Just back from Prague and with new reviews to write :)
Just back from Prague and with new reviews to write :)
Member since:09.03.2007
Reviews:36
Members who trust:18
Ah, the Lake District. Just thinking about it brings back memories of perfect summer days, with limitless views (I think this day happened in about 1996 and has never happened since).
The Lake District is by far my favourite place in England. I am lucky enough to live within easy driving distance, so I tend to spend quite a lot of weekends there climbing the hills and generally enjoying the scenery. The weather is not often great, but even in midst of a torrential downpour the area has a beauty all of its own.
The Lakes is not all about climbing mountains though. Throughout the region there are walks that can be attempted easily by people with vertigo, lakes and rivers to explore and towns and villages where you can eat and drink to your hearts content.
Getting there ========== The easiest way to get to every part of the Lakes is via the M6, which can be joined at Birmingham to the south and approaching Scotland to the North. The majority of people take either the Penrith turnoff, which gives easy access to the Northern and Central part of the lakes or the Windemere turnoff, which
gives access to the southern quadrant.
If travelling by public transport then you can travel to the lakes via train or bus. Local buses also run to a lot of the starting points for the popular walks.
Towns and Villages ================ Throughout the lakes there are many towns and villages with the two most popular ones being Keswick and Bowness-on-Windemere.
- Keswick. Extremely popular with tourists Keswick is situated on the shores of Derwentwater and below the hulking mass of Skiddaw. Keswick offers an ideal base from which you can climb hills such as Scafell, Great Gable, Skiddaw and Blencathra. The town gets jammed with tourists in the peak season and despite the amount of accommodation available it can, sometimes be hard to get a room on a Saturday night. - Bowness-on-Windemere. Probably the most touristy of all the towns in the Lakes, Bowness is situated on the shore of Windemere. The town is a collection of gift shops, outdoor shops, pubs and restaurant and offers a good base for climbing hills such as Helvellyn (Thirlmere side) or any of the hills in the Langdale area.
In addition some of the smaller towns such as Grasmere and Glenridding/Patterdale are very popular and also worth visiting.
Accommodation ============= The most prevalent accommodation in the Lakes is either a guest house or a camp site. Keswick and the other major towns have a wide range of guesthouses, which is invariably a 3 or 4 bedroom house still occupied by the owner. Most include breakfast and a guideline cost is £25 per person per night in high season.
Campsites are available all over the Lakes. The two I have been too are "Park Foot" near Pooley Bridge. This offers camping facilities, plus static caravans and several cottages. The Dungeon Ghyll campsite in Great Langdale is also highly recommended. This is camping only and fills up very quickly in high season.
There are also hotels scattered throughout the lakes, including some 4 and 5* ones, but I have never stayed there so I can't really comment.
Mountains and walks ================= The major attraction of the Lake District is the range of mountains which can be explorer. Difficult levels range from very easy family walks to mountains and routes, which will challenge even the most hardened hill walker. My person favourites are.
- Helvellyn. When approached from Glenridding the route is initially very easy and the path easy to follow. Rounding a corner and the summit of Helvellyn comes into sight. All that separates it from you is ¼ mile long ridge of fearsome looking rock - Striding Edge. In all honestly people worry unnecessarily about Striding Edge. It is certainly exhilarating, but the objective danger is quite low as long as you are careful and you can be comforted by the fact that most people who fall off actually survive! - Scafell. The slightly lower brother of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike this offers an entirely different experience. Whilst Scafell Pike is a wasteland of broken boulders, unfit tourists and cigarette ends, Scafell is altogether more peaceful and although you won't get the summit to yourself it will be a lot quieter than the Pike. - Great Gable. This most aesthetically pleasing of the hills, it is also one of the hardest. Rising almost half a vertical mile from the valley floor it is a long, hard slog to the top, but the views are absolutely awesome. Descent can be VERY hard on the knees, especially the Aaron Slack way, which is often used. - Bowfell. A magnificent hill with crags and rocks abundant it is also fairly quiet and on some days you will be lucky to see more than half a dozen people. - Walla Crag, more for the families and novice walker this can be attempted directly from Keswick and is a nice gentle ascent with fantastic views over Derwentwater. - Howtown, this is another gentle walk along the edge of Ullswater with pretty much a steady height the entire way.
Other things to do ============== If walking is not your thing then there the Lakes offers a wide variety of other activities from waters ports on the Lakes to easily accessible beauty spots (Ayra force beside Ullswater is highly recommended). Keswick also has several museums, but even just travelling round the Lakes in a car gives some idea of its beauty.
Another fine feature of the Lakes is the wildlife from the commonly seen rabbits and foxes to the reclusive badgers and the timid deer. Bird watchers would also have a field day here.
Cycles can also be hired easily and routes range from the fairly easy to the extremely challenging depending on what you are looking for.
Most of the big towns have outdoor shops, where you can buy waterproof gear etc. The ones in Keswick especially seem to be constantly having a sale and consequently some bargains can be had.
Food and Drink =========== Both Keswick and Bowness have a wide variety of restaurants and pubs. The food quality is very good, due to the amount of competition, but is also quite expensive - there are very few cheap meals in the Lake District.
Random Musings ============== I have found that if you come to the Lakes a lot then it is worthwhile becoming a member of the National trust as you get free parking in ,many of the car parks, including the Seatoller one, which is used as s starting point for Scafell Pike, the one at Old Dungeon Ghyll and the Thirlmere one, which is used for Helvellyn. The car parks normally cost £5 or so, so it does not take many trips to get the money back.
Overall ===== If you have never been to the Lakes before then it comes highly recommended. I have been going there for years and I still haven't seen the things I want see or climbed all the hills I want to climb and I imagine it would be a very long time indeed before I get bored of it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This is an excellent review on our favourite part of the country too. Some well chosen photographs would probably have gained this an E from me. One very useful tip I learned here was about the car parks - we are National Trust members and I had no idea that we could use our badge to save on parking costs up there. Lucky you living close enough for weekend excursions! Richard.
MAFARRIMOND 18.03.2007 21:14
A beautiful place for walks. Maureen
Allyalcock 13.03.2007 06:56
An exceptional review of an exceptional place! Alison x
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Very Relaxing, Gorgeous Setting Disadvantages: Very Expensive - initially for accomodation and then once inside the park for activities, no nightlife
exceptional by (17%):
very helpful by (83%):
