The Spectacular Lake District

Three nights in the Lake District, self-guided from a single base at Kendal, in the guest’s own car.

The passes are the reason to book this one. Wrynose and Hardknott, taken end to end between Little Langdale and Eskdale, are the steepest public roads in England, with gradients of one in three and blind hairpins where meeting another car means someone reverses.

The Castle Green at Kendal is the base, a Victorian building beside the ruins of Kendal Castle, with a welcome dinner on the first night and two full days free. Kirkstone Pass is the third of the suggested routes, the highest in the district, linking Ambleside in the Rothay valley to Patterdale above Ullswater, and far more forgiving than the other two. Between them the road book covers the rest: Honister, Whinlatter, Newlands and the lake roads, which are narrow, walled and beautiful, and busy in school holidays.

Three nights at the Castle Green, three breakfasts, the welcome dinner, a road book with maps, drives and local attractions, a commemorative rally plate and hotel parking are all included; lunches, other dinners and fuel are not. Four days from one base with no need to move the luggage suits the district well, since nothing in it is more than an hour away. Hardknott and Wrynose are best attempted early in the day and out of season, and anyone driving something long, low or wide should read the gradients before committing to them. Four days is a long weekend rather than a touring holiday, and the two free days are enough to do the three named passes properly with time left for the lakes.