The UK does a pretty fine act when it comes to autumn; those piercing blue skies, sharp frosty air, flame-coloured trees, and drifts of crisped leaves that cry out to be crunched.
The Lake District, however, takes it a step further by adding great mirrors of water that reflect the surrounding tawny landscape to mesmerising effect. Some of the fell-tops may be dusted with snow, too. Ok, it often rains but that can lend a romantic mistiness.
While the area is never empty of visitors, in autumn there are fewer which means less people to dodge when going round attractions or climbing the popular fells or trying to frame that view.
Autumn also means hearty things on the menu – game, roast vegetables, comfort puddings – plus an easier chance to bag a place at one of the area’s thirteen Michelin-starred restaurants (one of which, Heft, has just added bedrooms). And then there are those things that can only happen when the days are shorter: canoeing and wild swimming in the dark, ending a walk in the pub as dusk falls, and a whole festival devoted to dark skies.
Prices drop, too, with many hotels and inns offering tempting deals. If you’ve always fancied that swish place, or that cosy inn with the toasty fires, now is the time to see what’s on offer.
Whatever you choose to do, your packing list must include hats, scarves, gloves and, obviously, waterproofs. Then you’re all wrapped up and ready to go.
1. Autumnal scenery
It would be difficult to take a poor photograph when the Lake District is in its autumnal finery. It’s like a model that doesn’t have a bad side; everywhere seems to fix you with a come-hither look from burnished bracken to trees that spin through the colour palette from acid yellow and honey-gold to copper and hot-pepper red. Throw in a lake for those reflections and you’re on to a winner. Rydal Water and Crummock Water are soft and wistful; Haweswater eerily beautiful; Derwentwater just gorgeous.
2. Exceptional dining
Food is increasingly a reason to visit the Lakes at any time of year with its flush of Michelin-starred restaurants and rich offering of gastropubs and bistros. Come autumn, their kitchens make the most of local produce. The George and Dragon at Clifton has venison from their own Askham estates, as well as foraged mushrooms and berries. Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred restaurants in Cartmel can plunder their farm, around a mile away. In Grasmere, the Yan’s modern bistro has a gutsy mushroom goulash on the menu and a tangy, autumnal smoked Cumbrian duck salad. And then there are the autumn fruit crumbles – a wicked treat on any menu, but especially those at Loweswater’s Kirkstile Inn.
3. Exhilarating walks
Your nose is red (and probably running), your boots are muddy, you can see your breath, and your hair is trying to escape from your woolly hat. But you’re feeling exhilarated. And now that you’ve worked up a pace on your walk, you can feel your fingers. Walking in the Lake District on a cold autumn day gives an unbeatable buzz of endorphins – yes, even when it’s raining. The bonus is that there are fewer people on the fells clogging up the routes. And if you want a leaf-crunching walk, try Grizedale Forest or Claife Heights above Far Sawrey, Low Hows Wood (with a diversion up to Castle Crag) near Grange in Borrowdale, or Skelghyll Wood and up on to Wansfell Pike above Ambleside.
4. Cosy pubs
After your walk the only sensible thing to do is head to the pub which, preferably, has a blazing fire. The legendary Wasdale Head Inn is an obvious choice if you’ve been tackling some of the heavyweights – including Scafell Pike and Great Gable – from Wasdale. The flag-stoned bar, with vintage climbing photographs and toasty fire, is the place to swap the day’s tales. In the neighbouring valley, Eskdale, the traditional bar of the Woolpack Inn serves the same purpose. The Black Bull, in Coniston, brews its own beer at the back – try the Bluebird Bitter – while Tweedies Bar in the centre of Grasmere has around 15 real and craft ales and ciders.
5. Fewer crowds
Always been put off by the crowds at the area’s popular attractions? Now is the time to visit. Entry to poet William Wordsworth’s home in Grasmere, Dove Cottage, is every 20 minutes, but you might be able to turn up without booking ahead. Similarly, Beatrix Potter’s home, Hill Top, near Hawkshead, is normally teeming with people; but you’ll need to hurry as it closes on November 3 for the season. On the west coast, Muncaster Castle’s woodland is ablaze, plus it offers some startling Hallowe’en events including a night-time flying owls’ display.
6. Accommodation for less
Autumn is when you can pick up tempting offers from hotels and inns keen to attract guests after the summer crowds have disappeared. The quality, the service and the views remain the same – they just cost less. The Kirkstile Inn, near Loweswater, a traditional inn with robust food, offers overnights including dinner from £170 per night; the eponymous Ambleside Townhouse, on the edge of town, has doubles from £99 (£178 for two nights); from November, the Pheasant Inn, near Bassenthwaite, has no-frills rooms and pub grub from £99, with an evening meal. For indulgence, the Swan Hotel at Newby Bridge has an overnight stay with evening meal and house wine, plus two hours in the indoor/outdoor spa (normally £40pp) and a Temple Spa gift box, from £333.
7. Wild swimming
Wild swimming takes on a fresh appeal in autumn. Not only are many lakes fringed by autumnal-coloured trees but, as water takes longer to heat up (and cool down) than land, lakes are often at their warmest by the end of the summer. If you need encouragement, Another Place on Ullswater offers guided sessions (dry robes and floats provided) including full moon and star-gazing night swims (from £40pp). If you prefer to be on rather than in the water, slide into a canoe on Coniston Water for a tranquil sunset and starlit paddle with a mid-way stop for a hot brew (Path to Adventure; adult £54, child £49).
8. Spot the stars
Ennerdale, in the north west, is officially recognised as a Dark Sky Discovery Site, is blissfully untroubled by street lights and its lake, Ennerdale Water, has no lakeside road, although there are two car parks. Wasdale, the neighbouring valley to the south, is also a good star-gazing spot. Cumbria Dark Skies Festival (25 October-24 November) offers intriguing ways to embrace the magic of the night skies, from an “auditory” forest walk – listen out for owls – with hot drinks and marshmallows, to a night-time run and yoga session. There are also night-time walks and “have a go” sessions with keen astronomers.
9. Festival time
Festivals are not only for the summer. And Kendal Mountain Festival (21-24 November) is about more than mountains, offering music, films, activities and talk shows, all with an undercurrent of the big outdoors. Expect talks from extraordinary adventurers, DJ sounds and landscape events, trail running and outdoor art workshops. Despite its name, Penrith’s Winter Droving takes place in the autumn (26 October) and is a boisterous celebration of the end of the harvest season with street performers, and a fire and lantern procession. Holker Hall starts to get festive with its Winter Market; (1-3 November); Ulverston turns back the clock for its Dickensian Festival (23-24 November); while Keswick and Ambleside light up for their Christmas switch-on (15 and 16 November, respectively).
10. What’s new
This autumn, for the first time you can enjoy a meal at Kevin Tickle’s Michelin-starred Heft, in High Newton, and then toddle off to one of the restaurant’s newly opened bedrooms (from £250, including breakfast). In Ambleside, chef Ryan Blackburn has recently opened The Schelly (named after a rare Lakeland fish) to offer a casual alternative to his Michelin-starred Old Stamp House, where several seats are always reserved for walk-ins. And, in October, family-run Muddy Boots Walking Holidays are launching a new self-guided walking trip just in time to catch the autumn colours of Borrowdale, arguably the area’s loveliest valley.
11. Autumn magic
If you’re quick, you can witness the extraordinary spectacle of the deer rutting season when stags let out their haunting bellows and grunts, and engage in antler jousting to show who’s top stag. Martindale, at the south-eastern end of Ullswater, is one of the best spots, with a 300-year-old red deer herd. Hiking Highs know where to find them on their guided deer-rutting walks. Red deer might also be seen around Haweswater, where autumn is also a good time to spot buzzards and peregrines. For a cacophony of migrating birds, head to the saltmarshes of the Solway estuary. Some 26,000 barnacle geese, from Svalbard, land here along with pink-footed geese, whooper swans and wigeons.
12. Creative pursuits
We don’t like to mention the C-word – but it is getting close. Autumn would be a good time to unleash your inner craftiness and hand-make some one-off gifts. Higham Hall, a splendid late Georgian mansion, above Bassenthwaite Lake with views to Skiddaw, offers courses from quilting to stained glass, willow basket-making to cartoon-drawing. At the joyfully named Quirky Workshops, in a restored barn near Greystoke, learn how to make felt slippers or impress with swirling calligraphy, among other options. In Far Sawrey, near Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top home, the Pure Lakes workshop is olfactory heaven, where you can concoct your perfect essential oil blend to create personalised soap and candles.
