Getting to Beamish Museum without a car

Beamish is awesome! Good choice. Basically the other option is bus. I can't recall which one unfortunately - but I think it's via Chester-le-street and takes about an hour, versus 20 mins by car.

I've been to Beamish a few times. The first time we had a hire car, and the others we took a taxi (couldn't be bothered with the bus). Off the top of my head I think it was about £25. If you do take a taxi, it's worth booking the same driver to take you back, as there aren't many drivers around, and later in the day they tend to do school runs etc.

There is no direct bus from Durham-

The bus services there are run by Go North East-
Service 28 from Newcastle every hour- 45 minutes journey time. The bus extends to Chester le- Street- a 14 minute journey from the Museum;
also Service 29 from Newcastle every hour- also extends to Chester le Street;

also Bus 8 from Sunderland to Stanley also calls into Chester le Street every 30 minutes

So 4 buses an hour from Chester le Street to Beamish.

Bus X12 runs Durham to Chester le Street hourly in 25 minutes, Bus 50 every 30 minutes and Bus X21 every 30 minutes- so 5 per hour

Buy a Durham Day Rover ticket for £4 for unlimited use on all operator's services in County Durham all day and until 0300 next day.

You can also buy the £4 Durham Day Rover on the Go North East App- https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/tickets

You'll need two buses
Durham to Chester-le-street £2
Chester-le-Street to Beamish £2

https://www.beamish.org.uk/plan-your-visit/

takes about an hour

Google Maps> Get directions will show how the services and times

and you get 25% off admission with your bus tickets

There’s a lot to se at Beamish, you may not see it all in a day.

I did the trip from Durham to Beamish via Chester-le-Street by bus a couple of years ago and it was no hassle. The X-prefixed routes are preferable between Durham and Chester-le-Street, as the other route takes a lengthy detour through a shopping centre outside Durham.