Staycation Mini Series: The Lake District

I've had loads of enquiries for the Lake District recently so I really wanted to sit down and write about some of my favourite places and recommendations so they're all in one place for everyone going! This is by FAR not a complete guide to the Lakes as there is simply wayyy too much to see and do to fit into one post, but hopefully this will be a good starter guide. I've linked all the walking routes to help you out too :)

Little fact about me: I was born in Cumbria! It's where my parents met, got married and where I spent the first 4 years of my life, so it's always been a family favourite when it comes to UK holiday destinations.

(Please enjoy rare picture of 15 year old me...)

First up some fun facts:

The Lake District is the UK's largest National Park covering 2362km squared! With everything from quaint villages and towns, to mountains, lakes and stunning coastline, there's no wonder it's so popular with tourists! Well except for the fact that it is also home to England's wettest inhabited place... (Seathwaite with an annual average of 3552mm of Rainfall!) But, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Pencils were invented there so that makes it all ok right?

Walking Holidays are definitely the main reason for any trip to the Lake District and there's such a large mixture of landscapes to explore! Plus you've got Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England!

Grasmere is the perfect base for anyone planning a walking holiday! The town has everything you need in terms of shops and restaurants, and there's so many walks you'll be able to do right from your doorstep! My favourite one is definitely Helm Crag, also knows as 'the lion and the lamb' it's one of the walks I remember most from when we used to go every October! Can you make it all the way to the top and make out the lion and lamb? And of course if you're in Grasmere, you have to try some Grasmere Gingerbread and have a walk through famous poet William Wordsworth's Daffodil Garden. You can also visit his house, Dove Cottage! If you need a rainy day thing to do, the Garden Village is a really lovely garden centre to have a browse and maybe even enjoy a slice of cake in the cafe. I'd also highly recommend 'The Jumble Room' as a place for dinner! The burgers there are engraved in my memory as being some of the best ever! Another lovely walk is around Rydal Water.

Another great base for walking holidays is Keswick. Just like Grasmere, Keswick has everything you need and is definitely not lacking walking shops or tea rooms. A great walk from Keswick is the walk up Catbells for some stunning views! You can get the boat out there which is a really fun addition to the walk! You should also check out the Castlerigg Stone Circle, which you can walk to from the town. There's also a Pencil Museum which sounds kind of interesting but apparently I've been and I can't remember it so 🤷🏻‍♀️. If you need somewhere to eat, Fellpack is supposed to be amazing, though I've never been myself (if you go or have been, please report back!)

Ambleside is another really pretty village. Again, there's no shortage of tea shops and you should definitely check out the famous Bridge House! The Tarn Hows circular walk is a great one to do from Ambleside. Another really great place to explore is Wray Castle which has more exciting walks to do.

Honestly what I remember from a lot of our trips to the Lake District is the amount of time we spent exploring the many villages and making our way from tea room to walking shop and then another tea room trying to shelter from the rain... It's a good job there's no shortage to choose from!

Lake Windemere is the longest lake in the UK and the place to be for activity lovers. It's also the only lake in the Lake District (all the others are Tarns, or Waters...)! There's plenty of places on the lake that offer opportunities to hire Kayaks, Paddle boards, Canoes or even learn to sail or windsurf! Check out Windemere Outdoor Activity Centre for more info on this! There's also a fun steam boat tour you can do!

And while we're talking about lakes (or not lakes!) I want to mention Haweswater because it has such a cool story behind it. The man-made reservoir has always been quite controversial as it required the flooding of two local villages! Residents were moved out and coffins from the graveyard reburied, but when water levels are low it's said you can still see the church spire and the tops of some of the buildings, which I think is pretty cool!

If you're looking for a rainy day activity (which let's face it if you make it through a whole week in the Lake District without rain you'll be doing really well) then the Rheged Centre is a really unique place! Located near Penrith, it's free to get into, and has lots of shops selling walking equipment, local crafts and fashion and restaurants selling local delicatessen. It also has a 3D cinema showing movies made by independent producers and live theatre screenings. There's also a pottery workshop and toy shop for the kids!

Last but not least I want to mention the World of Beatrix Potter. Peter Rabbit and his friends were such a big part of my childhood so I loved seeing the stories come to life at this attraction! For what it is, it's not that expensive and definitely the kind of place both adults and kids will enjoy! And whilst we're on the Beatrix Potter track it's definitely worth mentioning Hilltop, Beatrix Potter's farmhouse. Also part of the National Trust, it's another good day out!

Ok I'm going to leave it there. Like I said, this is by far not a complete guide to the Lake District as there's so many amazing places worth exploring! I'll keep adding to this if I think of anywhere in particular, and I'm definitely hoping to sit down with my parents at some point and get some tips from the parts I've forgotten so watch this space! I'm hoping as well to write a post focusing on walks in the Lake District, so keep an eye out for that!

The Lake District quite literally has something for everyone, including a massive range of accommodation offerings! From holiday parks, cottages, luxury spa hotels, camping and family run bed and breakfasts there are so many options and we've probably experienced a lot of them first hand! So if you're thinking about booking a trip to the lake district, drop me a message and we can work together to plan something incredible!

Check out other posts in my UK Staycation series here

*Shoutout to https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning for the fun facts and figures!