3 Best Places to Shop in The Northeast, England

This extraordinary secondhand bookshop, set within Alnwick's former Victorian railway station, is a must-visit for bookworms, architecture lovers, and train geeks alike. Shelves galore groan with a mix of mainstream, niche, and antiquarian books, while visitors will also enjoy the open fires in winter, the comfy sofas and armchairs, the kids' corner, the excellent café, and the little toy train rattling along a track overhead. Barter Books was also responsible for the whole "Keep Calm and Carry On" craze, as the owners discovered the old World War II posters when converting the old station.

The specialty here is a pendant copy of the gold-and-silver cross of St. Cuthbert.

The food and bric-a-brac stalls in Durham Indoor Market, a Victorian arcade, are open Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 4:30 pm. An excellent farmers' market is held in Market Place on the third Thursday of every month.