The British stiff upper lip sure relaxes when it comes to the Lake District. Maybe it’s a head-rush from all the fresh mountain air, but the fells and valleys of the UK’s largest and most popular national park have been known to incite uncharacteristic levels of pride. Its popularity extends beyond these shores, too: Taylor Swift was sufficiently wowed to write a song, ‘The Lakes’, after a visit in 2012.
Long weekend breaks here only scratch the surface: there are nearly 2,000 walking trails in the Lake District, each of them starting, ending or pausing at cosy pubs, tea-room-toting villages, or even a handful of the country’s most celebrated hotels. There’s those 16 eponymous lakes, too, each with their own distinct personality.
You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve in 48 hours, so here’s our guide to a luxuriously long weekend in the Lake District.
Brushing up against the Scottish borders, Cumbria may require some travelling — especially if you’re in the South of England — so a warm arrival there will be just the ticket. Step forward handsome, Regency-era Rothay Manor, just outside Ambleside. Staff here are cheerfully attentive, their royal-blue aprons in step with the sage and maroon wallpaper you’ll find in the hotel’s damask-patterned dining room and bar, which in turn mirror the hues of the upper fells. But it’s dinner here that really gives you a taste of your surroundings: meat comes from Lake District farmers, lobster from Ulverston and seasonal fruit from the Lyth Valley.
If you have energy leftover after check-in, amble into Ambleside for a craft beer served fresh from the copper tanks at Tap Yard. A drinking hole opposite the Bridge House, this tiny dwelling atop an equally tiny bridge is one of the most photographed sights in the Lake District.
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Rothay Manor’s breakfast should more than set you up for the day, but if you’re out early and already in Ambleside, the Copper Pot does a large Lakeland breakfast as well as waffles with maple syrup and streaky bacon.
You’ll need the calories if you’re taking on one of the Lake District’s toughest challenges: the five- to six-hour ascent of Helvellyn, the third highest peak in these parts, with its famously knife-edge scramble along the grade-1 Striding Edge. The hike starts from Glenridding at the foot of the Kirkstone Pass and is for experienced hikers only.
An alternative is the moderate-to-hard, six- or seven-hour Fairfield Horseshoe, which starts and ends in Ambleside by skirting the Rydal Beck Valley, with esteemed panoramas of Windermere and the Helvellyn Range. Keep an eye out for peregrine falcons and red deer.
If, like us, you’re a mere mortal, there’s an easy-to-moderate, one-and-a-half-hour hike direct from the door of Rothay Manor up Loughrigg Fell to Lily Tarn (ask at reception for their handy pocket map). There’s an initial ascent to this lonely little lake but the reward of 360-degree mountain views far outweigh the exertion.
The tasting menu at gorgeous Gothic mansion Forest Side is its own sensory tour of the Lake District, where chef Paul Leonard delights in concocting dishes that evoke the landscape outside: deer, grouse or Herdwick lamb paired with flavours such as local woodland fungi, salted quince, sweet cicely and smoked juniper. This brooding manse is a well-appointed hotel, too, and equally worthy of a two-night stay.
Forest Side takes its name from a poem by Wordsworth, who lived with his sister at nearby Dove Cottage in Grasmere. Whether or not you’re a budding wordsmith, the poet’s modest abode and the recently added museum are chock-full of lyrical insights about life and love in the great outdoors, and well worth a visit.
Afterwards, follow in William’s footsteps with a stroll around the lake, ending at Grasmere village for exceptional coffee and cake at Lucia’s Bakehouse or gingerbread from Sarah Nelson’s still-operational Victorian counter. Or pause for a well-earned glass of ale on the lawn at the Poet’s Café & Bar or at The Swan pub, which itself gets a nod in a poem by you-know-who and whose fireplaces are a much-sought-after refuge in winter.
Depending on the season, scenic Windermere Lake Cruises — either by traditional steamer or some other historic vessel — run until around 6pm. Or take the wheel yourself and uncover the lake’s lesser-paddled parts by hiring an electric motorboat (no prior experience necessary).
From Bowness Pier it’s a four-minute drive up to Linthwaite House whose restaurant, Henrock, is helmed by Simon Rogan of L’Enclume fame. The star chef’s farm is just a few miles away in the Cartmel Valley, where his meticulous growing and rearing methods result in the most extraordinary local ingredients, such as braised venison and sirloin of Dexter beef.
By now you’ll be familiar with the Southern Lakes, so today might be the day for exploring further afield. To the west of Windermere is Coniston Water, the idyllic setting for Arthur Ransome’s children’s book Swallows and Amazons. If you’ve little Smiths in tow, you can hop on a boat and recreate scenes from the novel. A 20-minute drive from here at Little Langdale is Cathedral Cave, actually a green-slate quarry, with photogenic, church-like caverns.
Further west is the Lake District’s lesser-trodden stretch of coast; a landscape of mud flats and marshes, where streams and rivers that gathered in the fells splinter and empty into the Irish Sea. The remains of a Roman bath house here suggest that Ravenglass, today merely a coastal hamlet, was once a strategic stronghold.
Even more impressive is the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, whose narrow-gauge steam train chugs seven miles through the Western Lakes region, granting passengers panoramic views of Scafell Pike, the Lake District’s — as well as England’s — highest peak.
A few minutes’ drive from Ravenglass, Muncaster Castle is a 1,000-year-old stately home with colourful gardens and a hawk and owl centre where birds of prey twit-twit-t’wow crowds with daily demonstrations. Just outside the national park to the south there’s another stately home, Holker Hall & Gardens, whose courtyard café is a fine spot for coffee or afternoon tea.
By now, though, Sunday lunch might be on your mind. But with over 240 pubs in the Lake District, many of them shared by the same owners, how do you choose? The answer may not be a pub at all. In the village of High Newton, Heft is a former coaching inn run by chef Kevin Tickle, formerly Simon Rogan’s head forager, whose exceptional Sunday service may be the roast to rule them all.
If you find yourself in the North Lakes, stop at Cockermouth, a cute market town with galleries galore. There are toothsome chutneys and preserves on offer, too, from the deli counter at Shill’s of Cockermouth. The nearest lake here is Crummock Water, but a few minutes further south is the more pleasantly named — and arguably more attractive — Buttermere, at the foot of some impressive fells including Haystacks, a favourite of guide writer and local hero Alfred Wainwright. If the weather is good, head next to Keswick and walk through town to catch the sunset with a picnic on the shore of pretty Derwentwater.
Kendal makes a fine final stop before the weekend is out, especially if you’re heading south. A short stroll up a sloping side street from the town’s weeping-willow-draped waterway is the friendly 19 The Wine Bar, plus one of the region’s natty outposts of the Fell Brewery, the Fell Bar.
Transport If you’re driving here from the south you’ll most likely be exiting at junction 36 on the M6, and pretty soon you’ll be negotiating some fairly tight country lanes that can become congested in the summer. You can arrive by train either direct to Windermere from Manchester in two hours or via the West Coast Main Line to Penrith and Oxenholme, the latter of which connects to Kendal and Windermere quicker than the direct service. Travelling between towns and villages by bus is possible and alleviates problems with parking, but a car will be useful as it’s about an hour’s drive between the Southern and Northern Lakes.
When to go As Wainwright — and Wordsworth before him — pointed out, the Lake District is rather magnificent whatever the season. However, you could time your visit for the brilliantly curated Keswick Film Festival each March or, even sweeter, the Dalemain World Marmalade Awards in April. In June, neoprene-clad aquaholics descend on Windermere for the spectacle of the Great North Swim.
What to buy Before Harry there was — and still is — another Potter who captivated young people, and you’ll find plenty of souvenir shops and even an attraction (Beatrix Potter World), where you can pick up Peter Rabbit storybooks and children’s clothes. Sarah Nelson’s Gingerbread Shop in Grasmere is so old, gingerbread men hadn’t even been invented. Be sure to take a few slabs of its exquisite confection home. Talking of both children’s book characters and sweet treats, the marmalade on sale at Dalemain Mansion would make even Paddington blush.
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