Millions of people visit the Lake District every year, around fifteen million in fact, from all over the world. They come to visit an area of outstanding natural beauty, to walk on the fells, to get away from it all, and to simply slip back into a pace of life that favours humans, not machines.

William Wordsworth was born here, Samuel Taylor Coldridge famously climbed on Scafell, and Beatrix Potter chose to live here, as did Ruskin and numerous other luminaries of the literary scene. Is there something in the air?

Most visitors only see the tourist hot spots, but this guide will take you behind the scenes. You'll see the lakes through the eyes of someone who lives here, works here, and plays here. The best places are to be found off the beaten track ...

Unless you're visiting for a day, you'll need somewhere to rest your head at night. I'll point you in the right direction, whatever your accommodation needs.

And if you're an outdoor enthusiast, particularly a rock climber, stand by for descriptions of our climbing sessions in the Lake District.

There are many different types of accommodation to choose from:

Lake District Holiday Cottages

Click on the link for more information on every type of lake district accommodation

Today it's raining, yesterday it was raining, in fact it seems like it's rained the whole summer long in the Lake District.

We're used to having rain here, if we didn't have plenty falling the lakes would look a little less spectacular, but this is getting ridiculous.

The soggy weather has put paid to a number of Lake District shows as it did last year, with a notable recent exception being Lowick show which went ahead last Saturday despite the rain (yes it was raining on Saturday too).

It's all somewhat ironic that with the Lake District attracting record numbers of visitors due to the weak pound, most of them end up looking like drowned rats. I'm sure many of them will opt for a sunshine holiday instead next year, whatever the cost.

Still, that's the Lake District weather for you. That it will rain sometime is just a given, but now we want it to stop for a while please.