EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Overlooked by the steep Borrowdale Fells, the B5289 cuts west at Seatoller, up and over the dramatic Honister Pass . Bus #77/77A comes this way, making the initial, steep mile-and-a-quarter grind from Borrowdale to the car park at the top of Honister Pass, by the Honister Hause   youth hostel (tel 017687/77267, ).

From Honister Pass, the B5289 follows Gatesgarthdale Beck for three miles and makes a dramatic descent into the Buttermere valley by Gatesgarth Farm   campsite and B&B (tel 017687/70256; no credit cards; £40-50), then runs another mile beside the lake - past more camping and rooms at Dalegarth (tel 017687/70233; £40-50; closed Nov-March) - to the youth hostel (tel 017687/70245, ) just before BUTTERMERE village. The village has two hotels: the Bridge Hotel (tel 017687/70252, ; £90-110, £110-150 with dinner) and the smaller Fish Hotel (tel 017687/70253; £60-70). There's simple camping at Syke Farm right by the lake.

The village itself - set between the two expanses of Buttermere and neighbouring Crummock Water - makes a good walking base, with a particularly easy two-mile hike out along Crummock Water's southwestern edge to the 125ft Scale Force falls. The four-mile, round-lake stroll circling Buttermere itself shouldn't take more than a couple of hours; you can always detour up Scarth Gap to Haystacks if you want more of a climb and some views.