Peak District in the summer?
May 10th, 2011, 01:38 PM
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Peak District in the summer?
My family and I are visiting England in August. We will spend some time in Bath and the surrounding areas and some time in London. We have three days in the middle of the trip that are not spoken for, and are considering visiting the Peak District. We love spending time outdoors, would love to visit Chatsworth Hall, and the Jane Eyre connection is also attractive. I have read, however, that the Peak is impossibly crowded in August. We don't want to be stopped in traffic for a lot of our visit, or have our only trail view be of someone else's rear. Advice, please! And suggestions of other options are appreciated. We have considered Dorset and the Jurassic Coast and Wales, as well. Our main objective is to enjoy some relaxing time in the country, but a castle or great house or two wouldn't hurt.
Thanks!
Thanks!
May 12th, 2011, 07:22 AM
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I don't know where you've gleaned the information that the Peak District is crowded! It depends where you go. Chatsworth House will be quieter on a weekday than the weekend but it's large enough to absorb crowds of visitors. There are other lovely houses such as Haddon Hall near Youlgreave which rarely get crowded. Buxton can be a honey-pot but the roads around the county and into villages and dales are easily negotiable. This is an area to savour slowly, leave the car and walk- you'll be amply rewarded.
May 12th, 2011, 08:05 AM
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"Crowded" is in the eye of the beholder.
I certainly wouldn't drive into the Peak District from Manchester at the start of a Bank Holiday unless I needed to - and getting back can be a pain. But even at busy times, driving in from the south or east seems just normal British congested. A mild inconvenience
I'm no fan of any of the towns at sunny weekends either: but then I go to the Peaks to walk, and I see no reason to trouble the towns, except sometimes to find a car park. Cross-country footpaths in the area are, by most British standards, relatively crowded - but compared to the areas near the car parks in most US National Parks, blissfully deserted. In an average 15 mins on the sunniest of weekends, you'll cross or overtake say a dozen or two people, but for most of the walk will have no-one within 200 yds of you on either side.
Chatsworth's designed to absorb volumes of people.
If you really did read "impossibly crowded", you've come across an attitudinising misanthrope. Not unusual in British travel writing (you get the same inane drivel about the Cotswolds), but not worth paying any attention to.
Getting to Dorset at summer weekends is a whole nuther story. Roads towards it really are congested, especially from London - though once you're actually at the Jurassic Coast it's not quite as bad.
I certainly wouldn't drive into the Peak District from Manchester at the start of a Bank Holiday unless I needed to - and getting back can be a pain. But even at busy times, driving in from the south or east seems just normal British congested. A mild inconvenience
I'm no fan of any of the towns at sunny weekends either: but then I go to the Peaks to walk, and I see no reason to trouble the towns, except sometimes to find a car park. Cross-country footpaths in the area are, by most British standards, relatively crowded - but compared to the areas near the car parks in most US National Parks, blissfully deserted. In an average 15 mins on the sunniest of weekends, you'll cross or overtake say a dozen or two people, but for most of the walk will have no-one within 200 yds of you on either side.
Chatsworth's designed to absorb volumes of people.
If you really did read "impossibly crowded", you've come across an attitudinising misanthrope. Not unusual in British travel writing (you get the same inane drivel about the Cotswolds), but not worth paying any attention to.
Getting to Dorset at summer weekends is a whole nuther story. Roads towards it really are congested, especially from London - though once you're actually at the Jurassic Coast it's not quite as bad.
May 12th, 2011, 01:23 PM
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By all means go to the Peak district. Don't forget to check out Hardwick Hall, loved it and the Haddon Hall suggestion is great. We were there on a Bank Holiday in May and it didn't seem overcrowded. Stayed in a B&B on the Chatsworth estate. Beautiful area, well worth it. Have fun!
We are off to Cornwall in early June and I imagine it will be crowded; but sometimes you just can't travel in the off season. Just happy to be going at all.
We are off to Cornwall in early June and I imagine it will be crowded; but sometimes you just can't travel in the off season. Just happy to be going at all.
May 13th, 2011, 02:11 AM
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Well.... it is said to be the 2nd most visited National Park in the world - though that's also disputed by some - surrounded as it is by Manchester, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Derby and Stoke-on-Trent with Leeds/Bradford, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Liverpool all in easy striking distance - an estimated 20 million people live within an hour's drive.
So <i>some</i> precautions <i>are</i> advisable:-
Don't attempt Dovedale on a sunny weekend; the first mile or so, along well maintained paths and across the river on the stepping stones and onward, could easily pass for Oxford Street so far as foot traffic is concerned - just queuing to cross the river can be a trying experience. However mid-week, on a cloudy day or in late autumn or winter you'll have the place to yourself.
Similarly parts of the Tissington Trail and the Manifold Valley can get frustratingly busy - but again only on sunny spring/summer weekends (especially BH ones as suggested in previous posts). Edale, too, can feel busy down near the village and on the lower portions of the paths upto Kinder Scout.
Additionally if you're looking to get into Bakewell or Ashbourne (the latter being just outside the NP) they can both get very congested with traffic and feel very crowded with visitors on almost any weekend of the year but particularly during the summer months.
Having said all that, by far the majority of The Peak District can feel practically devoid of visitors and you will have no problem whatsoever in losing yourself should you so wish.
One final point - I trust you realise that The Peak District is not named for it's peaks - it's an upland area alright but the name derives, from memory, from some ur-British word designating dark, describing the water in the streams and rivers on account of the peat. I only mention this to ensure you're not underwhelmed by the place - expecting lofty peaks but finding moorland and rough grazing.
Have a great trip!
Dr D.
So <i>some</i> precautions <i>are</i> advisable:-
Don't attempt Dovedale on a sunny weekend; the first mile or so, along well maintained paths and across the river on the stepping stones and onward, could easily pass for Oxford Street so far as foot traffic is concerned - just queuing to cross the river can be a trying experience. However mid-week, on a cloudy day or in late autumn or winter you'll have the place to yourself.
Similarly parts of the Tissington Trail and the Manifold Valley can get frustratingly busy - but again only on sunny spring/summer weekends (especially BH ones as suggested in previous posts). Edale, too, can feel busy down near the village and on the lower portions of the paths upto Kinder Scout.
Additionally if you're looking to get into Bakewell or Ashbourne (the latter being just outside the NP) they can both get very congested with traffic and feel very crowded with visitors on almost any weekend of the year but particularly during the summer months.
Having said all that, by far the majority of The Peak District can feel practically devoid of visitors and you will have no problem whatsoever in losing yourself should you so wish.
One final point - I trust you realise that The Peak District is not named for it's peaks - it's an upland area alright but the name derives, from memory, from some ur-British word designating dark, describing the water in the streams and rivers on account of the peat. I only mention this to ensure you're not underwhelmed by the place - expecting lofty peaks but finding moorland and rough grazing.
Have a great trip!
Dr D.
