Where to stay in July

[Angelina]

Hope this is the right place to post. If not then please move.

My partner and I are planning to come to Keswick for about 10 days from the 12th July, probably a B&B, but a friend at work has said that it will be very busy at that time and not easy to park. Is this so? Should we plan to go somewhere else? I have looked over and over at maps and guidebooks and Keswick looks like the place to go, but we are not keen on crowds. Please advise.

[manutdfan]

Hi

Yes, it will be busy in July but why not stay just outside of Keswick (which is a great place). We stayed in a B & B called Hermiston in a village called Braithwaite. It is a great base to stay. On one side you have Keswick which takes about 30 minutes if that to walk too, depending how fast you walk but with spectacular scenery on the way. On the other is Bassenthwaite lake, which at the moment is home to Ospreys bringing up their young. The rooms at Hermiston have fantastic views and the host are great, as are the breakfasts! Check it out on <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hermiston-keswick.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.hermiston-keswick.co.uk</a><!-- m -->. Enjoy your stay!

[Angelina]

Thank you for that. On there website it does not say price or where they are. Buyt we found them on the Keswick web site (keswick.org) and see that they are beside the A66 main road. We are hoping for somewhere quiet, which is why we have now ruled out staying in Keswick as it seems there is a convention on at the time we want to visit.

We have drawn a 5 mile line around Keswick and are looking for somewhere in a quiet spot, preaferably with buses available and a minumum standard of 4 stars (possibly 3 stars if the location & facilities are right). We started looking on the Keswick website last night and started making a list of thise with rooms available at the time - there is a vacancy calendar system on the site. Some really nice sounding places are allready full, which I suppose means that they are good and we have left it too late to book.

Hope to decide within the next 3-4 days, so any other hints would be good?

[The Wanderer]

We found a nice place in Thornthwaite suggested to us by Paulette who also comes in this forum from time to time. We prefer to stay outside Keswick now as it is relatively quiet and a short drive into the town if you want to. The out of town places usually have car parking, too. We did try staying in Borrowdale, and it was quite good but at times there were traffic holdups getting out of the valley road into Keswick. If you don't need to get into Keswick then it is good, the walking is good and the natives are friendly. Mind you, all the scenery & walking is good.

[Gill]

Hi Wanderer
Can I ask you where did you stay in Borrowdale and what did you think of it? Borrowdale is my favourite place on earth!

[The Wanderer]

Hi Gill

We stayed in Grange, in a nice B&B which I see has now closed down called something-brigg. It was the lady there who advised us to go around the back of Derwentwater and through Portincale to get to Keswick when we were there over a bank holiday weekend. I enjoyed it in Grange with good walking down the valley, but it did get crowded!!!

[Gill]

Thanks for your reply. I love Grange at night when everyone has gone, I believe Hollows farm in Borrowdale is nice to stay at too.... We normally stay in self catering in Keswick but I would love to stay in a nice selfcatering house in Rosthwaite area but there are 7 of us and its hard to find. Any recommendations anyone?

[Angelina]

The Wanderer Wrote:We found a nice place in Thornthwaite suggested to us by Paulette who also comes in this forum from time to time.

Thanks for that. They were on our shortlist but were already booked, but we will call round and see the owners when we are up there to check the place out and perhaps book later in the year. Have booked a place in Newlands which does not do meals at night, so B&B only but a pub is not too far away. The more I read about the lake District the more I think I'm going to like it. Watched the Miss Potter DVD last week and have got the DVD of Julia Bradbury's walks to go through. Never done holiday planning by DVD before.