Tourist Information for Darlington

Tourist Information

Darlington is an attractive market town situated in the Tees Valley on the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire. Darlington has a diverse history and can trace its roots back to Saxon times. It is well known as the birthplace of the railways when the first public railway ran through the town in 1825. The town’s wealthy Quaker businessmen supported the development of the railways. The railway museum is about a mile to the north of the town centre and houses the original Locomotion No. 1, which pulled the first train on the Darlington to Stockton Railway.

Darlington is ideally situated as a centre for tourism. Located in the heart of the north east of England, there are excellent road, rail and air connections from all parts of the country and beyond. For further details about travelling to Darlington visit 'Directions to Darlington'

Darlington town centre has a variety of busy shops, a daily indoor market and a large market square with general markets on Monday and Saturday and farmers' market on some Fridays. The square is also used for many entertainment events including a wide range of musical entertainment, children's activities and parades. Other attractions include many historical old churches, an art gallery, the Dolphin Leisure Centre, parks, the controversial Brick Train sculpture and so much more to see and do. There are numerous attractions in the town itself as well as in the surrounding area, making Darlington an ideal base for a holiday or just a short break.

Darlington is surrounded by many pretty little villages and magnificent scenery. Convenient for the Dales, the coast, historic towns and cities such as Durham and with a wide choice of accommodation, Darlington appeals to visitors from all over the world. Many of the attractions for tourists are also of interest to local residents. In particular South Park and the displays for the In Bloom competitions. Darlington's community is of the friendliest people in the Northeast; Darlington also has a buzzing nightlife.

Darlington is centrally located and convenient for a huge number of attractions and other places to visit - Head north to the magnificent Northumberland coast with open beaches and historical castles. Or south east to the Yorkshire coastal resorts with little fishing villages hidden at the foot of the cliffs and the North Yorkshire Moors famous as the setting for the popular TV series Heartbeat. Or visit the beautiful Yorkshire Dales or perhaps you would like to go a little further a field across the Pennines to the stunning Lake District, little more than an hour away.

Darlington has several large industrial estates covering a whole range of businesses from the smallest industrial units to large manufacturing plants. The main sites are at Faverdale (north west), Yarm Road (east) and in the Albert Hill area (north central) where there are a number of small industrial estates.

Only ten minutes drive away from Darlington, the large industrial and Business Park at Newton Aycliffe covers several square miles with almost every conceivable type and size of business.

To the east around 30 minutes away, Teesside is a major centre for the petro-chemical industry. There are new commercial developments in the Stockton and Middlesborough areas and many smaller industrial estates consisting of numerous small and medium sized businesses of all types.

For a fuller picture of what Darlington has to offer, whether you're visiting the Darlington area for business or pleasure visit the Darlington Borough Council's official tourism site.