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North West England 1 - Holiday Cottages in the Lake District

Lake District cottages offer the holiday visitor the opportunity to share in the beautiful natural scenery of this part of the UK; an area of lakes and mountains that is hard to beat. But the rest of the region offers some tremendous scenery and attractions too, so a holiday cottage in North West England can't come too highly recommended.

Cumbria and Lake District cottages

The Lake District has to be at or near the top of the shortlist of anyone wanting a cottage holiday in the Great Outdoors. Compared with its companion countries in the rest of the UK, England is notably short of natural lakes. Virtually all of them are concentrated in Cumbria, in the English 'Lake District'. What they lack in quantity they make up for in quality, because lakes like Coniston and Derwentwater sit in deep valleys scooped out by ice age glaciers. Sheltered and often mirror-smooth, they reflect the surrounding mountains and sky in their calm waters.

The lakes are complemented by pleasant towns and villages and some of the best-loved hills and mountains in the UK (including England's highest, Scafell Pike), giving superb walking at any time of year. Lake District cottages can be found within the towns, convenient for all amenities, or out in the countryside if you want to really get away from it all.

The Lake District has long been a favourite of writers and their characters as varied as Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome (who wrote 'Swallows and Amazons') and, of course, 'Postman Pat' of Greendale. The landscape that inspired them and countless others remains largely unchanged and is one of the great attractions of Lake District cottage holidays.

Lake District cottages on the coast

There is lots of good holiday accommodation in the towns and villages of the Lake District, but some of the best Lake District cottages are on the edges of the Lake District National Park or outside it, for instance on the coast at Broughton-in-Furness. The coast of Cumbria doesn't attract the same superlatives as the interior. The old and new industrial legacy at places like Barrow-in-Furness and Sellafield doesn't help, which is a shame as there are some attractive small towns and fishing ports like Maryport and Whitehaven.

The low-lying areas around Morecambe Bay in the south and the Solway Firth in the north have their own attractive towns, like Silloth-on-Solway with its cobbled streets and great views across the sea to Scotland. There are some good beaches too, for instance at Allonby near Maryport.

Other areas perfect for a cottage holiday in the Lake District include:

• Ambleside
• Keswick
• Grasmere
• Cockermouth
• Ullswater
• Hawkshead
• Elterwater

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