On the edge of Grasmere, this tiny, creeper-clad cottage (formerly a pub called the Dove & Olive Bough) was famously inhabited by William Wordsworth between 1799 and 1808. The cottage's cramped rooms are full of artefacts – try to spot the poet's passport, a pair of his spectacles and a portrait (given to him by Sir Walter Scott) of his favourite dog, Pepper. Entry is by timed ticket to avoid overcrowding and includes an informative guided tour.
Wordsworth lived here happily with his sister Dorothy, wife Mary and three children, John, Dora and Thomas, until 1808 when the family moved to a nearby house at Allen Bank. The cottage was subsequently rented by Thomas de Quincey (author of Confessions of an English Opium Eater).
Tickets also include admission to the excellent Wordsworth Museum & Art Gallery next door, which houses one of the nation's main collections relating to the Romantic movement, including many original manuscripts and some creepy death masks of famous Romantic figures.