A guide to shopping in Durham.

You will probably end having to go shopping within your first few weeks at Durham. Durham has a selection of different shops and shopping centres, but these can vary in size from relatively small to massive. The main supermarket in the town centre is Tesco, but there are bigger shops in the Arnison centre and in Dragonsville.

You have just got in after a full day of study and you are feeling a bit hungry. You head over to the cupboard, but like Old Mother Hubbard, the cupboards are bare. Time to shop. But where do you shop? Some shops can be busy and noisy, and this can prove challenging for some students. Do you head over to the big Tesco in Dragonsville? Hmm, how do you get there? What do you buy? There are many questions when it comes to shopping and it can sometimes feel slightly overwhelming, but this guide should hopefully help you plan and alleviate these concerns.

• Quiet times are generally during the day except at weekends. You can research quiet hours via google and arrange them as your shopping hours.
• You may want to consider ordering food online with flatmates.
• You will need to buy toiletries (whether self-catered or not) so research close places where you can find your favoured brands, Savers, shops on North Rd and Tesco in the Market place are generally favoured.
• Sometimes it is quicker and involves less queuing to go to the in-person checkout.
• You may feel more comfortable shopping with friends.
• Research proximity to college, transport/walking distance and the size of the store.

Shops to consider & locations:

• Savers on the Riverwalk shopping centre– generally quiet and can be accessed by walking along the river path which is quiet. https://www.savers.co.uk/store/Durham
• Along North Road (towards the bus station) there is Tesco Express, Iceland, and Sainsburys Local.
• In Durham Market Place there is a well-sized Tesco Express, but this can be busy during the evenings and weekends. This where most students go.
• There is Tesco Express going up Claypath hill, but this is smaller than the one in the Market Place.
• Dragonsville retail park has a Tesco Extra (very big Tesco), Lidl, and Aldi. Nearby is Sports Direct, Currys, B&M, The Range, Home Bargains, Matalan on Durham City retail park. Both are quite a trek being 1 hr from the hill colleges. To get there by bus requires changing at the bus station from the 6 to 64/24 bus, taking around 40 minutes, but no walking!
• The Arnison centre has a Sainsbury’s, M&S, and Lidl. It takes 1 hr 25 mins to walk from the hill colleges, but only takes about 35 minutes by bus taking the 6 then the 21. Be aware that the 6 does not always show on google maps for some reason try https://www.traveline.info/ or https://www.goodjourney.org.uk/journey-planner/ and for times: https://bustimes.org/ .

Written by a current Durham University student