Durham
Official site: dur.ac.uk/durham.castle

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Where Durham Castle is

The numbers show what else is near Durham Castle, in the order listed below.

Towns near it

Bases for a visit

Durham, with 50,502 people, is the largest of the 8. Closest first, each of these towns names it on its page.

1 · It’s in town

Durham

50,502 people · 15 places to visit

2 · 2.3 km southwest of it

Brandon

9,508 people · 10 places to visit

3 · 2.4 km west of it

Ushaw Moor and Bearpark

6,483 people · 11 places to visit

4 · 2.8 km southeast of it

High Shincliffe

1,045 people · 8 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Durham Castle is	People	Places to visit
Durham	It’s in town	50,502	15
Brandon	2.3 km southwest of it	9,508	10
Ushaw Moor and Bearpark	2.4 km west of it	6,483	11
High Shincliffe	2.8 km southeast of it	1,045	8
Sherburn	4.1 km east of it	2,796	10
New Brancepeth	4.3 km west of it	1,280	11
Bowburn	4.5 km southeast of it	4,843	7
Croxdale	4.6 km south of it	270	9

Make a day of it

Nearby, too

Our list has 29 more within 15 km, among them 3 museums, 2 castles and a cathedral.

CathedralDurham Cathedral300 m away 2

MuseumOriental Museum1.3 km away · 19K visitors a year 3

MuseumBeamish Museum13 km away · 350K visitors a year 4MuseumMuseumDurham University Museum of Archaeology100 m away 5

CastleLumley Castle8.8 km away 6

GardenDurham University Botanic Garden1.7 km away 7

Abbey or priory · English HeritageFinchale Priory5.3 km away 8

CastleBrancepeth Castle6.8 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Questions people have about Durham Castle

Where is Durham Castle?

Durham Castle is in Durham, County Durham, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is Durham Castle?

Grade I listed historic house museum in Durham, England, UK.

When is the best time to visit Durham Castle?

June to September are the warmest months in Durham, with afternoon highs of 17–20°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Durham Castle a listed building?

Yes: Grade I listed building.

What else is there to see near Durham Castle?

Within 15 km: Durham Cathedral (300 m), Oriental Museum (1.3 km), Beamish Museum (13 km) and Durham University Museum of Archaeology (100 m).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

Durham Castle: Carla Brain, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Durham Cathedral: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Oriental Museum: Wereon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Beamish Museum: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lumley Castle: Bill Henderson, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Durham University Botanic Garden: Ken Walton, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Finchale Priory: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Brancepeth Castle: Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.