A Break in The Lakes

With lock down restrictions slowly starting to ease, I thought now would be a good time to share a break idea for later in the year. Two of my favourite things are autumn and The Lake District. Put them together and you get one of the places to get away and have a break! So that's exactly what I did in October 2020.

Chris, Harry the hound and I stayed in the little village of Finsthwaite. Close to Windermere, we found the perfect little place to stay called Tanyard Cottage.

This cute little cottage had everything we needed for our stay. A cosy log fire, under floor heating, kitchen, dining table and even a washing machine! The cottage can in fact sleep 3 but we didn’t end up using the second bedroom with single bed. Oh and how could I forget- it's dog friendly too!

Whilst staying in The Lake District we visited some fab places which I definitely think you should go to if you plan a trip here!

Our walk to Windermere

As I’ve already mentioned, Finsthwaite is close to Windermere, so close in fact that we were able to walk through a beautiful woodland area where we saw these rocks and the gorgeous light pouring through. 

It looked like a lovely little fairy den! And this was just the walk to Lake Windermere…

Windermere

Windermere itself is utterly stunning and is the largest natural lake in England. With trails, peaks and villages surrounding the Lake, there is plenty to do in or off land and the autumn colours really set it off too. 

We decided to take a boat trip to Bowness-on Windermere and take in the sights that way. The dog absolutely loved taking in the sights and smells this way too!

Bowness-on Windermere

This town is awesome! If you’re looking for a mix of walking and outdoor activities paired with some epic pubs- this is the place. Chris and I discovered The Crafty Baa, voted the AA Best Pub in England.

Opened in 2016, this family run pub is built using 80% of upcycled and recycled materials! The decor is wonderfully bizarre and if you're into your beer, they have a huge array on tap for you to try and enjoy. Chris was in his element!

Another great pub was The Angel Inn with its panoramic views over the town.

Aside from pub hopping there were some lovely shops to look round and eateries too that were all incredibly dog friendly!

On the way back from Bowness-on Winderemere we decided to stop at The Swann hotel for a little tipple and watch the sun set over the peaks and the river. 

Grasmere

Another gorgeous place to go is Grasmere. 

It’s the most picturesque village with more gorgeous views (would you expect any less in The Lake District?) and quaint gift shops and eateries as well as links to Williams Wordsworth. I will say though you’re best to arrive early if you want any chance of parking here. We’d originally looked to visit here on the way back from Catfell but we couldn’t get parked up for love nor money!

There’s some beautiful walks here around the valley with Allan Bank National Trust on your door step too. This is somewhere I’d have loved to have gone, especially as part of my 12 Trusts of 2020 challenge but alas it was closed at the time due to Covid. 

If you’re a lover of food, in particular ginger bread then you should definitely visit The Grasmere Gingerbread shop. It tastes and smells incredible with queues of people down the street. It also sells it’s own award winning rum butter and a variety of ginger themed foods such as toffee, fudges, chocolate and more!

Catbells Fell

Whilst in the lakes you need to do one of the fells right? Have you even done The Lake District if you haven’t done a fell?

I’m not the biggest of hill climbers, quite the opposite in fact but I managed to climb Catbells Fell slowly and steadily and the dog loved it too!

I can see why this is one of the most popular fells in the area too- the views are just stunning. I’ll let the photos do the talking here!

So these are just some of the places I'd recommend visiting in The Lake District. There are many more and I myself am yet to visit them but here's a starting point for sure! Have you been to The Lakes and if so where did you go?

The Dorset Weekender- Where to go on a whistle stop tour

It's been a little while since I blogged of late and to be honest I get pretty busy over the summer with things like travelling to Dorset for an epic weekend.

I wasn't planning on blogging about this trip but it was such a blast and I snapped so many photos, it felt almost rude not to!

We headed to Poole in Dorset last Friday afternoon and started the weekend with a Dorset Gin Cruise aboard then "Dorset Queen" with BH1 Gin as the main showcase gin of the evening.

The cruise itself was utterly gorgeous, getting to snap away in front of the Old Harry Rocks on the Isle of Purbeck.

So what was the gin like? Well the BH1 gin was gorgeous and my kinda gin, being very botanical. It actually contains 13 different botanical elements from juniper to pink grapefruit and even coriander!

As well as the BH1 gin there was a large array of other gins to choose from and cocktails too, with French 75s being a firm favourite on my list.

The cruise was just gorgeous, the atmosphere high with excitement and merriment from gin and the views simply breathtaking.

On Saturday we got a whistle stop tour of the area, starting with The Priory Hotel in Wareham for a spot of coffee and to soak up the sunshine.

This place reminded me so much  of the chateau Chris and I stayed in in France a few years back (this place) and to be honest with the weather being so glorious, we could've well been at a french chateau! 

I'd definitely love to stay here in the future as the hotel itself was just as gorgeous as the grounds and their afternoon teas look divine too.

Next we headed up the Jurassic Coast to Durlston Country Park and up Durlston Castle for a spot of lunch. 

Again we had spectacular views of the coastline and could see the Old Harry Rocks from a different angle as well as Poole Bay. There are lots of amazing walks and trails to explore here but as it was a whistle stop tour, we didn't get to explore. Again this is somewhere I'd love to return to as the walks looked awesome.

Our final stop was an island. Brownsea Island to be precise where we went to Brownsea Castle for a spot of tea and cake.

The castle itself is stunning and has a mix of architectural style due to being renovated over the centuries and in the grounds you can see deer, chickens and even red squirrels roaming around. We saw a red squirrel during our visit which just made my day, having never seen one in real life before!

The views and even the architecture as well as the Italian garden made us feel as though we were abroad. 

We were very privileged to have the opportunity to go in the hotel itself as its not actually open to the public but the island itself is definitly worth a visit for the wildlife views and more.

After all the tour stops on Saturday we headed back to Poole Harbour to the awesome boat we'd been staying on and drank way into the small hours.

If you're looking for a quick trip to Dorset, i'd definitely recommend visiting all these places in a 48-72 hour period but of course if you have longer I'm sure you could see much more or even just embrace these places that I did a whistle stop tour of.

Have you been to Dorset? Where would you recommend?