Barnard Castle (Town)

The historic market town of Barnard Castle, or “Barney”, with its elegant Georgian and Victorian architecture, is home to the Bowes Museum, a medieval castle, riverside walks, and a good selection of independent shops and antiques outlets, together with a Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday of every month. The newly refurbished Witham community arts centre, with its high quality programme of comedy, theatre, dance and film, and numerous pubs, restaurants and bars provide a vibrant nightlife.

Barnard Castle (Medieval Castle)

Raby Castle

One of the best-preserved castles in the North of England, Raby Castle has interiors and architecture spanning the Medieval, Victorian, Georgian and Regency periods. Visitors can explore the rooms of the Castle and outside the walled garden and 200 acre deer park. The castle also has an important fine art and horse-drawn carriage collections. There are tearooms and a woodland play area and the castle has a programme of special events and activities in spring and summer.

Auckland Castle

Eggleston Hall and Gardens

Eggleston Hall is the privately owned 19th-century English country house which was used as the girls' finishing school for the TV series Ladette to Lady. The walled gardens, a hidden gem for plant lovers, are open to the public and there is a garden centre, cafe and artists’ studios.

Rokeby Park

Rokeby Park, 13 miles from Middleton in Teesdale, is one of the purest examples of the neo-Palladian villa, designed by its owner and talented amateur architect Sir Thomas Robinson (1702-1777). Rokeby has never had a formal garden, but is blessed with the unrivalled beauty provided by the courses of the Greta and the Tees which converge at the Meeting of the Waters, a local beauty spot. It was once the home of the famous Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez which now hangs in the National Gallery.

Egglestone Abbey

Egglestone Abbey is an English Heritage site 11 miles from Middleton in Teesdale. The charming ruins of a small monastery of Premonstratensian 'white canons' is picturesquely set above a bend in the River Tees between Barnard Castle and Greta Bridge. Remains include much of the 13th century church and a range of living quarters, with traces of an ingenious toilet drainage system. The site is unspoilt, with no visitor facilities and is free to enter.