My in-laws love going to the Lake District and I finally went for myself. For those of you that may have heard of it, it is a hilly area (can't really say mountainous- I am from Colorado) North West of Birmingham. It was beautiful!
Its a great place to take a week and get away from the rush of daily life. If you like being outdoors, there are many walks that you can do and hills to climb to get your fix if you are from a mountainous place like me.
We stayed in a cottage, called The Old Post Office, which is managed by Coppermines. It was a very beautiful, cozy cottage right in the centre of town.
There are also a few cute villages in the area, that you can go visit for the day such as Wyndermere and Ambleside.
If you are looking to stay in a small town for a week and go out into nature, the Lake District is the right place for you! It is a great getaway for families and dogs!
We had to stop by and visit the World of Beatrice Potter. Bug watches Peter Rabbit on Cbeebies so she is familiar with the main characters which I thought was helpful. A visit would probably last from 45 mins - 1 hour. I highly recommend going early as it is popular. We got there around 10:30 and beat the queues.
The activity book was great and got the children engaged. Bug might be a bit little but she liked seeing the displays and helped us find the answers.
We ate lunch at a cafe Monties around the corner but there is one on site.
If you are a runner and haven't heard of Parkrun, you might want to look into it. They are free timed 5ks all over the country and since I was running a 10k the following week, I wanted to checkout my time and run with other people. This was a bit different than my normal running as there are no hills in Cambridge. The route was two laps and was a bit hilly.
Also it was raining so hard that I messaged them to see if it was still on and then it dawned on me that if they didn't run in the rain, they would never run! I have trail shoes so the mud and hills weren't a problem!
Definitely a different way to visit the places you go.
Wray Castle is not a house like other National Trust properties with antiques around. It is very geared towards children. Inside they have Peter Rabbit Adventure rooms and outside they have an outside play trail very good. The Beatrice Potter area was a hit but Bug knows the stories and characters so made sense to her.
From here you can cycle or walk around the lake to different points.
They had a cafe on site which we had our lunch at.
Once when it looked like a beautiful day, I even wore shorts! Another time It was very cold. I was quite impressed with Bug as she walks 2/3 of the way up it. It took us about 4 6 hours to walk up and down (with a toddler).
It is called because it looks like an old man when viewed from across the lake Coniston Water.
We also took a walk from Coniston to Hawkshead via Tarn Howes with Bug and Dusty. Tarn means lake. It took us about 4 hours. At Tarn Howes which is about half way, there are toilets and a ice cream van.
We walked onto Hawkshead had lunch at a pub and took a bus back. Even Dusty was able to ride the bus!
The Beatrice Potter Gallery is a National Trust property housed in her husband's office when he was a solicitor/lawyer.
It has original miniatures and artwork on show.
There is a tiny play area in a corner for young children.
Steam Yacht Gondola
Another day we went for a ferry ride around Coniston Water, but were unable to go to Brantwood House because the docks were flooded. Dusty really enjoyed this and because he is a 'real' dog, he rode for free!
The Bluebird Cafe on the shore of Lake Coniston is a nice place to stop at.