Saints Bar Durham

Walk down to the Riverside and you'll find Saints tucked into Unit 47 on Elvet Bridge—the kind of spot where regulars actually know the staff. It's got that relaxed energy you want after work or before heading out properly, without any of the forced cheeriness of chain bars dotted around the city centre. The reviews speak for themselves: people keep coming back, which in Durham's competitive bar scene says something. You're near enough to the water to feel like you've escaped the Durham crowds, but close enough to everything that it's never a hassle to get there.