We are going to rent a car and drive through the Lake country for 4 or 5 days. Any suggestions for not to be missed sites, great hotels or inns (not too expensive) good car rental deals and anything else that was very much loved on your trip. Also, pitfalls to avoid. thanks

hi, i was at Lake District sometime in August last year. It is a beautiful place, the hills are worth the climb & the people are friendly. There are abt 200 over B & Bs in Lake Districy, so you'll have no short of choice. Just go to to Tourist Office in the town & they'll help you with the rental of cars & choice of B & B, depending on your budget & preference of location. The YHAs are very good too. We have stayed in one (in Ambleside if i can recall , the rooms were clean & the place is well-kept)

Windermere is great for Fish & Chips....

Pitfalls ??? none, some advice tho'
1) wear good hiking shoes if you intend to climb the mountains in Lake District... else you feet may suffer later on... as i found out !
2) check out the weather beore climbing, you don't want to get stuck in the middle if it starts to pour.. unpredictable
3) The roads can be very dark at nite, so be careful that you nagivate slowly when driving ...

That's about all, hope u'll have a good trip..
Enjoy & be inspired by the home of Wordsworth.

The Lake District is wonderful, I've passed through several times on day trips but did not stay right in the area. However, if you are looking for accomodations, go the British Automobile Association web page at www.theaa.co.uk and check their hotel bookings page. You can search by location, price, whatever. All the hotels, inns, etc list a description including price, size, amenities and many of them have a photo of the place. Have fun!

We stayed at the Elim House in Bowness a few years ago and found the owners to be very nice and the area to be fun to tour. The Elim was not too expensive and they have many repeat visitors. Have fun. Watch out for sheep in the road and at night, rabbits everywhere!

Visited the Lake District last summer. It is absolutely beautiful. We flew staight into Manchester and hired a car at the airport. We had pre-paid the car hire and this was certainly a cheaper way to go. The referdex that came with the car was next to useless so make sure you buy a more detailed one. Available from any auto club. From there it is about an hour and a half drive to the Lake District. We stayed at Laurel Cottage at Bowness. It was well located - a couple on minutes walk to Lake Windemere. A very quaint place with friendly owners and great breakfasts. Things to do - a steamer ride on the lake is a good way to get a different perspective on the place as well as being very relaxing. Wordswoth cottage and Beatrix Potter's house and museum are worth seeing. The best though is to drive or walk off the beaten track a bit. If you need any further info email me. Have a great time.

It is a beautiful area, but can be completely overwhelmed with tourists--so much so, that National Geographic did an article about this a few years ago. It was the prettiest place we saw in England, but not really worth it due to traffic. If you do go, try to go off season. Also, in the town of Keswick (in the northern portion of the district) is a wonderful stone circle. It is free to visit and the surrounding area is breathtaking. Although the stones are much smaller than Stonehenge's, my wife and I liked the Castlerigg circle (Keswick) the best.

You'll love the Lake District. It's beautiful! We stayed in Keswick, which is a wonderful place, with great bakeries. The Tourist Center helped us to find a hotel, the Mary Mount Hotel -- not fancy, not too expensive, and right on the lake (Derwentwater). We liked Keswick so much, we came back after our trip to Scotland, this time staying at the Applethwaite Country Hotel. It was charming, but not as much fun as the Mary Mount. One day we hiked to Scale Force, which was terrific. You meet the nicest people on the footpaths.

we prefer Grasmere-home ofWordsworth-a charming village with2 plusesarah Nelson Gingerbread shop- (the world's best) and Michaels Nook, a grand country house that I believe serves dinner to outsiders. We wanted to see alot in a little time and we contacted Cumbria Taxi in Windemere45246-and engaged a driver for half day at a modest cost.Have a grand time.!

We happened upon a perfectly beautiful small hotel...The Grange in Grange Over Sand. It is a very imposing looking hotel on the side of a hill and looks extremely expensive, but was not at all that bad. Beautiful common areas and dining room and rooms were nice too. Both times we've stayed there, we were the only non-British. It is on the main road going into the busier Lake District...very convenient location.

Bear in mind that the Lake District can get very busy in the summer, having said this here are some of my ideas for "must see":-
Levens Hall in the very south of the lakes (just off the A590), it has a wonderful garden with the most amazing topiary I have ever seen
Brantwood,on the banks of Coniston, home of the poet Ruskin, they do wonderful meals and cream teas which you can eat outside looking over the lake
Grizdale forest (near to Brantwood), the forest is full of sulptures made from local natural materials and you can follow a marked trail through the forest to see them.
The Drunken Duck a super pub at Barngates near Ambleside, has got more commercial in the last few years but is still worth it for the range of real ale, the food and the superb views.Hope this helps, have a great holiday, Jan.

The Lake District is incredibly beautiful, especially in the Autumn and Spring....if you are staying for only 4 or 5 days then avoid the weekends and miss the worst of the crowds.
Even better...visit the Yorkshire Dales which is just as beautiful...much quiter (I mean MUCH quiter)...cheaper....and only an hours drive from the Lakes!
I know as I go walking in the Dales at least once a month!

When I was very young, I stayed with my parents at the Swan Hotel in the Lake District which was a little off the beaten path although I can't remember exactly which town it's in. Beautiful place. Later, my husband and I stayed at John Tovey's hotel in Windemere, but again I can't remember the name. A friend who was with us on that trip compared the Lake District to the Misty Moutains of J.R. Tolkien. Tell me what you think on arrival back. Enjoy.

Swan Hotel is in Grasmere...great beer!

Further to Kam's post, the name of the hotel is "Miller Howe" - they have a Web site with a live camera overlooking Windermere at http://www.millerhowe.com <BR> <BR>Regards, <BR> <BR>Paul <BR> <BR>