England Guide
Cumbria and the Lakes
The Lake District
Given a week you could easily see most of the famous settlements and lakes – a circuit taking in the towns of Ambleside, Windermere and Bowness, all on Windermere, the Wordsworth houses and sites in pretty villages such as Hawkshead and Grasmere, and the more dramatic northern scenery near Keswick and Ullswater would give you a fair sample of the whole. But it's away from the crowds that the Lakes really begin to pay dividends, especially around the lesser-visited Wast Water. Four peaks top out at over 3000ft – including Scafell Pike, the highest in England – but there are hundreds of other mountains, crags and fells to roam.