The shot from the bank
Go down to the riverbank at the eastern end to get the pointed arches and the cathedral above the trees in one frame.
Two chapels once stood on this bridge, and one of them ended up as a prison. That alone lifts Elvet Bridge above the usual stone crossing: work began around 1160 under Bishop Hugh de Puiset, dragged on into the 13th century, and the bridge has been patched ever since, most heavily after the flood of 1771 wrecked its three central arches, which had to be rebuilt. In 1632 St James's chapel at the western end became a house of correction, while the remains of St Andrew's, on one of the eastern piers, can still be picked out from the riverbank if you know where to look. Today it is a pedestrian street joining the Market Place and Saddler Street to the Elvet quarter, lined with cafes and small shops that hide most of its arches from anyone walking across. So the bridge itself is not the sight; the sight is what you see from it and beneath it: wooded banks on both sides, the castle and cathedral rising above the green, and rowing boats drifting below in summer. The bank at the eastern end is the place for the photograph, not the middle of the bridge. Brown's boathouse beside the bridge hires rowing boats from March to late September, £11 per adult, £6 per child, under-fives free and a family ticket at £28, and on a clear summer day it is one of Durham's best hours for families: the river is slow, the rowing is gentle and children treat it as an expedition. No booking is needed, but the last boat goes out around five. The bridge is flat and fine with a pushchair; getting down to the bank and the boats means stone steps. Do not plan a separate visit. You will almost certainly cross it without meaning to, on the way from the Market Place down to the riverside or out to Elvet. Better to make it the start of the full riverbank loop past Prebends and Framwellgate bridges, about an hour back to town, and to come in late afternoon when the light lands on the cathedral. In winter the light is gone before four, the bank turns muddy and slippery, and the boats are put away.
Go down to the riverbank at the eastern end to get the pointed arches and the cathedral above the trees in one frame.
Traces of the chapel that once stood on an eastern pier are still visible from the bank, a detail most passers-by never notice.
Brown's boats below the bridge run March to September: a slow river, green banks and a £28 family ticket.
Elvet Bridge, between Saddler Street and Old Elvet, Durham DH1
Just pass it. From the top you see cafes and shops; the real view is from the bank below. Treat it as a ten-minute stop at the start of the river loop, and add an hour of rowing if you have children with you in summer.
Prebends gives the famous frame of the cathedral between the trees, Framwellgate shows castle and cathedral together, and Elvet is the closest to town and the easiest for families because of the boats. The full loop takes in all three in about an hour.