Lakes District UK
 

Would love suggestions on the Lakes District. We have been told the western lakes are less touristy, but we also realize "touristy" areas are sometimes "touristy" for good reason.

Thinking of early September.

We love beautiful drives, charming villages, easy hiking/walking, history.

And of course any wonderul places that you have stayed, Hotels, B&B's, rentals.

Where have you been, where did you stay, and what did you do?

wrenwood - years ago we were regular visitors to the lakes, usually in the spring, and we used to stay at Braithwaite, just north of Keswick. The hotel we used to stay in has closed now, but the Pheasant Inn on Bassenthwaite Lake used to do very good food:

http://www.the-pheasant.co.uk/

The northern Lakes appealed to us more and certainly they always seemed to be less crowded than the south. Nearby Cat Bells is a lovely short walk, but of course there are many, many more. We also liked to walk up Conniston Old Man, and then take a ride on the Steam Gondola - very peaceful on a clear day.

Wordswoth's house at Cockermouth is worth a visit are are Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount - all associated with him. And since we last visited they have opened another property - Allen Mount - with connections with him.

hope this helps!

Annhig

Did you stay at Ivy House?

We were married at Thornthwaite church, son was christened there and had our reception at Armathwaite Hall. My MIL still lives in Braithwaite.

The Phaesant is better than ever but pricey now.

Castlerigg Stone circle near Keswick is very stunning and very eerie, also the site of my one and only camping experience, so o happy memories there.

Combining a walk round Derwentwater with using the lake launch to reduce the length of the walk is good fun.

As Ann posts, Cat Bells is fairly easy and has to be one of the best views for minimum effort in the Lakes. If you want something more challenging try Grizedale Pike with views to Scotland.

I've been to the Lake District (it's always Lake District not Lakes District) dozens of times as I live a couple of hours drive away.
Some of the areas are termed 'touristy' because they are popular with coach parties and can be very busy. Windermere falls into this category - but of course the lake is very beautiful if you can get parked!
Early September is a good time to visit the area as the majority of the school children return to school at this time after the long summer holidays, which makes things quieter. However it will still be pretty busy as numerous people wait until the children return to school and then go on holiday!
Always have Plan B when doing your itinerary. It can rain and rain there like you wouldn't believe - so have some indoor activities planned - for instance Blackwell Arts and Craft House or Rheged.
We tend to head for the North West of the area - Keswick and also Cockermouth.
I've stayed at this B&B which I can wholeheartedly recommend - you can do some wonderful walks from the farm, including down to the lakeside to visit the old church. Helen will greet you with homemade cakes, and the breakfasts (and views from the property) are amazing.
http://www.sandhillsfarm.co.uk/

Hi Dickie - yep, Ivy House was the place. I think we stayed there half a dozen times when we were first married, usually in early spring. We would leave my parents' house in Coventry at about 4am to try to miss the traffic around B'ham, have breakfast en route, and then climb Coniston old Man before [a late] lunch. I think that it would take me all day now!

our plan for when it rained was to get wet!

Such a shame about so many hotels in The Lakes.

Ivy House became a Holiday Property Bond hotel, still serves food to the public. Two other local hotels, The Ladstock and Swan were converted into apartments at the height of the boom. So many hotels have been lost, the remaining ones seem to think the area is Beverley Hills when it comes to pricing.

Wrenwood

The Rheged centre at the junction of the M6/A66 is an interesting showcase for local food and has a great cafe. Booths supermarket in Keswick is a regional chain and very much like Whole Foods in The States, again lots of locally sourced food.

Ivy House was bought by the Holiday Property Bond in 2003, and is now only available to HPB members. We stayed there overnight a few years ago on our way to Glasgow, and then went on to another HPB property, this time near Loch Katrine in the Trossachs.

With the Holiday Property Bond, one invests a sum of money and is then allocated points which can be used at properties throughout the U.K. and Europe. The properties vary, but are to a consistent standard. As you get older, it's sometimes good to go somewhere predictable.

Ivy House is a hotel, but the HPB also has self-catering accommodation close by at Braithwaite Court.

Ivy House used to be a bit of a splurge for us, we'd book 3-4 nights Dinner B&B in a room with a four-poster, and soak away the aches and pains from our hiking in a deep bath, then eat what I remember being quite delicious dinners, though we did try the Pheasant once or twice.

all this changed with the advent of you know what....we took DD when she was about 6 months old but it was never the same.

happy days!

They still do good, large dinners, and I seem to recall that we also had a four-poster bed. But then the drapes on the bed meant the bedside lights were useless and reading in bed was impossible.

Romance and utility seldom go together.

chartley - I remember being very impressed [this was 30+ years ago] with a starter of pear and stilton - which was utterly delicious - and lovely puds. I don't remember being overly concerned about the lack of adequate light by which to read, but perhaps I was too tired.

30 years plus ago.

Good grief!

There is EVERY possibility that my wife cleaned your bedroom as a summer job.

Did you notice particularly poor house keeping?

Dickie - for some of us 30 years is but the blink of an eye. I still recall the first time I had smoked salmon at a hotel in Scarborough in 1965.

As for the bedside lights and the four poster, I suppose that is no longer a concern now that we all have our tablets and i-pads.

dickie - i do hope your DW doesn't read this as if she does, you'll be on short rations.

anyway, I'm pretty sure that the housekeeping was up to scratch as we went back several times, and even then I liked clean bathrooms, even if I wasn't too bothered about bedside lighting!

Annhig, wow, the Pheasant looks like a great place to stay. Love the fireplace featured in their ad.

late day - the only disadvantage of the Pheasant is that it's a bit on the edge of the Lakes, but then that can be an advantage too of course. looking at the website, the prices for the rooms at this time of year really don't seem too bad.

Pencil into your schedule the off-beat Pencil Museum in Keswick, one of the main regional towns in the Lake District with its graphic history of the local pencil-making industry - this is one museum that will be hard to erase from your mind!

http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/

" you'll be on short rations."

We are currently in South Carolina, short rations are not on the menu!

dickie - isn't that the land of the grits? i think I'd be grateful to be on short rations!

Actually, we have just returned back to the house having had a shrimp and grits looking out over the Atlantic sunset skies.

Cooked and served well, grits are really tasty. A little like polenta in Italy, do it badly and you have passed the point of no return.

Who gives a damn what the food was like or how much cheese the waitress put into her smile!

It was 75oF at 8pm.

Nuff said.

dickie - I don't want to "diss" your experience but I've never tasted grits that I wanted to eat, no matter how cheesy a grin the waitress gives me.