Why the Peak District?
The United Kingdom’s oldest National Park is also one of its most varied and appealing. The countryside is gently rolling in parts, yet moodily moor-covered and dramatic in others. It’s satisfyingly unsleepy, too.
Part of this comes from the hikers, bikers, hang-gliders and cavers who flock to the area at the merest hint of sunshine, but a lot is thanks to the endearingly busybody nature of the villages that give the Peak District its character.
It’s equal parts tea rooms, stately homes and home-made jam sales to cave adventures, glowering escarpments and muddy squelches through gorges. And it’s that variety that makes it such a reliable, easily accessible hit.
A comfortable bed
The Peacock at Rowsley is an old manor house, near Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall, where countless period dramas have been shot – the Pride and Prejudice cast stayed there while filming. But it has been given a delightfully modern makeover. Rooms cost from £180 (Dh959) per night, including breakfast.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese , a 17th-century coaching inn in Castleton, has old-fashioned charm as well as a brilliantly handy location. Double rooms cost from £80 (Dh426).
Losehill House Hotel & Spa , between Castleton and Hope, is surrounded by some of the Peak District's prettiest scenery. Rooms are bright and perky, but it's the swimming pool and hot tub that seal the deal. Doubles cost from £192 (Dh1,023), including breakfast.
Find your feet
Of all the Peak District villages, Castleton packs the most in. Kick off the day with a visit to the Peak Cavern, which in Victorian times was home to a community of rope-makers. The tours include a hands-on demonstration of how the ropes were made, before weaving through a series of caverns. Expect hilarious tales of how local "guides" blackmailed wealthy Victorian visitors into paying extortionate sums to get out.
Make sure that you’re wearing hiking boots for a glorious walk along the ridge line to the north of the village. This finishes at Mam Tor, the hill overlooking the village, which has epic views in all directions.
Descend from there towards Speedwell Cavern, which has been dug out over the centuries by lead miners. The tours at Speedwell involve a very claustrophobic underground boat ride. The simplistic metal craft inches through long, low-roofed tunnels, before ending at what the miners thought was a bottomless subterranean lake.
Meet the locals
The local tradition of well dressings has been going on for centuries, and most villages go through the painstaking process of decorating their wells with wood, mud, flower petals and other natural elements at some point in the year. A calendar can be found at www.welldressing.com. Get there on the day the dressing is unveiled, if possible, to capture the energy whipped up in the village.
Book a table
It doesn't get much more British than a Sunday roast, and the Poachers Arms does the meat, potatoes, veg, Yorkshire pudding and gravy combo quite splendidly. Homely in feel, with splendidly home-cooked food, it also serves up tremendous beef and blue-cheese pies for £13 (Dh69).
The Michelin-starred Fischer's at Baslow Hall has a more refined feel, and offers a strongly meaty, gamy menu. Three courses cost £72 (Dh384), and sample dishes include saddle of venison with quinoa, textures of beetroot and juniper sauce.
Shopper’s paradise
The Peak District is full of walkers, climbers and cyclists, so it’s no surprise to see the streets of the towns and villages full of outdoors and adventure shops. In the likes of Bakewell and Hathersage, in particular, almost every other building is occupied by one.
Castleton, meanwhile, has its very own semi-precious stone. Blue John (a corruption of “bleu jaune” that French customers dubbed it because of its blue and yellow colours) is still mined from the caves around the town – and sold in dozens of souvenir shops.
What to avoid
Matlock Bath is an inexplicably popular spot, but it has the feel of a fish-and-chip-shop-filled, old-fashioned British seaside town that has somehow got lost inland.
Don’t miss
The village of Eyam has a remarkable yet tragic tale to tell. In 1665, the plague struck, and in an extraordinary act of self-sacrifice, the villagers agreed to seal themselves off from the world to prevent it spreading elsewhere. The Eyam Museum tells the story – and points towards the still-standing houses, gravesites and wells that form the heart of it.
Getting there
Emirates flies from Dubai to Manchester from Dh4,685 return. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Manchester from Dh4,115 return.
Direct trains from Manchester go along the Hope Valley Line to many Peak District villages. Check times and prices via www.nationalrail.co.uk
