Day 1

After being collected from home, we make our way to our hotel for a welcome tea/coffee while the hotel staff take your luggage to the rooms and we settle in before dinner.

Day 2

Beamish Open-air Museum & Durham
Today, we visit the Living Museum of the North, the Beamish Museum. This famous open-air museum, set within 300 acres of beautiful County Durham countryside, tells the story of life in North East England during the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s. We experience town life as it would have been in the 1940s during World War II, visit a 1940's farm, pop into the Colliery and Pit Village in the early 1900s and take unlimited free rides on the Beamish tram.

In the afternoon we have a visit to Durham, a UNESCO World Heritage site, just a short drive away. This lovely city is quintessentially English with its cobbled streets, magnificent cathedral, riverside location, churches and marketplace. Here we have free time to explore and eat lunch (not included.) The Durham World Heritage Site Visitor Centre is a great place to visit and is free. And there are boutiques, galleries, museums and plenty of cafes and green spaces to enjoy

Day 3

South Tynedale Railway
After breakfast, we make our way to the South Tynedale railway, one of England's highest narrow-gauge railways. We start our journey in Alston, where there has been a station since 1850. The original two-storey station building now houses the shop and ticket office whilst the single storey 1905 extension houses the new cafe and toilets. The former goods shed is now home to The Hub, a museum featuring the history of Alston and local transport, which is not part of the South Tynedale Railway's activities. We board the train and start our spectacular return journey through the North Pennines, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, past the original terminus at Gilderdale, on through Kirkhaugh and Lintley to the village of Slaggyford, and then back to Alston.

Day 4

Shildon Locomotion & The Bowes Museum
The town of Shildon has had an exciting story to tell since the earliest days of the rail industry, making it the perfect place to explore the local railway history and discover how the railways have changed all our lives. We make a visit to Locomotion, a branch of the National Railway Museum and home to several locomotion's, carriages, and goods trucks.

In the afternoon we visit standing proudly in the heart of Teesdale, The Bowes Museum - the vision of a pioneering woman, Joséphine Bowes and her husband John. A romantic history, stunning galleries, great location, fine dining, top-class exhibitions - all these can be discovered inside this fabulous listed building which resembles a French chateau.

Day 5

As our luggage is loaded into the coach we sit down for breakfast, before we depart for home.

Hotel

4* Redworth Hall Hotel, Newton Aycliffe

Dating back to 1693, this luxurious Jacobean manor house hotel retains many of its original features. Set in 150 acres of woodland, the Redworth Hall Hotel is grand and majestic. The 143 spacious bedrooms are luxurious and furnished with traditional fabrics.

Bedrooms: Wi-Fi, TV, telephone, tea/coffee making facilities, safe, hairdryer, iron and ironing board.

Facilities: Bar, restaurant, lounge, indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room, tennis courts, grand Jacobean manor house, woodland surroundings.

Mobility information: Lift available, ground floor rooms.