Stockton-on-Tees - town in County Durham, England

Stockton-on-Tees is a town in County Durham, in North-East England. Straddling the River Tees, it's always been industrial.

From 1974 to 1996 Stockton was part of a new county, Cleveland. When this was abolished, Stockton returned to County Durham, except for the southern rural district of Yarm, which was re-assigned to North Yorkshire.

Get in

By plane

Manchester Airport is best for most destinations, the direct train from Thornaby takes 2 hours 40 min.

Newcastle Airport can be reached in 90 mins by rail and metro, and has flights across western Europe.

Teesside Airport 📍 (IATA: MME) is just five miles west of Stockton but there's little reason to use it. It only has two to ten flights a day, from Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Belfast City and London Heathrow; other destinations are seasonal with one or two flights per week. Its only public transport is an occasional bus from Darlington.

By train

Stockton's better-served railway station is Thornaby 📍, south of the river half a mile from High Street. This has hourly services east to Middlesbrough and west via York and Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly and Airport. Change at York for London Kings Cross, total travel time 3 hours. London can also be reached by changing at Darlington.

Stockton station is north of the river and town centre. It has an hourly train (Mon-Sat) north via Hartlepool and Sunderland to Newcastle and Hexham, and south to Thornaby and Middlesbrough-Nunthorpe.

By coach

National Express coaches take 7 hours between Stockton and London Victoria. There are 3 daytime services (two direct, one changing at Leeds) and one overnight.

The coach pick-up is outside the Swallow Hotel at the southern end of High St.

Get around

By bus: buses run to Durham, Newcastle, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. The two main local bus operators are Arriva and Stagecoach. Most buses can be caught from the High Street.

See

• Butterfly World. An enclosed butterfly house that also has hummingbirds.
• Infinity Bridge, 54.564794°, -1.299192°. Impressive footbridge, opened in 2009. 2016-11-08
• Tees Barrage, 54.5645°, -1.2862°. A river barrage, road bridge, footbridge, barge lock, fish pass and white water course. 2017-03-24

Do

• Preston Park. A restored old house, a mini-zoo including a large aviary, a playground and some historically re-created streets from the Victorian Period as well as a lot of parkland. If there's snow on the ground, many people will be there sledging.
• Teesside Park. The local leisure park located on the A66 between Stockton and Middlesbrough. Buses run there frequently from the town centre. It has bowling, a cinema, fast food and family restaurants as well as shopping.
• Browse the many charity shops that line the High St, particularly the western side. You can pick up decent second hand books in these shops and one actually has a second hand book reading room on the first floor.
• Check out the local market which comes into town and sets up on the High St on Wednesdays and Saturdays shutting up around 4PM.
• Hollywood Bowl, Aintree Oval, Teesside Leisure Park, Stockton on Tees, TS17 7BU, 54.56013°, -1.27406°. Bowling 2016-06-17
• Ice skating, a swimming pool, gym, sports hall, squash courts, play barn and a theatre are available in the Billingham Forum Leisure Centre in the Town Centre.
• Splash Centre is a swimming baths in Stockton, which has 2 slides and 1 wave machine. (Church Road, Stockton-on-Tees. +44 1642 527272).
• Forum Theatre, Queensway, Billingham, TS23 2LJ, 54.606965°, -1.287978°, +44 1642 551389. 2018-02-13

Eat

Several cheap and cheerful places on Prince Regent Street, the main drag one block west of High Street. Plus fast food outlets such as Burger King, KFC, Subway and Greggs.

Sleep

• Parkwood Hotel, 66 Darlington Rd TS18 5ER (2 km west of centre), +44 1642 587933. 3-star in 19th C building. B&B doubles from £25 2018-08-01
• Swallow Hotel, 10 John Walker Square TS18 1AQ. Central 3-star. 2018-08-01
• Premier Inn Teeside, Whitewater Way TS17 6QB (by ASDA), 54.5676°, -1.2848°, +44 333 321 9054. Edge of town chain hotel, good marks for cleanliness and comfort. B&B double £80 2022-10-26

Connect

As of June 2022, Stockton has 4G from O2 and Vodafone, and 5G from EE and Three.

Go next

• Durham is a well-preserved old city, with an impressive Norman cathedral and castle.
• Newcastle is the place for big city attractions.
• York has kept its ancient walls, and has several museums and other visitor attractions.