Boutique hotels, B&Bs, luxury country houses, inns, restaurants with rooms

. Blessed with abundant outdoor activities, this is obviously a hiker's dream destination, but it's also brimming with water sports opportunities, bird watching, historic sites, superb food and drink and a myriad of charming places to stay.

Cumbria is dominated by rural vistas, famously including the whole of the Lake District, the Eden Valley, the North Pennines, the Furness Peninsula, and part of the Yorkshire Dales. A favourite draw card is Beatrix Potter's house, where visitors can see the landscapes that inspired the writer to compose childhood classics including Peter Rabbit. Of course, with all that fresh air, it's little wonder that a classic afternoon tea is an integral part of any trip, while the best known towns and villages include Keswick in the north, and Windermere and Bowness in the south. Meanwhile, Cockermouth and Coniston are less prominent but just as worth visiting.

Much of the region is in national park administered by the National Trust, including other favourite visitor sites such as Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage and museum in Ambleside, and the family’s graves at St Oswald’s church in Grasmere.

With so much to see and do in this characterful part of the UK, it's little wonder that hotel accommodation is in high demand. Fortunately, the region's hoteliers have obliged with options ranging from luxurious and opulent country house hotels to unpretentious and cosy restaurants with rooms.