TRAVEL 66
TNT Weekender Lake District NORTH-WEST ENGLAND
England’s largest national park boasts the country’s tallest mountain and deepest lake, and is superlative in many more ways.
HEADLINE ATTRACTION
BEST OF THE REST Keswick, close to Derwent Water and the peaks of Skiddaw and Blencathra, is the main hub of the north. Windermere (the region’s longest lake) is the centre of the action in the south, and the lakeside town of Bowness-onWindermere is the launch for several cruise and rowing boat companies. Coniston Water is
HIDDEN GEMS The Lakes can be overrun in summer, but leave behind the bottlenecks of Windermere and Keswick and the crowds soon thin out. Hire a car to explore Langdale, Borrowdale, Buttermere and eerily beautiful Wast Water. If you really want a challenging drive, though, Eskdale is the place. Tackle Hardknott and Wrynose passes and reward yourself with an ale at the Three Shires in Little Langdale.
CHOW DOWN Top eateries include Lucy4 At The Porthole in Bowness, The Glass House in Ambleside and, for that special occasion, the fabulous Sharrow Bay by Ullswater. If you’re in need of a cosy café try Lucy’s on a
Plate in Ambleside or Chesters Café at Skelwith Bridge.
NEED TO KNOW
TRY THE LOCAL TIPPLE
WHEN TO GO All year, but be
The national park specialises in the calmer pleasures of old man pubs and real ale. Some of the most famous ones include the Drunken Duck Inn in Barngates, the Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale and the Sun Inn in Kirby Lonsdale.
prepared for four seasons in one day. GETTING THERE Virgin Trains go to Oxenholme (for the south Lakes) and Penrith (for the north) from Euston. National Express coaches go to Windermere, Keswick, Ambleside and Grasmere. It takes about five hours to drive from London. GETTING AROUND The Lakes Ranger ticket (£15 per day) offers unlimited travel on local rail and bus networks and a cruise on Windermere. Consider hiring a car to get away from the crowds. The area has great cycle paths. BEER A pint of real ale will cost about £2.50. ACCOMMODATION YHA dorm beds start from £15.95. Hotel rooms start from £30.
LITERARY LEGENDS Follow in the poetic footsteps of William Wordsworth and visit his former homes at Dove Cottage in Grasmere and Rydal Mount. For fans of Peter Rabbit (left), there’s Hilltop Farm where Beatrix Potter once lived in Near Sawrey, and a museum in Hawkshead. Brantwood, the former home of social thinker John Ruskin, is worth a look too, even if you don’t know anything about him. AMY ADAMS
NEXT WEEK STOCKHOLM
Lefteris Pitarakis/Getty Images, www.britainonview.com
The Lake District looks pretty through a car window but to get the full effect you need to grab an anorak and get hiking. Langdale is home to three of the Lakes’ four loftiest fells: Scafell Pike, England’s tallest peak at 978m, Scafell and Great Gable. The fourth, Helvellyn, is near Ullswater. Those who prefer a journey to scaling a mountain can walk along part of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast or the 70-mile Cumbrian Way.
less touristy, and a great place to picnic and swim in summer. For more dramatic landscapes head to Ullswater, the second largest lake in the area.
Lake District
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FINAL 1338 TRAV TW Lake District66 66
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