lake district - advice on where to stay please

[laurawaterford]

Hi. We are thinking of visiting Lake District this year. I have been a couple of times years ago and always remember it as being beautiful, however I do not know quite where to begin to tour or stay. We will have about 5 days there, with our 4 (16yrs plus) teens. Where do I begin to look for the best places to visit, and also to stay. We are on a limited budget; prob £80-100 per night accomm. Is that possible?!

Thanks for any help

We have stayed in self-catering cottages in Rosthwaite (deep in Borrowdale) and in the Langdales. Those are very pretty valleys. There were pubs within staggering distance as well.

They were pretty cost effective compared with staying in Ambleside or Windermere although there isn't much there other than trees, mountains, silence and sheep (which suited me fine).

None of the cottages we stayed in were particularly large, there was only 3 or 4 of us. 6 might be a squeeze assuming you can find a cottage with 6 beds!

You can also have issues when deep in the valleys if there is a traffic incident that blocks the road out (we had that one year).

I wouldn't personally do Wasdale as it's a pain to get to by car and there is very little choice there, although some of my work collegues have camped there.

You could also try youth hostals... I've done that with about 10 of us (between the ages of 25 and 60) in the Dales.

We have a cottage in Buttermere bowderbeck.com that sleeps 7 we've gota couple of weeks left in July if that's any good for you? Cheers Kate

Personally I would head out west; Wasdale, Eskdale, Ennerdale, etc. It is further to get to, obviously. But in summer the "main areas" - Keswick, Derwentwater, Windermere, etc. do get very crowded. Also the accommodation is cheaper in the quieter areas.