Your Durham Commute: The Best Ways to Get to Campus

Your college decides your commute long before you do. Durham is small enough to feel walkable on a map, and hilly enough that the reality catches plenty of first-years out in week one. Once you know which side of the city you’re spending most of your time in, though, your Durham commute soon sorts itself out.

Which side of the city is your college on?

Durham University splits neatly into two halves. Five colleges, University, Hatfield, St Chad’s, St John’s and St Cuthbert’s Society, sit on “the Bailey,” the cobbled peninsula that wraps around the Cathedral and Castle. Eight more, Grey, Van Mildert, Collingwood, St Mary’s, St Aidan’s, Josephine Butler, Trevelyan and the newer South College, sit up on Elvet Hill, near Mountjoy, roughly a kilometre southeast of the centre. That’s where you’ll find the Palatine Centre, the Bill Bryson Library and most of the science departments. Two colleges sit apart from both camps, the College of St Hild and Bede, over in Gilesgate, and Ustinov, the postgraduate college, out at Sheraton Park. Whichever side you land on shapes almost everything about your daily rhythm here.

What’s the best way from the station into town?

Durham station sits above the city, on a hill to the north, with the eleven-arched Durham Viaduct marking the southern approach. From there, the Cathedral Bus links the station and the coach drop-off at Freeman’s Place straight to the Cathedral and Castle, operating throughout the day Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays until 1 November. It’s free if you’re holding a Durham City Park and Ride ticket. Walking works too, downhill the whole way into the historic centre.

Which bus routes are worth knowing?

Arriva carries most of the university traffic between the station, the Bus Station and the main sites, and two routes do the heavy lifting: the 41 and the 42, known as the Mount Oswald service. Durham University’s own student ticket scheme is worth setting up in freshers’ week. The Durham Uni Zone gives unlimited day travel for £1.60, and the wider Durham Uni Plus Zone stretches as far as Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Darlington for £2.70 a day. Daily, weekly, termly and annual passes are all available through the Arriva app, and the termly or annual option pays for itself quickly if the bus becomes part of your routine.

Can you get away without a bus?

If you’re on the Bailey, more or less. Most of what you need sits within ten minutes on foot. Up on the Hill, it comes down to fitness and footwear as much as distance. Driving in from further out, three Park and Ride sites, Belmont, Sniperley and Howlands Farm, operate from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday.

Is a bike worth the hassle?

Durham’s hills put plenty of students off cycling, understandably. But low gears, or an e-bike, change the game. Our own Duresme Court is a two-minute cycle to the university against a fifteen-minute walk, which tells you most of what you need to know about how much time two wheels can save.

Where do Prestige Student Living’s homes sit in all this?

Duresme Court, on Newcastle Road, sits on Durham’s southern edge, a ten-minute walk over the river from the Cathedral, Castle, Prince Bishops Shopping Centre and the Riverwalk. The Business School and the School of Politics are under ten minutes on foot, and Law, Engineering, Maths, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Geography are all walkable too. St Giles Studios, on Gilesgate, sits in the same part of the city as the College of St Hild and Bede, close to the shops and the colleges, with a nine-minute bus or a twenty-minute walk to the university, and an eighteen-minute bus out to New College Durham.

Insider Tips

• Work out early which side of the city your college sits on. It changes how much you’ll lean on the bus more than anything else about student life here.
• If the bus is going to be a regular fixture, buy a termly or annual Arriva pass sooner rather than later; it beats paying daily.
• Cycling in from the river towards Elvet Hill or the Bailey means a climb either way. Budget the extra few minutes, or the lower gear, for it.
• Check the Cathedral Bus timetable before a Sunday trip into town after 1 November, when the schedule shifts.

Durham rewards a bit of early planning more than most cities do. Work out your route before term starts properly, and the hills stop being a daily surprise and start being just part of how the place feels. Our own properties are built around having a short, known route to where you need to be. Take a look when you’re ready.