Standing at the northern end of Lake Windermere and backed by an impressive panorama of grey-green fells, the small town of Ambleside is a bustling hub for the region’s hikers and trekkers, with more outdoors shops per square foot than almost anywhere else in the Lakes. Victorian villas and slate-fronted houses line the main street [...]
Hemmed in by wooded fells, flat fields and pointy granite peaks, and sprinkled with the kind of remote farmhouses and sturdy cottages that grace many a Lakeland postcard, the valleys of Borrowdale and Buttermere are many people’s idea of the quintessential Lake District landscape. Separated by the old Honister Pass – once the county’s main [...]
Flung out on the very edge of England, on the border of the Debatable Lands, the fortress city of Carlisle is certainly no stranger to conflict: throughout its 2000-year history it’s been the site of more sieges, skirmishes and sackings than almost anywhere else in the country.
Above the tranquil surface of Coniston Water, with its gliding steam yachts and quiet boats, looms the craggy, pockmarked peak known as the Old Man of Coniston (801m). The nearby village grew up around the copper-mining industry; these days, there are just a few sleepy streets, with two fine pubs and some tourist shops, making [...]
Most visitors never make the trek out to the Cumbrian coast, and with such a wealth of spectacular sights to discover around the Central Lakes, it’s not really surprising. But they’re missing out on one of the county’s hidden gems – a sweeping panorama of gentle fields, coastal trails and sandy bays, dotted with some [...]
Nestled at the base of a broad valley dotted with oak woods and peaceful fields, and overlooked by the domed peaks of Helm Crag and Steel Fell, the little village of Grasmere is one of the prettiest in the Central Lakes. Wordsworth lived at nearby Dove Cottage for nine years and occasionally taught at the [...]
Lakeland villages don’t come much more picturesque than Hawkshead, with its delightful huddle of cobbled streets, whitewashed pubs, arched alleys and rickety cottages. It’s hardly changed since the days when Wordsworth arrived here to attend the village school, and was once a bustling centre for the local wool trade; until the 12th century, the village [...]
The sturdy, grey-slate town of Kendal is practically synonymous with its super-sweet mintcake, a peppermint-flavoured bar that sustained Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay on their ascent of Everest in 1953, and still finds its way into the backpacks of many seasoned walkers in the Lake District. During the Middle Ages, Kendal was renowned as a [...]
Standing at the head of the island-studded, tree-lined lake of Derwent Water, the grey slate town of Keswick is the busiest tourist centre in the Northern Lakes, and a humming hub for outdoor activities of all descriptions, ranging from fell walking to watersports. Several classic walking trails wind their way across the surrounding hilltops, including [...]
For sheer scenic splendour, few places in England can measure up to the outlandishly beautiful Lake District, where Wordsworth, Coleridge and their Romantic compatriots famously sought their poetic muse in the 19th century. The landscape of the Lakes is as breathtaking as any you’ll find in Switzerland or the French Alps – a sweeping panorama [...]