Lake District National Park

Covering 2,362 km2 of Cumbria, the Lake District is often treated as the yardstick for other UK parks. It holds Scafell Pike (978m), England's highest mountain, plus Wast Water, its deepest lake, and Windermere, its longest and largest. The genius of the Lakes for families is range: you can potter round Tarn Hows or ride the Windermere ferries and steamers one day, then tackle Helvellyn's Striding Edge the next. Literary pilgrims get Wordsworth's Dove Cottage and Beatrix Potter's Hill Top, while the honeypot villages of Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick keep tea rooms and gear shops close at hand. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.