Best walk to Chester-le-Street

Durham Station to Chester-le-Street Station

amazing views all the way; this gorgeous route. A gorgeous, largely traffic-free rural route reliably walkable year-round, on good ground with limited road walking on quiet lanes. Starts uphill out of Durham; the ground is mostly good but there is quite a lot of tarmac. The sections either side of Finchale Priory are briefly very steep, with a long and steep flight of steps and a footbridge over the river. Largely coincides with other waymarked routes. Finchale Priory is an English Heritage site.

12km. Moderate ascents.

The steps down to Finchale Priory are long and steep and can be tricky in wet weather; the quiet roads either side have no pavements and occasional fast cars.

Lunch: There is a cafe at Finchale Priory, roughly midway.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route