Where To Stay In The Peak District Part 2

In choosing where to stay in the Peak District, one often finds oneself on the precipice, looking out over a myriad of options that range from the moorlands of the north to the copses, dells, caves, and lakes of the south, an area full of folklore, history, beauty, and adventure. The White Peak constitutes the lower lands in the south of the Peak District National Park, and is made up primarily of underlying limestone occasionally rising in sharp inclines and tree covered mounts, whose light qualities lend the area its name.

For those deciding on where to stay in the Peak District, wanting a slightly more Elysian setting offering pleasant views as opposed to rewarding hikes, then they will find the surrounding area in the southern part of the national park much at their disposal. Though most of the main towns and villages of the area fall outside of the official borders of the park itself, the White Peak plays host to the town of Bakewell, self proclaimed 'capital of the peak', and administration centre of the area. Easily accessible via the M1, the A6, rail, plane or bus, Bakewell is too well connected to the surrounding country to excuse avoiding a visit to this culturally enriched honeycomb, boasting five star cottage retreats, a preeminent agricultural show, and heaps upon heaps of heaped on history.

Bakewell, eponymous home of the Bakewell pudding, is situated on the banks of the River Wye, and was originally established by Anglo-Saxon settlers attracted by the warm springs, low lands for grazing, and ideal conditions for fishing. The weekly market in the town centre has been meeting for nearly 700 years, but more recent additions, such as the Bakewell Arts Festival and the agricultural Bakewell show, can be caught once a year along the banks of the Wye, and offer a cornucopia of entertainment and culture to locals, travellers, and tourists alike.

Outside of Bakewell, nearer to the villages of Flagg, Chelmorton, and Youlgrave, the history of agricultural is etched into the surrounding landscape, and the rural, rustic feeling underlines the sense of escape for which so many people yearly make the pilgrimage to the Peak District. With such landmarks as Bakewell's ancient roman five arched bridge, Thor's Cave, hidden within the many folds of Manifold Valley, and the Pennine Bridleway National trail, the White Peak offers the ideal retreat for those looking for where to stay in the Peak District, and is certainly not an opportunity to be passed up, but to be vigorously hunted down.

Read part three of this series on where to stay in the peak district.

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