Consistently ranked among the country’s best restaurants and flaunting two Michelin stars, L’Enclume is set in a former wheel-makers and smithy, hence the anvil symbol you’ll see smattered about the place. Chef-owner Simon Rogan was among the first in the modern British food scene to create menus revolving around local sourcing and foraging, and today much of the restaurant’s produce comes from its nearby 12-acre garden. The tasting menus don’t come cheap, but are well worth it if you’re marking a special occasion. For a more affordable but no less epicurean experience, opt for a set lunch at Rogan and Co., a two-minute walk around the corner. L’Enclume has several guest rooms available to book.

Legend says that an 18th-century landlady found a gaggle of dead ducks here and plucked them for supper, only to find that they weren’t dead but drunk from a leaking beer barrel. Today, The Drunken Duck Inn is one of Ambleside’s more upmarket pubs, but retains a cosy charm thanks to exposed beams hung with hops and a welcoming attitude to diners in walking boots. Once you’ve tucked into refined gastropub grub – lamb’s neck, treacle-glazed beef shin – you can head upstairs to one of its 12 rustic-luxe bedrooms.

L’Enclume alumni Kevin Tickle heads up the restaurant at the gothic Forest Side hotel, so it’s unsurprising its menus read like a love letter to the Lake District – with a penchant for pickling, curing and smoking too. Don’t be surprised to see staff pottering in from the kitchen garden; most of the fruit and veg that reaches your plate comes from here. The place earned a Michelin star within a year of opening in 2016, but this dining experience isn’t overly formal. If this whets your appetite for fine Cumbrian produce, reserve a table at The Cottage in the Wood, that serves a starred menu from the mountainside in Whinlatter.

It’s rare that a recommendation for a motorway service station rubs shoulders with others for Michelin-starred restaurants. Yet this family-run joint is no Roadchef. Buildings that pay homage to the Eden-district surrounds house award-winning farm shops and eateries that champion local produce. Plan a stop in your road-trip itinerary (it’s between junctions 38 and 39 as the M6 climbs from the Lune Valley to Shap Summit) to tuck into handmade Cumbrian pies and seasonal menus featuring beef and lamb from the nearby family farm. Like this? You can stay the night.