Forest Side

Top choice in The Lake District


For out-and-out-luxury, plump for this boutique beauty. Run by renowned hotelier Andrew Wildsmith, it's a design palace: chic interiors decorated with crushed-velvet sofas, bird-of-paradise wallpaper, stag heads and 20 swish rooms from ‘Cosy' to ‘Jolly Good’, ‘Superb’, ‘Grand’ and ‘Master’. Chef Kevin Tickle previously worked at L'Enclume, and now runs the stellar restaurant here using produce from its kitchen garden.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Lake District attractions

1. St Oswald's Church

0.39 MILES

Named after a Viking saint, Grasmere's medieval chapel is where Wordsworth and his family attended church service every Sunday for many years. It's also…

2. Dove Cottage & The Wordsworth Museum

0.42 MILES

On the edge of Grasmere, this tiny, creeper-clad cottage (formerly a pub called the Dove & Olive Bough) was famously inhabited by William Wordsworth…

3. Grasmere Lake & Rydal Water

0.67 MILES

Quiet paths lead along the shores of Grasmere's twin-set lakes. Rowing boats can be hired at the northern end of Grasmere Lake from the Grasmere Tea…

4. Rydal Mount

1.66 MILES

The poet William Wordsworth's most famous residence in the Lake District is undoubtedly Dove Cottage, but he actually spent a great deal more time at…

5. Elterwater

2.29 MILES

Named by Norse settlers after the colonies of whooper swans that still swoop across its surface every winter, Elterwater (literally 'swan lake') presents…

6. Skelwith Bridge

2.68 MILES

Three miles south of Grasmere, Skelwith Bridge is little more than a knot of cottages along the banks of the River Brathay. Since the 19th century it's…

7. Armitt Museum

2.79 MILES

Despite some damage incurred during the 2015 floods, Ambleside's excellent little museum is now back up and running. It hosts some intriguing seasonal…

8. Bridge House

2.85 MILES

The town's best-known landmark is Bridge House, a tiny cottage that spans the clattering brook of Stock Ghyll. Now occupied by a National Trust shop, it's…