Best Scenic Place in Cumberland, England - Map and Reviews

The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, in the Lake District of northwest England, running approximately seven miles through some of the most breathtaking scenery in northern England. Often affectionately nicknamed "La'al Ratty" — "la'al" being a Cumbrian dialect word for "little" — it is one of the oldest and most beloved of Britain's many preserved miniature railways, operating on a gauge of just 15 inches. The line connects the coastal village of Ravenglass, where it meets the Cumbrian Coast mainline railway, with the village of Dalegarth near Boot in Eskdale. For visitors, it offers a genuinely magical way to penetrate deep into one of England's most unspoiled river valleys, without a car, at a gentle pace that allows the grandeur of the surrounding fells to be properly absorbed. It attracts railway enthusiasts, walkers, families, and anyone who finds a tiny steam locomotive pulling open carriages through wild lakeland countryside entirely irresistible. The railway's origins lie in industry rather than leisure. It was originally built in 1875 to serve the granite quarries and iron ore mines of Eskdale, initially to a gauge of 3 feet. For some years it carried both freight and passengers, but the mineral trade declined and the line fell into disrepair, eventually closing in 1913. It was rescued remarkably quickly: in 1915, a model engineer named W. J. Bassett-Lowke, famous for his model railway manufacturing company, along with the railway pioneer Sir Robert Walker, relaid the line to its current 15-inch gauge and reopened it as a miniature passenger railway. This was a bold and imaginative act of preservation well ahead of its time, decades before the broader heritage railway movement took hold in Britain. The railway passed through various ownerships and continued to operate through both world wars before eventually coming under the stewardship of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society, which has run it since 1960 in partnership with a operating company. This cooperative model has proved enduring and the railway today is in excellent health. In person, the experience of riding the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is one of sensory delight. Passengers sit in small open or semi-enclosed carriages hauled by beautifully maintained steam locomotives — some historic, some relatively modern but all of great character — and the journey unfolds at a pace that feels almost meditative by modern standards. The sound of the locomotive is intimate and immediate: the rhythmic puffing, the hiss of steam, the occasional piercing whistle echoing off the valley sides. The smell of coal smoke and hot oil drifts back along the train. From Ravenglass the line initially passes through some wooded lowland ground before climbing gradually into Eskdale proper, where the valley opens up magnificently and the high fells — the rounded shoulders of Scafell and its neighbours dominating the skyline to the north — come into full view. Intermediate stations such as Irton Road and The Green are charming halts in their own right, and the terminus at Dalegarth is a handsome little station with a café and good walking country immediately accessible. The surrounding landscape is the beating heart of this railway's appeal. Eskdale is one of the Lake District's quieter valleys, less visited than Borrowdale or Great Langdale, and it retains a wildness and intimacy that busier valleys have somewhat lost. The River Esk runs parallel to much of the line, cascading over granite boulders through native woodland of oak and birch. Hardknott Pass, one of the most fearsome road passes in England, looms at the valley's head, and nearby Hardknott Roman Fort — a remarkably well-preserved Roman installation that once guarded this mountain route — is within walking distance of Dalegarth. The coastal end at Ravenglass is equally interesting: the village sits at the estuary where three rivers meet the sea, and the estuary itself is a nationally important nature reserve for seabirds and wading birds. The Ravenglass end also has the remains of a Roman bath house, one of the tallest surviving Roman structures in northern England. The combination of prehistoric landscape, Roman history, industrial heritage, and living railway in a single valley is remarkable. I should flag an important note of caution about the specific coordinates provided, which point to approximately 54.05°N, 2.05°W. This location actually falls in the Lancaster / Yorkshire Dales border area of Lancashire — considerably south and east of Ravenglass, which is situated at approximately 54.35°N, 3.40°W on the Cumbrian coast. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is definitively and entirely located in Cumbria, in the Lake District National Park, and the postcode provided (PO105 1AA) does not correspond to a real Cumbrian postcode — Ravenglass itself uses the postcode CA18. I want to be transparent about this discrepancy rather than silently construct a description around incorrect coordinates. Everything written above about the railway itself is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but the railway is not at the coordinates given, and visitors should plan their journey to Ravenglass in Cumbria accordingly. Practically speaking, Ravenglass is reached by train on the Cumbrian Coast Line, which connects it to Carlisle in the north and Barrow-in-Furness to the south, and by road via the A595. Driving from the Lake District's more central areas — Keswick, Ambleside — takes around an hour over mountain roads. The railway typically operates services from spring through to autumn, with a reduced winter timetable; it is busiest during school holidays and summer weekends, when booking in advance is advisable. The full return journey to Dalegarth and back takes roughly an hour and forty minutes. Dogs are welcome, which endears the railway further to the walking community that uses it as a convenient way to reach the high fells of upper Eskdale without a car. The railway's website and the Ravenglass station itself offer good information about timetables, fares, and special events including seasonal steam galas.

Hadrian's Wall Path is one of England's sixteen National Trails and follows the route of the most significant Roman engineering project ever undertaken in Britain. The wall was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian during his visit to the province in AD 122 and stretched 73 miles from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway on the Solway Firth in the west. Its purpose was to define and defend the northern frontier of the Roman Empire, and it remained garrisoned for nearly three centuries. The walking trail runs for approximately 135 kilometres and is officially waymarked from coast to coast, allowing walkers to complete the full route in around seven to nine days depending on pace. The eastern sections begin at Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend, where an excellent museum and reconstructed sections of wall set the historical scene before the trail heads west into the open countryside. The central section, crossing Northumberland through some of the most dramatic landscape in northern England, provides the walk's most memorable miles. The wall's central section along the Whin Sill, a dramatic ridge of volcanic dolerite rock, offers the most iconic scenery. Here the wall follows the natural line of the cliff edge in great sweeping curves, with the Roman engineers exploiting the landscape's natural defensive potential to maximum effect. Housesteads Fort, perched on the Whin Sill, is the best-preserved Roman fort in Britain and gives a vivid sense of life on the frontier. The scale of the barracks, the granaries and the latrines is genuinely astonishing. Along the route, walkers pass through a remarkable concentration of Roman heritage: milecastles, turrets, vallum earthworks, bridges and garrison towns. Vindolanda, just south of the wall, has produced the famous Vindolanda Tablets, thin wooden writing tablets that preserve personal letters, shopping lists and military reports from the frontier garrison. They represent the largest surviving collection of written documents from Roman Britain and provide an intimate glimpse into daily life 1,800 years ago. The landscape itself shifts dramatically along the route. The eastern sections cross suburban Newcastle and pastoral farmland before the trail climbs onto the exposed moorland of Northumberland. The west brings a transition to gentler lowlands approaching the Solway Firth, with its wide tidal flats and distant views towards the Scottish hills. The variety ensures that even experienced walkers find fresh scenery throughout the journey. The path is accessible year-round, though the high central section can be challenging in winter weather. Luggage transfer services operate between the main stopping points, and accommodation options range from camping to comfortable guesthouses in villages along the route. Transport links at both ends make linear walking straightforward, and sections of the trail can also be enjoyed as day walks from the various visitor centres and car parks along the route.

Wastwater in the western Lake District is the deepest lake in England, a dramatically dark and sombre stretch of water beneath the Wasdale Screes whose combination of the exceptional depth, the towering scree slopes descending directly into the lake and the view from the head of the lake toward England's highest mountains, including Scafell Pike, Great Gable and Kirk Fell, creates one of the most powerful and most austere landscape compositions available in the national park. The lake has been voted Britain's favourite view in public polls and the comparison with competing candidates demonstrates the particular emotional weight of this austere scene. The Wasdale Screes on the south shore of the lake, a great slope of loose angular rock fragments descending some 600 metres from the summit of Whin Rigg and Illgill Head directly into the water, continue below the lake surface to a depth of approximately 30 metres before the lake bed itself at 79 metres depth, making the rock slope effectively 100 metres high when the submerged section is included. The visual impact of the scree falling directly into the dark water, with no beach or vegetation to interrupt the junction, is one of the most dramatic natural features in the Lake District. The head of the lake at Wasdale Head, where England's smallest church and the Wasdale Head Inn provide the only buildings in one of the most remote inhabited valley heads in England, provides the classic view of the great fells converging. The climbing and walking available from Wasdale Head, including the most popular route to Scafell Pike, make it one of the most important mountain bases in the national park.

Buttermere is one of the smaller and more perfectly formed lakes in the English Lake District, a ribbon of dark, clear water set in a valley enclosed by some of the most impressive fells in the district, including Red Pike, High Stile and Haystacks rising steeply from the southern shore and the lower but significant Mellbreak on the western side. The lake is fed by two valley streams and drains northward into Crummock Water, the larger lake downstream, and the combination of the two lakes in their mountain setting makes the valley one of the most consistently beautiful in the Lake District. Buttermere's most famous devotee was Alfred Wainwright, whose seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells devoted loving attention to the mountains surrounding the valley and who left instructions that his ashes be scattered on the summit of Haystacks, the fell he described as his favourite in all the Lake District. Wainwright's ashes were duly scattered at Innominate Tarn on the Haystacks summit, and the walk from Buttermere to Haystacks has become a pilgrimage for Wainwright enthusiasts, combining genuinely excellent fell walking with the emotional resonance of the landscape's association with one of the most beloved writers on the British countryside. The village of Buttermere, at the northern end of the lake between Buttermere and Crummock Water, consists of two pubs, a church and a farm, which collective modesty gives the settlement a character entirely appropriate to the landscape it inhabits. The Fish Hotel, now a pub and restaurant, was at the centre of one of the more extraordinary human interest stories of the early nineteenth century when its landlord's daughter, Mary Robinson, attracted national attention through her beauty and was deceived into a bigamous marriage by the impostor John Hatfield, whose subsequent prosecution and hanging attracted enormous public interest. The circular walk around Buttermere lake, approximately five miles and entirely manageable for most walkers, is one of the finest low-level lakeshore walks in the Lake District.

Helvellyn is the third highest mountain in England, rising to 950 metres above sea level within the Lake District National Park, and it is arguably the most dramatic of England's major peaks. While the summit plateau is broad and accessible in good conditions, it is the approach along Striding Edge that has made Helvellyn famous: a narrow, exhilarating arete of rock that requires confident scrambling and provides some of the finest mountain walking in England. Striding Edge extends east from the summit and drops sharply on both sides, with exposed sections of rocky crest that demand care and concentration, particularly in wet or icy conditions. Walkers who are comfortable on rough terrain and have a good head for heights find the ridge a thrilling experience; those less at ease can find an easier descent route that avoids the most exposed sections. The companion approach from the north, along Swirral Edge, offers a similarly impressive though slightly less severe ridgeline that gives access to the sharp subsidiary summit of Catstycam. The mountain holds a particular place in literary history. William Wordsworth and his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge both climbed Helvellyn in the early nineteenth century, and their experiences fed into the wider Romantic engagement with the Lake District landscape. A more poignant story attaches to the summit plateau, where a memorial plaque commemorates a dog named Fido who remained beside the body of his fallen master on the mountain for three months in 1805 before either was discovered. The incident inspired poems by both Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott. From the summit in clear conditions the panorama extends across much of the Lake District, taking in the full length of Ullswater to the east, the Helvellyn range stretching north and south, and on exceptional days the Isle of Man and the mountains of Scotland visible beyond. The eastern face drops dramatically into the deep bowl of Red Tarn, one of the most beautifully situated mountain tarns in the national park, and the angle of the corrie walls above it recalls the glacial forces that carved this landscape during the last Ice Age. Several approaches make Helvellyn accessible. The most popular start points are Glenridding and Patterdale on the shores of Ullswater to the east, with most walkers ascending via Striding Edge and descending by Swirral Edge or the Grisedale path to create a satisfying circular route. Western approaches from Thirlmere are gentler and longer. The mountain should be treated with respect; conditions on the summit can change rapidly and winter snow and ice make the edges genuinely serious mountaineering terrain.

Sale Fell is a modest but distinctive hill in the northern Lake District, rising to 359 metres (1,178 feet) above sea level near the town of Bassenthwaite. Despite being one of the smaller Wainwright fells, it offers remarkably expansive views that belie its humble elevation, making it a popular choice for those seeking a relatively gentle walk with substantial scenic rewards. The fell sits in splendid isolation between Bassenthwaite Lake to the east and the Wythop valley to the west, its rounded summit providing panoramic vistas across the northern lakes and fells that have captivated walkers for generations. The name "Sale Fell" likely derives from Old Norse origins, with "Sale" possibly coming from "salr" meaning hall or dwelling, suggesting early Norse settlement in the area during the Viking Age. The fell formed part of the medieval deer park associated with the nearby Wythop estate, and evidence of ancient field systems and boundaries can still be traced across its slopes. Alfred Wainwright included Sale Fell in his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, describing it as offering "far-reaching views in all directions" and particularly praising the perspective it provides of Skiddaw and the Solway Firth beyond. The physical character of Sale Fell is defined by its grassy, heather-clad slopes and gentle gradients, making it accessible to walkers of varying abilities. The summit itself is marked by a small cairn and offers a surprisingly airy feel, with the ground falling away on multiple sides to reveal the patchwork of fields, woodland, and water bodies below. On a clear day, the views encompass Skiddaw and Blencathra to the south and east, the broad expanse of Bassenthwaite Lake shimmering below, and the Scottish hills visible across the Solway Firth to the north. The walking experience is characterized by soft turf underfoot, the rustle of grasses in the breeze, and the calls of skylarks and meadow pipits that nest on these upland slopes during spring and summer. The surrounding landscape places Sale Fell within the quieter northern reaches of the Lake District National Park, an area less frequented than the central valleys but no less beautiful for its relative tranquility. Bassenthwaite village lies just to the northeast, while the larger settlements of Cockermouth and Keswick are within easy reach. The fell overlooks Bassenthwaite Lake, the only true "lake" in the Lake District (the others being "meres" or "waters"), which is an important nature reserve noted for its vendace fish and osprey population. To the west, the Wythop valley provides a pastoral contrast to the higher fells, with its scattered farmsteads and ancient woodland copses creating a landscape little changed over centuries. Access to Sale Fell is most commonly achieved from a small parking area near Wythop Mill, reached via minor roads from either the A66 or from Bassenthwaite village. The ascent typically takes between 45 minutes to an hour, following well-trodden paths through bracken and heather moorland. An alternative route begins from near the former Pheasant Inn on the eastern side, offering a slightly steeper but more direct approach. The fell is accessible year-round, though the paths can become muddy after prolonged rain, and winter conditions may bring snow to the summit. Spring and early summer are particularly rewarding times to visit, when wildflowers dot the grassland and young lambs populate the lower pastures. One of Sale Fell's most appealing characteristics is its suitability for evening walks, when the western sun casts long shadows across the landscape and the waters of Bassenthwaite Lake take on golden hues. The summit makes an excellent viewpoint for sunset, with minimal light pollution allowing for impressive displays of stars on clear nights. The fell is also notable for being one of the few Wainwright summits that can comfortably be climbed and descended within a couple of hours, making it ideal for those with limited time or as an evening excursion after exploring other parts of the Lake District. The fell plays host to various wildlife throughout the seasons, with red squirrels occasionally spotted in the woodland approaches and birds of prey including buzzards and the occasional peregrine falcon hunting over the open moorland. The heather moorland supports populations of red grouse, and the surrounding becks and streams provide habitat for dippers and grey wagtails. Botanically, the fell supports typical upland flora including bilberry, cross-leaved heath, and various moss species, while the lower slopes retain remnants of ancient hedgerows marking historic field boundaries. Despite its modest stature, Sale Fell has earned affection among fell walkers for its generous spirit—a hill that asks little in terms of effort but gives much in return through its views and peaceful atmosphere. The fell exemplifies a particular type of Lakeland experience, one that prioritizes contemplation and perspective over challenge and drama. Wainwright himself noted that the fell was "too good for an easy summit," a characteristically wry observation that captures the pleasant surprise many visitors experience upon reaching the top and discovering just how extensive the panorama actually is.

Hadrian's Wall is the most important Roman monument in Britain and one of the most significant surviving military frontiers of the Roman Empire, an eighty-mile barrier built across northern Britain between the Solway Firth and the mouth of the Tyne between approximately 122 and 130 AD on the orders of Emperor Hadrian during his visit to Britain. The wall, together with its system of milecastles, turrets, forts and the vallum earthwork to its south, represents one of the most ambitious military construction projects in Roman history and defined the northern frontier of Roman Britain for nearly three centuries. The wall was built primarily from local stone in the central and eastern sections and from turf in the west, with the stone sections providing the most impressive surviving remains today. At its completion it stood approximately five metres high with a parapet walk above, backed by a ditch on the northern side and the vallum, a flat-bottomed ditch with earth banks, on the southern side. Forts positioned at regular intervals along the wall housed the garrisons that maintained the frontier, with the major forts at Housesteads, Vindolanda and Chesters among the most extensively excavated and best-presented to visitors. The best-preserved sections are concentrated in the central sector where the wall runs along the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment, the hard volcanic rock that provides both ideal defensive high ground and, in some sections, the building material for the wall itself. The view from the high sections of the wall, with the open Northumberland landscape stretching to the horizon on both sides and the wall itself visible for miles in either direction, communicates the Roman achievement of this frontier with extraordinary clarity. The Hadrian's Wall Path national trail follows the wall for its full eighty miles and the site museums at the major forts hold outstanding collections of Roman finds.