The best of the Peak District

Head to Bamford Edge for awe-inspiring views of the Dark Peak. This vantage point looks out over the Hope Valley and Ladybower Reservoir and is a stunning spot for watching the sunset. It gets busier than Blackpool on a sunny day so go on a weekday, or in the evening, or in rain, to soak up the beauty without the crowds. 

Buxton has long been a spa town but for many years it went without a high-quality spa. Then in 2020, the elegant 18th century Crescent building reopened as a five-star luxury hotel – with a restored Victorian spa pool fed by thermal water from the town’s ancient 27°C spring.

The classic vista of the grand 17th century house overlooking the River Derwent is the most famous image of Chatsworth, but this Peak District visitor attraction offers much more than a stately home tour. Its parkland, gardens, farm, adventure playground, shops, restaurants and places to stay bring more than 600,000 visitors a year to this beautiful corner of Derbyshire.

Sitting back-to-back on the boundary of the Peak District National Park, Coombes Edge and Cown Edge provide stunning views of Greater Manchester and Kinder Scout.

Fischers Baslow Hall delivers fine dining with local foraged aspects in homely, romantic surrounds. Using the fruits of the region when everyone else was importing from abroad, Fischers stuck to its guns and now does it arguably better than anyone else in Derbyshire.

Haddon Hall is a more intimate take on a typical stately home visit. It’s quite pricey but children get in free which makes it better value for families. Explore 900 years of history with a medieval banqueting hall and a grand Elizabethan long gallery.

This circular walk is an easy and scenic stroll that comes in at just under three miles, starting and finishing in the village of Hartington where there is a car park.

The Hartington Cheese Shop is a family-run business in a cute stone building overlooking the village duck pond. There has been a cheese shop on the premises for over 50 years so pop in for a piece of Dovedale Blue or Sage Derby and do your bit to keep the tradition going.

Catch the Hope Valley line train from Piccadilly to this picturesque Peak District village for a dip in Hathersage Swimming Pool, a heated lido built in the 1930s.

It’s one of only two official mountains in the misleadingly-named Peak District – and many people (myself included) would say it’s not really a mountain at all. This wild stretch of moorland between Hayfield, Edale and the Snake Pass is a high plateaux made up of gritstone edges and peat bogs, and if you go there looking for a pointy summit, you’ll be disappointed.

If you’re looking for eye-widening views of the Peak District and miles of contrasting countryside to explore on foot, take a trip to Longshaw Estate near Hathersage. This National Trust destination is one for the walkers with loads of routes setting off from its three car parks.

Mam Tor is one of the highlights of the Peak District in an area that’s full of gems. The name means Mother Hill because the frequent landslips have created a series of mini-hills around it. This geological instability caused by layers of shale also give Mam Tor its other name, Shivering Mountain.

Humbly describing itself as a “community gastropub”, The Pack Horse is raking in the glowing reviews, including by food critics making a special trip up from That London – it’s even been named one of the Top 50 Gastropubs 2022 and it’s Michelin Guide listed.

It’s the variety of attractions and things to do that make Pavilion Gardens Buxton special. This elegant Victorian park and pavilion has something for all seasons, which is lucky really considering Buxton is known for having a microclimate all of its own due to its high altitude. 

Not far after the road descends from the summit of the Snake Pass (the road between Glossop and Sheffield), you’ll find an area of Forestry England land known as Snake Woodlands.

Type ‘Rubber ducks Derbyshire’ into Google and your first result is this place – handy if, like us, you keep forgetting its name. Thornbridge Estate or Thornbridge Hall is a stately home with gardens, a house tour, a cafe, and kids attractions near Bakewell. Independently owned and restored by couple Jim and Emma Harrison, it’s a quirkier, good-value alternative to a National Trust day out.