England's north-eastern city of Durham is an appealing place in which to stay. The city sits on the banks of the River Wear, just 30 minutes south of Newcastle upon Tyne and an hour north of the North York Moors National Park. History and beauty are happy bedfellows in this welcoming destination; simply tour the cobbled streets, tackling the hills that rise and fall across the city, and drink in the exquisite architecture. Stand in Market Place and admire the eclectic mix of styles that stand shoulder to shoulder to create a perfect city scene.

The city centre buzzes, thanks in part to the university and its student population. There is a good mix of quaint cafés dishing up tea and cake to locals and tourists, plenty of excellent restaurants and a good number of welcoming pubs. Shopping is a popular hobby in Durham too and there are many stores in which to flex your shopping muscles (as well as your credit card). 

To the south of the central core of Durham are the two main reasons why visitors come here: Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral. Together the neighbours form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, such are their importance in the history of the British Isles. They both stand proudly, high above the river, crowning the wooded slopes. It would be a terrible shame if you had time to explore only one, but the cathedral is possibly the greatest Norman building in England and not to be missed.

It's a small city, but getting around is easy when you book car hire. Save money by booking in advance - you can compare prices using TravelSupermarket's search tool. Durham Tees Valley International Airport (commonly known as Teesside Airport) is a 40-minute drive from Durham. You can collect your rental car here or at a convenient location in and around downtown Durham. 

Once you've explored the many highlights of the city, put Durham in your rear-view mirror and look forward to a cracking selection of nearby attractions. 

Lovers of nature and adventures in the outdoors should dive deep into the Durham Dales, reached in little more than half an hour from the heart of the city. Part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the landscape here is peppered with waterfalls, age-old villages, gently rolling moors, tearooms, museums and woodland: in fact, everything that could make a patch of countryside so wonderfully English. 

Taking the roads that lead east out of Durham, you'll hit the Durham Heritage Coast. Stretching between Sunderland in the north and Hartlepool in the south, the midpoint of this gorgeous shoreline sits directly east of Durham so you can explore much of it with ease. There are plenty of walking trails if you want to get active, while ribbons of sands stretch out for miles and miles for lazy days by the water's edge.

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, is a terrifically popular attraction. It takes only 20 minutes to drive from Durham to the village of Beamish, where this open air museum echoes the living conditions of the folk who lived here in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian times. The painstaking brick-by-brick process of bringing buildings here from across the region has paid dividends at this fascinating living museum, where you can tour a pit village, a farm and the town. There's plenty to see and do, so even children that would cry “that's boring” at the mere mention of the word “history” will find this place captivating. The ease of getting here is just another great reason to book car rental in Durham with TravelSupermarket.