Lakes District - UK visit!

In 3 weeks from now I'm taking the family off to the UK. Mostly will be catching up with family, but we have organised 5 days near Keswick in the lakes district. So I'm just asking here to see if anyone can suggest some must see places any where within a few hours drive. I've been trawling the forums and flickr, even google maps Deep down i'm hoping for snow (never had a chance to see it here yet in Australia).

Castlerigg is a definite. Might even look at driving up to Scotland. So is there any top suggestions. I imagine there will be plenty we will be able to stop and see - castles, ruins and all. But any awesome landscapes that are a must, post up please

hdn177 wrote in post #13359000
In 3 weeks from now I'm taking the family off to the UK. Mostly will be catching up with family, but we have organised 5 days near Keswick in the lakes district. So I'm just asking here to see if anyone can suggest some must see places any where within a few hours drive. I've been trawling the forums and flickr, even google maps Deep down i'm hoping for snow (never had a chance to see it here yet in Australia).

Castlerigg is a definite. Might even look at driving up to Scotland. So is there any top suggestions. I imagine there will be plenty we will be able to stop and see - castles, ruins and all. But any awesome landscapes that are a must, post up please

Check out Tony Richards' Lakeland Cam for his daily photo postings from around there. Remember, he posts a complete replacement page every day; the previous week's photos are at the This Week on the Cam link at the bottom of the page.

You might also want to visit the Steamboat Museum on Windermere or the Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry near Abbott Hall.

If you (or others in the family) ever read any of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books, that's where it all began. You might also ask over at TARBoard (The Arthur Ransome Board).