Derbyshire - advice and recommendations

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We have booked a cottage in Bakewell for our summer break. It’s a completely new area for us to holiday in, as we normally go to the south coast. Please can I get some recommendations of things to do/see or places to eat etc.

It will be me, DH and 2 Dc (10 & 13) and we have a week to make the most of.

Thank you.

Walk along the Monsal Trail form Bakewell to Hassop. At Hassop Station,you can hire bikes to cycle more of the trail. They have ebikes as well as mountain bikes. If you don’t fancy cycling, there’s a lovely cafe at the station.
Chatsworth House and farm shop is a must-visit.
Peak Rail and Heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath are both worth a visit. If possible, try and get out to Crich Tramway and/or Black Rocks but you might think they’re too far. The Fishpond is a very popular place to eat in Matlock Bath.
River Tubing with a company called Rapid Horizons is quite pricy but such good fun.
Robin’s Hood Stride is a nice place for a walk.
Peak Cavern is a great day out with kids.

Castleton....climb up Mam Tor. Great restaurant in Castleton...1530. Devil's Arse Pizza .

Blue Johns Cavern is worth a visit. Underground caves to explore.

Absolutely love Derbyshire, hugely underrated, lots of bike trails which are traffic free and mostly flat, fantastic foodie pubs, beautiful scenery

Bakewell Puddings.

Worth the trip alone.

(They are not tarts).

Definitely do the Blue John Mines and Speedwell Cavern.

the bike trails mentioned are good, you can also walk them.
chatsworth house
dovedale and the stepping stones are a nice walk
the caves at castleton.
there is a nice otter place on the west side of the Peaks, totally forgotten the name of it.

YY to Chatsworth and the Heights of Abraham.

Also Manchester is a quick and easy day trip - lots going on there.

Bakewell Pudding at the Original Pudding Shop for pudding (and lunch with a BP gin!).

Breakfast at the Old Smithy in Monyash. Dinner at the pub next door!

Wild swimming in Youlgreave. Not much shade there so get there early and sit on the right (just after the bank) under the tree and you'll be in shade all day.

I forgot Eyam, the plague village. A look around the museum and then a short walk to the Boundary Stone and back.

Lunch at the tea room is optional!

Hathersage has a lido and you can also do a walk to some beautiful stepping stones. Just as pretty as Dovedale and far less busy.

Hardwick Hall is a smashing NT property as is the one beginning with L near Disley... Lyme Park? Reckon that's an hour or so travel time though. There's also The Children's Country House at Sudbury which has its toy museum open and nice gardens. Obviously if you don't have NT membership then Chatsworth is the one to visit, absolutely breathtaking.

Belper is a nice town probably 30 mins from Bakewell, lovely river gardens and lots of quirky little shops, vegan cafes etc.

Matlock Bath is fun and has some amusements including a small cheap and slightly odd Aquarium as well as chips / ice cream!

Hathersage walk peakdistrictkids.co.uk/hathersage-stepping-stones/

Three Shires Head, great for waterfalls and wild swimming, Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, Erwood Reservoir walk and the ruins of Erwood Hall, Tissington Trail is an old railway trail that is mainly flat. You can hire bikes there. Arbor Low is a neolithic stone circle, climb Kinder and see the old plane wreck, The Devonshire Arms at Beely near Chatsworth, beautiful food and local ingredients. Whaley Bridge is lovely, you can grab a sandwich at The Bridge Bakery and take it up to the damn which burst in 2019, quite I teresting to see. Have a lovely time x

Chatsworth, obviously, but also Haddon Hall is worth a visit.
Hathersage Lido is great.
Monsal Trail.

Thanks all! Some fantastic ideas here. DH likes the sound of Bakewell Pudding gin! We have NT membership so do like to take advantage of that.

Heights of Abraham is very expensive and not worth it

Hardwick hall, eyam village, monsal trail on bikes.

Take walking boots or sturdy trainers for all!

Some good suggestions on here, such as the Monsal Trail and Chatsworth grounds (the house is beautiful, but very expensive to go round). However, I wouldn't go to Matlock Bath. It's not very nice. Bakewell itself was heaving last week, you could hardly walk round or get in any shops.
Go to Castleton, park well outside, and go up to Peveril Castle.

Poole's Cavern near Buxton has been recommended to me.

Castleton is a really nice town, though it can get busy. Depending what the kids like doing, there is a ruined castle which is very atmospheric, the Blue John cavern, Treak Cavern, and my favourite, Speedwell Cavern, where you can do an underground boat trip. There's also the Devil's Arse cave, which is quite fun (named because it makes farting noises when the river inside is high). There are some nice places to eat there too, and good walking of course.

My favourite walk in the area is Curbar Edge - you can park just above Curbar village and then walk all along the edge, which is rocky but relatively flat, no huge ups and downs if you have grumpy walkers who don't want to go uphill.