Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland's accommodation reflects its status as a market town on the up: traditional coaching inns and pubs with rooms cluster around the historic market place, many within easy walking distance of Auckland Castle, the Faith Museum and the town's restaurants. These tend to suit visitors who want to be at the centre of things, close to the castle grounds and able to walk back from dinner without needing a car.

Further out, the villages of Weardale and the wider Durham Dales offer a different style of stay, with country inns, farmhouse bed and breakfasts and small independent hotels set among rolling countryside rather than town streets. These make a good choice for anyone planning to spend as much time walking or driving through the North Pennines as exploring Bishop Auckland itself, and often come with the kind of quiet, dark-sky evenings that are harder to find in town. Darlington and Durham city, both a short drive or train ride away, add a wider choice of larger hotels and chain options for visitors who want more amenities or are combining a trip to Bishop Auckland with sightseeing further afield. Whichever base you choose, it's worth booking early for stays around the summer Kynren performances and the September food festival, when local accommodation fills up quickly.

Bishop Auckland's recent transformation means a small town now punches well above its weight for visitors, with several major attractions within walking distance of each other in and around the historic castle grounds.

• Auckland Castle — the former palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham, with State Rooms, a chapel converted from a medieval banqueting hall, and a remarkable set of Francisco de Zurbarán paintings of Jacob and his sons displayed in the Long Dining Room.
• The Faith Museum — opened in 2023 within the castle's walls, this purpose-built museum traces 6,000 years of belief and religion in Britain through more than 250 objects, from prehistoric ritual finds to contemporary art.
• Kynren – An Epic Tale of England — a spectacular open-air night show staged on summer weekends just outside town, performed by a cast of over a thousand local volunteers and telling the story of England through fire, water and horses.
• Auckland Tower — a striking timber viewing tower at the castle gates that doubles as a visitor centre, giving sweeping views over the market place and deer park.
• Escomb Saxon Church — a short drive away in the village of Escomb, this is one of only a handful of virtually intact Anglo-Saxon churches in England, built around 675 AD partly from stone recycled from the Roman fort at Binchester.
• Binchester Roman Fort (Vinovium) — just north of town on the banks of the Wear, home to the best-preserved Roman military bath house in Britain, still being excavated by archaeologists.
• Auckland Castle Deer Park — 800 acres of parkland surrounding the castle, with waymarked walks, veteran trees and a resident herd of deer descended from those kept here in medieval times.
• Weardale — beyond the town, the dale opens into some of County Durham's finest upland scenery, with the Weardale Railway's heritage trains running from Bishop Auckland up through Wolsingham and Frosterley towards Stanhope.

The market place and surrounding streets hold a growing mix of independent cafés and traditional pubs, with the historic Kingslodge Inn on the edge of the deer park a popular choice for a meal after visiting the castle. The Bishop Auckland Food Festival, held each September, has grown into one of the region's largest food events, filling the town centre with stalls, cookery demonstrations and live music. For a quieter pint, several long-standing pubs around the market place serve local Durham breweries' ales, while the castle's own café makes a convenient stop between the Faith Museum and the State Rooms.

Bishop Auckland makes a good base for campers drawn to the quieter corners of County Durham, with the town itself sitting right at the point where gentle farmland gives way to the rising ground of Weardale and the wider Durham Dales. As anywhere in England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is against the law, so pitching up on open moorland or riverside land here isn't an option, even though the Pennine landscape can look invitingly empty. Instead, a scattering of small, family-run campsites and caravan parks in the villages around Bishop Auckland — places like Witton-le-Wear, Wolsingham and further up the dale towards Stanhope — offer proper pitches with the landowner's blessing, many with views out towards the fells.

The terrain here is a mix of gentle lowland around the town, where the River Wear loops past Binchester and Escomb, and much steeper, wilder ground once you head west into Weardale itself, part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. That makes it a useful spot for campers who want easy access to both a lively small town with museums and restaurants, and proper Pennine walking country within a short drive. The best camping season runs from late spring to early autumn, broadly April to September, when the weather is at its most settled; Weardale sits high enough that nights can turn cold even in summer, and conditions can change quickly on the open fells, so it pays to come prepared regardless of the forecast.

For those who'd rather not rely on a tent, glamping has taken hold in this part of County Durham much as it has elsewhere in the North Pennines, with pods, shepherd's huts and yurts appearing on farms around Weardale offering a more comfortable way to experience the dale. These sites tend to combine the same sweeping views and dark, star-filled skies as traditional camping with a proper bed and, often, a wood-burning stove for cooler evenings — a useful compromise for anyone keen to explore the moors above Bishop Auckland without fully roughing it. Whichever option you choose, booking ahead is worthwhile in peak summer months and around Kynren performance weekends, when demand for accommodation across the area rises sharply.