Where to Live in Durham as a Student

By Student Cribs | July 3, 2023 | Reading Time: 5 minutes

Choosing where to live is a big decision and one that you’ll have to stick with for a whole year. Luckily Durham is a beautiful City, the River Wear spirals through the centre which is filled with shops and restaurants and so wherever you live, you’ll never be short of something to do.

We’ve put together a guide on where to live in Durham as a student, providing you with all the relevant information needed to help you with your decision.

Church Street – Church Street is a popular place to live amongst students because of its closeness to the lecture halls such as Elvet Riverside. Along with its surrounding roads such as Hallgarth street, Church Street is the main road that lies in between the science site and the centre of Durham. Situated close to The New Inn and the Victoria Inn Hotel you’ll never have to go far for a drink and there are also local stores and a Waitrose right on your corner.

Price: ★★★

Quality of houses: ★★★

Travel Times: ★★★★

Things to do: ★★

Claypath – Central to the city as well as lecture halls at Old Elvet and Elvet Riverside, Claypath is another popular location for student housing. It is the road that runs from the centre of Durham, near The Market Tavern, through to the roundabout near the college of St Hild and St Bede. Living here, your local pubs would be The Bishop’s Mill or The Big Jug and you’ll never go hungry as Tesco, Waitrose, Bimbi’s and Pizza King are all very close by.

Price: ★★★

Quality of houses: ★★★

Travel Times: ★★★

Things to do: ★★★★

Gilesgate – The perhaps less popular area for student housing is Gilesgate due to the fact that some areas of it have the reputation for being a little bit rough. It is situated at the end of Claypath and is close to St Hild and St Bede and also Tesco. There are various local shops around the area but apart from that, Gilesgate is quite a walk from everything else.

Price: ★★★★

Quality of houses: ★★

Travel Times: ★

Things to do: ★★

Neville’s Cross – Neville’s cross is an extremely popular student area. It’s only a 15 minute walk from the Science Site and the student houses here are generally very good in size. However, it is a long, uphill, 20 minute walk from the nearest supermarket, Somerfield (Tesco is a long, long way away), and can sometimes be a noisy place to live due to the encapsulating main roads. Students who live here usually spend their evenings in The Duke of Wellington pub or The Stonebridge Inn.

Price: ★★

Quality of houses: ★★★

Travel Times: ★★

Things to do: ★★★

Whinney Hill – Famous for being close to absolutely everything, Whinney Hill is only a short walk from the science site, Elvet Riverside, Old Elvet, and the hill colleges. It is also very close to Klute, Neville’s Cross, The Viaduct, and Maiden Castle sport’s grounds. However, it is also very close to one of Durham’s prisons but this makes it a generally very safe and pleasant place to live. The New Inn and The Victoria Inn Hotel will be your local and Waitrose is very close by.

Price: ★★★

Quality of houses: ★★★

Travel Times: ★★★★★

Things to do: ★★★

The Viaduct – The most popular student housing area in Durham is The Viaduct, filled with notoriously nice and spacious houses (we saved the best till last). Situated at the end of the North Road, near the train station and between the centre of Durham and Neville’s Cross. Surrounded by shops and only a short 15 minute walk away from the science site and Elvet Riverside, it’s easy to see why many students choose to live here. The Water House will be your local pub and with Waitrose, Spar and F. Jones all round the corner, you’ll never be short of food.  

Price: ★★★★

Quality of houses: ★★★★★

Travel Times: ★★★★

Things to do: ★★★

Still looking for a house for next year?
Check out our range of student houses in Durham or click on the image below for more info.