IT WAS a view that inspired JMW Turner and Sir Walter Scott. The sweeping panorama, looking across from Millhouse weir towards Durham Cathedral, galvanised the former to capture the light in watercolour and the latter to pen the lines: "Grey towers of Durham. Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles."

"There is a unique clarity to the light in north-eastern Britain," says Blue Badge guide Jan Williams, "even the monks knew to install their desks in north-facing cloisters to have the best of it."

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I have come to Durham to appreciate the inspirational quality of that light but I have also come to see Durham in a new light too.

It is a weekend break that, contrary to stereotype, offers more than medieval history, dusty-tome academia and creaky old buildings.

Between November 17 and 20, Durham hosts its Lumiere, a four-day public art exhibition based around light.

The festival brings some 30-plus installations created by artists from across the globe to public spaces around the city, from iconic Durham Cathedral to the medieval bridges and passageways packed with cosy cafes and boutiques.

The event highlights hidden architectural features, mixing metaphor-heavy works with more fun, playful installations. The switches are flicked each day at 5pm, with talks and lectures during the daytime.

One of the highlights is Crown of Light, projecting the story of the Lindisfarne Gospels on the 11th-century stone canvas of Durham Cathedral.

Exploring the horseshoe-shaped peninsula of the city centre, circled defensively by the River Wear, I find contemporary art has a surprisingly large if subtle presence in the city.

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The rejuvenated Market Place features a granite timeline of the city created by Scottish artist Ailsa Magnus which extends through the regular open-air farmers' markets and past the 19th-century Indoor Market, with its wonderful aromas of County Durham venison and cheeses.

After a sustaining lunch of homemade sandwiches, cake and coffee at Flat White, a funky new coffee shop in a courtyard off Elvet Bridge, I follow one of the city's walking trails.

The two-hour walk loops around the southern fringes, making a stop at Durham University's Botanic Garden for a chance to admire the contemporary artworks among the autumn-hued leaves of maple, oak and cherry.

The trail leads back over stiles through woodland glades of beech and along the riverbank, making a dramatic final approach towards the north and eastern flanks of the cathedral.
Bill Bryson, a former chancellor of Durham University, described this as "the best cathedral on planet Earth".

This year marks 25 years since Unesco first designated it and the city's castle a World Heritage Site, among the first such sites in Britain.

In 2008 its boundaries were revised to include an area between the city's two iconic buildings on Palace Green.

A new World Heritage Site Visitor Centre opened its doors in June to act as a gateway to the expanded site and next weekend will see family events and talks to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

The cathedral is steeped in history but modern art lends it a vibrant, living feel.

A recent addition is the Transfiguration, a stained-glass window by the artist Tom Denny which casts a copper-gold shadow across the sandstone when the sun catches it.

After a comfortable night at The Victorian Town House, I head to Beamish, which is an open-air museum devoted to life in the North-East during the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods.

I spend the afternoon exploring the region's traditions, talking teeth with the dentist, counting shillings in the bank and buying clove balls in the sweet shop in the recreated, cobbled town centre.

Back on the grass of Palace Green at dusk, the tour groups dispersed and the study lamps illuminating the windows of the nearby colleges, I breathe in the crispness of dusk and talk with the Durham World Heritage Site's co-ordinator Seif El Rashidi.

Seif moved to Durham three years ago from the Egyptian capital Cairo to set up the new visitor centre. Converted from a former almshouse, it explains Durham's place on the prestigious Unesco list.

"The dramatic architecture of Durham responds well to light," says Seif as we drink in the view.

"No wonder it inspired great artists and writers. In a certain light, Durham looks like a work of art."

GETTING THERE

First TransPennine Express (0844 556 5637/tpexpress.co.uk) offers return train fares from London King's Cross to Durham from £110.
The Victorian Town House (0191 370 9963/durhambedandbreakfast.com) offers doubles from £80 per night (two sharing), B&B. Visit County Durham: 0191 384 3720/thisisdurham.com