Ten years ago the Lake District, England’s most dramatic and celebrated national park, lagged behind areas such as Cornwall and the Cotswolds when it came to interesting places to eat and drink. There it was, calling us from the country’s top left-hand corner, proud and wrinkled in its ever-changing weather, and home to the most serene and magnificent valleys we can muster. Yet, if you wanted innovative food and fresh design, Padstow, Mawgan Porth and Painswick, not Ullswater or Windermere, were where you went for your holidays.
Now look. Last year Cumbria became England’s most Michelin-starred county. This year even more of its pubs and restaurants have garnered awards, while a growing number of hotels are emerging from imaginative refurbishments.
It’s not just the mansions along Windermere that have upped their game. Kevin Tickle’s fine-dining pub Heft has just won its first star, while on a road to nowhere in the eastern Lakes, the Haweswater Hotel is looking sharp after a refit. The chains are at it too. The Inn Collection group has revamped four of its properties in Ambleside, Bowness and Grasmere this year alone.
Even the landscape is changing. Some of that change is worrying and unwelcome — sections of the River Derwent in Borrowdale have run dry for the third year in a row. But rewilding is also playing a part. Thanks to projects such as Wild Ennerdale and Foulshaw Moss, which are allowing the land to revert to an unfarmed state, the Lake District is more varied and biodiverse than it has been for decades. If you haven’t been lately, grab your hiking boots and get planning. Cumbria is definitely on the up.
1. Haweswater Hotel, Haweswater
Art deco hideaway with fine dining
This 1930s jewel, built in splendid isolation right beside Haweswater, with gardens overlooking the reservoir, has just emerged from a top-to-bottom refit. Come for the parquet floors, Bakelite telephones and original fireplaces in this art deco reinvention. Then stay put in the lesser-known valley of Mardale for its walks through the lush, regenerating landscape of the north shore and over the mighty peaks of Harter Fell and High Street. That should build up your appetite for the hotel’s two new restaurants, Brasserie 37, for coq au vin (£26) and seafood bouillabaisse (£24), or a fine-dining option offering, say, hand-dived Oban scallops with dashi broth, then duck breast with savoy cabbage pancake. Mark Greenaway (who also runs Grazing at Edinburgh’s Waldorf Astoria) is at the helm (two courses £45).
Details B&B doubles from £110 (haweswaterhotel.com)
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2. Ashlack Hall, Grizebeck
Contemporary new farm-to-fork restaurant with rooms
One of the most exciting recent arrivals on the scene, this 17th-century hall is now run as an occasional farm-to-fork restaurant with rooms, its hip young owners offering monthly dinners and private dining (six-course tasting menu £65pp). Its 500 acres in the Duddon Valley support Tamworth pigs, Hebridean sheep and Luing cattle, on top of the kitchen garden’s bounteous fruit and veg. Meanwhile, the three bright white rooms upstairs creak and groan with antiquey, carved-wood character. Just as alluring is the landscape beyond, free of the Lake District crowds. Nearby, the Duddon Mosses nature reserve is rewilding part of the estuary, while vast empty beaches await at Silecroft.
Details Room-only doubles from £75 (ashlack.com)
3. Cedar Manor, Windermere
Award-winning Victorian villa B&B
It may have just won B&B silver at this year’s Visit England awards, but this handsome Victorian villa, complete with gothic windows, offers a lot more than comfy beds and a big breakfast — as you will discover when you sample its new tea menu. Finger sandwiches, buttermilk scones and a selection of cakes and desserts are available in a treat that will surely make supper superfluous (from £28.50pp). Upstairs, velvet, brocade-patterned wallpaper and giant headboards add a luxurious boudoir feel to the ten bedrooms, while the location — set back off the road to Ambleside rather than in the middle of town — ensures a quick start to your morning’s adventure.
Details B&B doubles from £155 (cedarmanor.co.uk)
4. Rothay Manor, Ambleside
Cool rooms near Loughrigg Fell
Rothay Manor’s Pavilion Suites, opened in 2022, were some of the best new bedrooms the Lake District has seen for years. Big, easy-breathing spaces, they benefited not only from oversized sofas, grey or pea green panelling and floor-to-ceiling windows, but light and airy woollen duvets. This year’s innovation is in the restaurant, where the inventive chef Daniel McGeorge has backed away from tasting menus to produce à la carte dinners that feature such dishes as lamb belly with black garlic and miso glaze (three courses £65). Save room for the magnificent British cheeseboard, and promise yourself a big walk up Loughrigg Fell the following morning. The footpath starts almost at the front door.
Details B&B doubles from £240 (rothaymanor.co.uk)
5. Gilpin Hotel and Lake House, Windermere
Luxury classic with foodie focus
Gilpin’s two properties — a country-mansion hotel and a contemporary Lake House — are separated by a mile of rough farmland and united by the relentless pursuit of luxury. The latest development is the arrival of three new chefs, including Ollie Bridgwater (formerly at the Fat Duck in Bray). He received a Michelin inspection a month after taking the reins at the hotel’s Source restaurant, which then had its star reconfirmed in March. Its £120, 11-course tasting menu includes lobster with lettuce and peanut bisque. Meanwhile, at the very private Lake House, set in 100 acres of grounds, Tom Westerland has brought his love of barbecuing to the new Knipe Grill restaurant (mains from £24).
Details B&B doubles from £305 (thegilpin.co.uk)
6. Armathwaite Hall, Bassenthwaite Lake
Spa suites in quiet lakeside corner
Want to keep the summer crowds at arm’s length? Then here’s another canny spot. The trophy home of a 19th-century mine owner, Armathwaite Hall sits near the national park’s northern boundary, with the rustling reeds of Bassenthwaite Lake a short walk away and the wild Whitewater Dash waterfall an easy drive. Back at base, there are giant drawing rooms as well as a state-of-the-art spa and refurbished, art deco-inspired bedrooms. The suites, built at a cost of £1 million, are the latest addition.
Details Room-only doubles from £249 (armathwaite-hall.com)
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7. Angel Inn, Bowness
Simply styled rooms and cocktails near Windermere
The northern accommodation specialist the Inn Collection Group is on a roll, revamping four of its Lake District properties since December and making it onto the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list in May. The Angel Inn’s transformation is especially welcome, given the affordable pricing and quiet garden setting in Bowness, a short walk from Windermere. Downstairs in the pub, there are cocktails and mocktails on the drinks menu as well as local beers on tap, and views of the Langdale Pikes from the beer garden. Upstairs the new rooms are snug rather than spacious but also crisp, comfy and well equipped, with a smidge of contemporary style in the painted panel headboards and metro tiles. Some have bunk beds for children.
Details B&B doubles from £89 (inncollectiongroup.com)
8. Inn on the Lake, Glenridding
Revamped classic with expanded lakeside terrace
Here’s another sign — if any were needed — that the Cumbrian climate is changing. Lake District hotels are expanding their terraces. One of the largest now belongs to the Inn on the Lake in Glenridding — a 75m, £600,000 behemoth that opened in May, packed with tables big and small. All kinds of activities are suggested by the view — lessons at the Glenridding Sailing Centre, hikes up Place Fell, rides on the Ullswater steamers, wild swimming. Inside, the 46 recently refurbished bedrooms, smartly done in greys and greiges, are surprisingly spacious.
Details B&B doubles from £193 (lakedistricthotels.net)
9. Another Place, Ullswater
Ground-breaking modern hotel
Last year this lively, trail-blazing Ullswater hotel took a big step out into its grounds and opened an expanded kitchen garden and the Glasshouse pizza restaurant, as well as stylish shepherd hut bedrooms and the Sheep Shed watersports centre. This year, it continues to reap the rewards, whether it’s in the new, homegrown rhubarb margaritas on the cocktail menu, the fresh garden veg at dinner, or the range of paddleboards and kayaks now available for hire. When it’s not serving wood-fired pizzas, the Glasshouse is a great place for yoga and Pilates too.
Details B&B doubles from £240 (another.place)
10. George and Dragon, Clifton
Popular pub with characterful rooms
Gutted by an electrical fire last year, this roadside pub reopened in May with its ten small but characterful bedrooms back to their best and a tempting menu that mixes small sharing plates (venison pastrami with pickles) and main dishes such as cauliflower steak with almond pesto or turkey schnitzel with red cabbage (mains from £12). It’s a sister property of Askham Hall and the Queen’s Head, and lots of the ingredients are sourced from the Lowther estate. The remains of the family’s neo-gothic castle are nearby too, with Haweswater and Swindale not far beyond.
Details B&B doubles from £150 (georgeanddragonclifton.co.uk)
11. Borrowdale Gates Hotel, Borrowdale
Gardens and good food in magical valley
Set on the quieter of the two roads to Borrowdale, and girdled by a three-acre garden, the Borrowdale Gates has almost finished its programme of refurbishment. The benefits are plain to see — in the rich autumn colours of the garden suites, in the scalloped, jazz-age furniture in the lounge, and in the decorative Highland-flavoured flourishes of the bar. In the restaurant (which has two AA rosettes) local flavours include Herdwick lamb, Morecambe Bay shellfish and Cartmel Valley venison (two courses £47.50). Bear in mind that the work is ongoing, so you might prefer to book by telephone. That way you can ask if one of the two already-revamped standard rooms is available.
Details B&B doubles from £169 (borrowdale-gates.com)
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12. The Swan Hotel & Spa, Newby Bridge
Spa hotel with peppy interiors
At the revitalised Swan, last year was all about the launch of its new Holte Spa, open to non-guests too (two hours from £30). This year they’re focusing on the social scene, with a series of live Friday-evening music sessions on the terrace, overlooking the River Leven. In the spa the atmosphere turns a little Balearic each evening, with sundowner spa sessions from 6pm to 8pm. As for the rest of the hotel — well, the £7 million spent on the health club, spa and bedrooms sure makes a difference, with fresh, peppy strawberry pinks, sage greens and turquoise much in evidence. Lake District interiors have never looked so sunny.
Details B&B doubles from £160 (swanhotel.com)
13. Laik, Bowness
Cool cottages across the Lakes
If it’s self-catering flats or cottages you’re after rather than hotels — and a sense of style matters as much as location — check out Laik. This recently launched, Lakes-based lettings agency has just ten properties for now, but each is showstopping in some way. Loughrigg Cottage in Ambleside, for example, has three hotel-standard bedrooms and ten acres of lawns and woodland. In Hawkshead, Pickle Pot Loft is a fashionista’s dream of copper lampshades and mustard and grey furniture. No wonder the company is up for two Cumbria Tourism awards this year.
Details Three nights’ self-catering for two at No 5 Biskey Howe from £366 (laik.co.uk)
14. The Smithy, Grasmere
Cosy cottage with foodie flair
Guests have the best of both worlds at the Smithy. The new one-bedroom cottage, tucked behind the Yan, is fully detached and completely self-contained — with high ceilings, garden terrace, small kitchen and wood-burning stove. But it’s also a couple of hungry steps from this former farmstead’s ever-popular restaurant. You can have both breakfast and dinner delivered as room service, or join the other diners in the buzzing, café-like dining room, where the flavours are as big as the portions and the summer menu includes curried Herdwick lamb pitta breads and a seafood stew (mains from £17.95).
Details Two nights’ self-catering for two from £390 (theyan.co.uk)
15. The Samling, Windermere
A Michelin-starred restaurant with posh rooms
At last the Samling’s main restaurant, headed by Robby Jenks, has its Michelin star. So pack your bags for a blowout celebration that might include cod with truffle and wood sorrel, served in one of the north’s most dramatic dining rooms — an oblong glass box that gazes onto Windermere. Eric Zwiebel, a former sommelier of the year who joined in March, is on hand to suggest wine, and for those who fancy a change of pace, the new and informal Gathering restaurant is waiting with goat’s cheese soufflé and posh fish and chips (tasting menus from £80pp, mains from £22). Meanwhile, backstage, the 12 bedrooms are pale, plush and blissfully quiet.
Details B&B doubles from £490 (thesamlinghotel.co.uk)
16. Randy Pike, Ambleside
Cool and colourful rural B&B
“What’s that lovely smell?” It’s a common refrain when guests check into this vibrant four-bedroom B&B in Hawkshead’s rural hinterland. The answer is an oud-wood and jasmine room scent developed by the owners during the pandemic and now available in their online store. But what seals the deal is the laid-back atmosphere and visual feast of interior design with copper baths, statement wallpaper, purple sofas and towering chairs, plus 20 local walks, logged into the OutdoorActive app by owner Andy Hill.
Details B&B doubles from £240 (randypike.co.uk)
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17. The Queen’s Head, Askham
The pub with good food on tap
Askham’s revamped boozer was never meant to be gastronomic. The plan was to guide guests down to Richard Swale’s Michelin-starred restaurant at the sister property, Askham Hall. But now Swale’s former sous chef Anthony Amos is in the Queen’s Head kitchen, the pub has become a dining destination in its own right. Good job too. With bespoke local furniture and Earl of Lonsdale heirlooms adding a powerful sense of place (and comfort) to its six bedrooms, this was always more than an annexe. Dishes such as chalk stream trout tartare and whole British lobster underline the point (two-course menu from £39.50).
Details B&B doubles from £160 (queensheadaskham.co.uk)
18. Brimstone, Langdale
Swish stay with an electric BMW iX
Here’s an extra incentive for booking one of Brimstone’s 16 sleek and indulgent bedrooms. Guests at this slate-walled, super-sized B&B (with a shared spa) can now book a free drive in the hotel’s electric BMW iX. Its range is over 250 miles, so every part of the National Park is within motoring distance. Though, truth be told, guests can walk to several of its best bits. Go west and you’ll soon be at the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub, with the shapely Pikes behind and Crinkle Crags in front. Or follow the River Brathay southeast to one of the Lakes’ favourite bakeries: Chesters by the River at Skelwith Bridge.
Details B&B doubles from £416 (brimstonehotel.co.uk)
19. The Kings Arms, Keswick
Stylish town-centre bolt hole
In a spot where guesthouses are rapidly disappearing it’s good to see new investment in a traditional marketplace hotel. The Kings Arms stands right on pedestrianised Main Street, with a bar that’s now brimming with fresh decorative flourishes — think buttoned banquettes, Arts and Crafts wallpaper and all kinds of eye-catching pictures. Pay attention when you book: only seven of the 13 rooms have been redone so far, but those that have possess the same sense of Victorian-flavoured fun as the rooms downstairs.
Details B&B doubles from £117 (lakedistricthotels.net)
20. Linthwaite House, Windermere
Soothing rooms and cocktails with a lake view
This year Henrock at Linthwaite House is another hotel dining room that’s simplifying its menu. A scion of Simon Rogan’s all-conquering restaurant group, it has swapped sharing plates for three-course menus. Among the Michelin-starred treats in store is fermented and grilled Duncan cabbage with truffled tofu and wasabi (three courses £75). There are new cocktails, including a strawberry negroni and lake’s view sour, served on the patio overlooking Windermere. So don’t get waylaid by the calm and soothing luxury of the 24 Linthwaite bedrooms when you check in. Evenings here start early.
Details B&B doubles from £247 (leeucollection.com)
Where to eat and what to do in the Lake District
Best places to eat and drink
Force Café, Ambleside
You can leave your Thermos at home. Hike uphill from Ambleside to the brand-new Force Café and sip on barista-made coffee from Cumbrian roasters and feast on fresh cakes and £10 wood-fired pizza. The view’s amazing — whether you’re gazing out over Windermere or peering into the thunderous maw of Stock Ghyll Force, the 70ft waterfall nearby (force.cafe).
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Heft, High Newton
Kevin Tickle is Cumbria’s master forager, and founded his own fine-dining pub, Heft, in 2021. In March this year the Michelin inspectors praised the “real depth and originality” of his food, and gave Heft its first Michelin star. Ten-course dinners weigh in at a hefty £110 and include dishes such as oxtail and thyme custard with bone marrow enoki and tarragon. But you can get a four-course lunch here (mussels with chip shop curry and scraps, kohlrabi with horseradish and walnut) for £45 (hefthighnewton.co.uk).
Levens Bakery, Levens
Since 2019 the Levens Hall Kitchen, at a stately home in the small village of Levens, has been wowing garden-lovers with dishes such as its £12 roasted cauliflower with coconut dal, and sourdough pizzas. This month, the Elizabethan house will be deepening its foodie appeal with its own patisserie, the Levens Bakery. Go for brunch (served until noon) or a range of sweet and savoury treats (levenshall.co.uk).
Bassenthwaite Lake Station, Embleton
Fast becoming a north Lakes institution, the revived Bassenthwaite Lake Station serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea in a railway carriage, a ticket office and (weather permitting) on the station platform. This year, new dishes include 24-hour beef brisket with lobster popcorn (£26), while the popular murder mysteries have been expanded to include a family-friendly Gary Jotter and the Magical Murders day (basslakestation.co.uk).
Grasmere Gin, Grasmere
In 2021 the craft brewers Beth and Paul Abbot began testing out a still — and now they’ve bottled the results (grasmerebrewery.com). There are three flavours so far in their range: dry, blood orange and pink berries. Drop into the Good Sport in Grasmere to try some, or order it at the hotel bars of the Samling (thesamlinghotel.co.uk) or the Yan (theyan.co.uk).
Exhibitions & activities
Abbot Hall, Kendal
After a three-year refurbishment, Cumbria’s leading art gallery is back with a takeover show by the landscape artist Julie Brook. Fans of the gallery’s permanent collection of 6,500 works will be glad to know that some are hanging in the exhibition too. Works by Ruskin, Turner and Frank Auerbach and John Piper all feature (£9, until December 30; lakelandarts.org.uk)
Blackwell, Windermere
Blackwell, an Arts and Crafts mansion above Windermere, is Abbot Hall’s sister property. Primarily it’s a showcase for the applied arts and design. But with its latest exhibition — devoted to the intricate and deeply incised sculptures of the ceramicist Halima Cassell — it’s taking a more high-minded turn (£9, until January 1; lakelandarts.org.uk).
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Breath Water Marks, Grasmere
A new installation of mobiles by Juliet Gutch (julietandjamiegutch.com), Breath Water Marks, is showing at Wordsworth Grasmere (wordsworth.org.uk) until mid-September. These sustainably produced sculptural mobiles are inspired by water and the patterns of wake made on the surface of Windermere, England’s largest lake. She was also influenced by an ancient rowing boat that dates back to the time of Wordsworth and which resonates with an excerpt from Wordsworth’s Prelude. The boat now resides at the nearby Windermere Jetty Museum. Through movement and shadow play, the mobiles explore the concept of wake and the transient and more lasting traces we leave behind us.
Whinlatter Forest
First planted more than 100 years ago, the Whinlatter is England’s only mountain forest, and this year a new three-mile “Wow” – Wonders of Whinlatter – footpath will allow walkers to explore its landscapes and soak up its impressive views (forestryengland.uk). Then they can get up into the tree canopy, courtesy of the Go Ape high ropes centre. Later this year it’s opening a brand new Treetop Challenge trail (from £20pp; goape.co.uk). There are trails for mountain bikers, runners and families too, including a children’s Wild Play area.
West Windermere Way
More Lakeland trails are being made smoother and accessible. The latest explores a strangely neglected part of the park, on the western shore of Windermere. Starting at the revamped Swan Hotel & Spa in Newby Bridge, the West Windermere Way unfurls for a mile along the pretty, forested shore, to the Lakeside ferry terminal. Eventually, it will extend as far as the YMCA (lakedistrict.gov.uk).
Treasures of Townend, Troutbeck
Inhabited by the same farming family for four centuries, Townend is a giant history book of Lake District life set in one of the area’s loveliest valleys, Troutbeck. To celebrate 75 years of National Trust ownership, the house is highlighting some of the best pieces from its collection — some of them rarely seen in public (£9; nationaltrust.org.uk).
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