It was while walking through Glencoyne Bay, between Grasmere and Ullswater, that Wordsworth spotted “golden daffodils… dancing in the breeze” and went on to pen his most famous poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Visit Dove Cottage (the poet’s former home) for daily readings or stop by his final resting place at St Oswald’s Church – Sarah Nelson’s gingerbread shop is a stone’s throw away. The Red Bank Road is perhaps the area’s most popular walk, but we recommend following the footpath along the west shore of Grasmere lake to the quieter Rydal Water where mirror-still reflections of Loughrigg Fell are broken only by wild swimmers and paddleboarders. Nearby Rydal Cave is well worth exploring.

As England’s largest lake, Windermere is saturated with folklore (look out for the ghost of a white horse walking on the surface) and, less surprisingly, is a magnet for watersport enthusiasts. Its shoreline that borders the town of Bowness-on-Windermere is trimmed with jetties. This is one of the national park’s most popular areas, so you can expect a little bustle as you trace the shore to the small towns of Ambleside or Windermere – home to the flagship Lakeland store. The Blackwell Arts & Crafts House is a must for aesthetes. Getting busy? Explore the less popular (but no less beautiful) Langdale Valley that runs west of Ambleside, stopping at the reed-fringed Elterwater lake and its quaint namesake village.

Overlooked by the wrinkled Old Man of Coniston mountain, Coniston Water is a five-mile slither of a lake, caressed by the trail-rich Grizedale Forest. Arthur Ransome based his children’s book Swallows and the Amazons here. Rent a rowing boat from the Coniston Boating Centre or hike to the beauty spot of Tarn Hows. Brantwood, John Ruskin’s former home, has a decent calendar of events, but we love the Ruskin Museum in Coniston Village for its cabinet-of-curiosities exhibits. A little farther north, the car-free cobbled streets of Hawkshead are lined with indie shops, cafés and inns. Between them, the Beatrix Potter Gallery houses original sketches of Peter Rabbit and co., while the Old Grammar School has a desk in which a young William Wordsworth carved his name. Always a penman.

It’s believed that wild cats once roamed the mountain of Cat Bells that rises up from the western shore of Derwentwater. Take an on-off boat ride around the lake before dipping in and out of buzzy Keswick’s boutiques and cafés – the Derwent Pencil Museum is something to write home about. Rainy afternoon? Visit the Keswick Museum & Art Gallery, book tickets for Theatre by the Lake or catch a film at the 1914 Alhambra cinema. The area is a great base for miles of walking routes: head to the rocky promontory of Friars’ Crag or brave a short but steep climb of Latrigg for views across the show-stopping peaks of Skiddaw and Blencathra. To really amp-up the drama, head east of Keswick to the neolithic Castlerigg Stone Circle framed by Helvellyn and High Seat mountains. Eerily stunning.

In need of near-complete seclusion? Venture beyond the headline-grabbing lakes and market towns to this peaceful pocket where woodland trails connect tarns and tea-shop-studded villages with whimsical names such as Crummock and Loweswater. Spot wildlife in the wetland nature reserve around Bassenthwaite (the Lakes’ only official lake) or take the more challenging walk across Honister Pass that rises 360m between the Borrowdale and Buttermere, where a memorial pays homage to the area’s most famous modern wanderer and mapper of the Coast-to-Coast walk, Alfred Wainwright.