Durham is both a city and a county, and both are on the small but lovely side.
The city is home to a vibrant small university and, overlooking a horseshoe bend on the river Wear, a stunning hilltop cathedral. Its Norman cloisters were used as a location in Harry Potter films, and its tower - which superstition dictates that students should not climb until they graduate - offers some excellent panoramas.
In its county are the Durham Dales, part of the Northern Pennines and a Unesco Global Geopark - which essentially means that their meandering rivers, old castles, thundering waterfalls and beautiful purple-tinged moorland are all protected. The upper reaches of Weardale offers some very bracing walking, while the High Force (and Low Force) loops guide you round these pounding cascades. Another option is to follow half-day sections of the 92-mile Teesdale Way, which bisects the county on its journey from Cumbria to the North Sea.
Meanwhile, the market town of Barnard Castle (which briefly achieved notoriety - and a satirically named beer - after Dominic Cumming's ill advised visit during the pandemic lockdown) is well worth a nosey - with your glasses on. There's a crumbling fortress above the Tees gorge, and - at Bowes Museum - a sumptuous collection of fine and decorative art and fashion, plus a startling silver swan automaton, housed in a French chateau look-a-like. A short drive away, Egglestone Abbey is worth a visit for its atmospheric 13th-century ruins. And there's no shortage of wild swimming spots for the intrepid.