The Lake District
It's seven miles west of Kendal, but there's a reason to head out so far – this hotel sits in a gorgeous spot overlooking the little-visited Lyth Valley, famous locally for its damson plums. Rooms are really attractive, with solid wooden furniture and patches of exposed brickwork (we liked the quirky names too, such as Hopping Hare and Quacking Duck).
The oak-panelled restaurant (mains £13.95 to £18.95) is high quality.
6.37 MILES
Two miles south of Hawkshead, in the tiny village of Near Sawrey, this idyllic farmhouse was purchased in 1905 by Beatrix Potter and was used as…
9.58 MILES
Three miles east of Cartmel on the B5278, Holker Hall has been the family seat of the Cavendish family for nigh on four centuries. Though parts of it date…
11.69 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…
Dove Cottage & The Wordsworth Museum
12.87 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…
17.32 MILES
Lancaster's most imposing building is the castle, built in 1150 but added to over the centuries: the Well Tower dates from 1325 and is also known as the…
21.7 MILES
This sprawling country estate once belonged to one of the Lake District's most venerable families and is currently undergoing a huge, multimillion-pound…
5.83 MILES
Windermere gets its name from the old Norse, Vinandr mere (Vinandr's lake; so 'Lake Windermere' is actually tautologous). Encompassing 5.7 sq miles…
20.56 MILES
This old slate mine has been reinvented as a centre for all kinds of activities: you could venture underground into the bowels of the old 'Edge' and …
3.04 MILES
Three-and-a-half miles south of Kendal along the A591, this castle is the feudal seat of the Strickland family. Set around a pele tower, its finest asset…
3.86 MILES
This Elizabethan manor is built around a mid-13th-century fortified pele tower, and fine Jacobean furniture litters its interior, although the real draw…
3. Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry
4.27 MILES
Directly opposite Abbot Hall, this museum recreates various scenes from Lakeland life during the 18th and 19th centuries, including a farmhouse parlour, a…
4.3 MILES
Kendal's fine-art gallery houses one of the northwest's best collections of 18th- and 19th-century art. It's especially strong on portraiture and Lakeland…
4.48 MILES
Two miles south of Bowness on the B5360, Blackwell House is a glorious example of the 19th-century Arts and Crafts Movement, which championed handmade…
4.63 MILES
Founded in 1796 by the inveterate Victorian collector William Todhunter, this mixed-bag museum features everything from stuffed beasts and transfixed…
4.83 MILES
At the southern end of the lake near Newby Bridge, this aquarium explores a range of underwater habitats from tropical Africa through to Morecambe Bay…
4.84 MILES
Located at the southern end of Windermere, 7 miles south of Bowness, this 7-hectare lakeside estate originally belonged to a manor house. It's now owned…