The Lakes and the Dales from Liverpool

Editor's note

One night on Morecambe Bay to start. Lancaster Castle was a prison from 1196 until 2011; tour it, stand in the courtroom where the Pendle witches were tried in 1612, then climb to the Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park. At Leighton Moss, the RSPB reserve behind the bay, six booming male bitterns were counted in 2021. Listen for them from the hides in spring, and watch for marsh harriers over the reeds and bearded tits on the grit trays in autumn. Finish on Morecambe promenade beside Eric Morecambe's statue, with the Lakeland fells across the water.

Editor's note

Two nights by Windermere, about 10.5 miles long and England's largest natural lake. Take a cruise, or kayak or paddleboard from Bowness, and walk up Orrest Head, where Wainwright first saw the Lake District in 1930. Beatrix Potter left Hill Top, her 17th-century farmhouse at Near Sawrey, to the National Trust; go through it, then walk round Esthwaite Water to Hawkshead's whitewashed alleys and her drawings in the gallery there. On Coniston Water, tour Ruskin's house at Brantwood and ride the steam yacht Gondola, launched in 1859 and still under steam.

Editor's note

Two nights by Derwentwater. Begin at Castlerigg, a flattened Neolithic ring of boulders with Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Grasmoor and Blencathra in view, and the most visited stone circle in Cumbria. Walk out to Friar's Crag, then climb Catbells, only 451m, from the lake shore for Bassenthwaite and Skiddaw to the north and Borrowdale to the south, and ride the launch back from Hawse End. On the second day, go over Honister Pass, with a working slate mine at the summit and gradients of one in four, to Buttermere and its level path all the way round.

Editor's note

One night on Ullswater. The 'Steamers' call at Pooley Bridge, Glenridding, Howtown and Aira Force; ride from Glenridding to Howtown and walk the shore path back. At Aira Force, on National Trust land, the beck falls 20m into a wooded ravine, and in spring daffodils flower on the shore where Dorothy Wordsworth saw them. Drive Kirkstone Pass between Patterdale and Ambleside, at 454m the highest pass in the Lake District with a road over it. From the top, Brothers Water lies at the centre of Patterdale, and Red Screes rises from the pass.

Editor's note

One night in Wensleydale. Hawes, at the head of the dale, has made Wensleydale cheese since 1897: watch it being made at the creamery, then see the Dales Countryside Museum in the old station. The road north to Thwaite and Muker runs past the Buttertubs, potholes 20m deep where farmers are said to have cooled their butter on the way to market. Walk to Hardraw Force, a single 100ft drop, and at Aysgarth follow the Ure over its three limestone steps, used in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Mary, Queen of Scots was held at Bolton Castle nearby.

Editor's note

Two last nights, between Malham and Skipton, before the crossing home. Malham Cove is a curved limestone cliff 80m high, topped by a pavement of clints and grikes that the ice left behind; walk up to it and across the top. A mile east, Gordale Scar is a gorge with waterfalls in its throat, and Janet's Foss drops into a pool on the way. Tour Skipton Castle, one of the best-preserved medieval castles in England, ride the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, and walk from Bolton Priory up Strid Wood to the Strid.