Looking for some advice…..

Me and Mrs Me are heading to Yorkshire for the Tour de France and are staying here for the second half of the week so having never been we are planning to go to the Peak District for the first half of the week.

We’d like to do a day or twos riding but beyond that we have no plans so I’m:

a) Looking for recommendations on places to stay for half a week (camping/B&B/self-catered/etc)
b) Looking for suggestions on non-biking things to do

Thanks in advance!

DAVE

Road or mountain bike? The Hope/Derwent Valley area is the honey pot for mountain biking and also has some great road riding (including some classic climbs such as Winnat’s Pass). Castleton is a pretty place to stay and has no end of accommodation. There are also loads of good walks, show caves and touristy shops to spend money in. It can also get VERY busy though…as can the trails.

Buxton is not far away which usually has some good shows on at the Opera House if that’s your thing and in fact can be (relatively) buzzing in July during the Festival period.

Chatsworth House is worth a day out if you’re into huge old buildings, with Bakewell the nearest decent sized town for drinks and eats. It too can get busy.

I could keep going. Give me some clues as to what floats your boat…

If you’ve never been, Chatsworth is great. Rides round there as well.

Somewhere different to visit, maybe the Chestnut Centre near Chapel. Also good riding nearby.

Cheers guys, very helpful. I much prefer to go on recommendations and local knowledge rather than following the normal Tourist Information Route.

We’d be mountain biking.

We are also taking Mini Me (15 months old in July) and Grandma/Grandpa to do baby sitting whilst we go out riding. We’re really flexible on what to do and would rather take a list of things that offer a good mix of outdoors things (if the weather is good), indoors things (if the weather is bad), grown-up things (for adults) and things for families accross the full spectrum from adventure to culture.

Keep the suggestions coming!

DAVE

Have a look at the Ladybower Inn for accommodation. Great food and drink. Biker and walker friendly and you can ride, walk straight from the door. Also on the Sheffield side so is near to other things to do

If you’ve got kids and grandparents in tow I’d wouldn’t recommend the Ladybower Inn as a good spot to stay. It’s in a fantastic location for easy access to walking and riding (and climbing for that matter) but if you weren’t doing any of those you’d feel a bit isolated. It’s also on the main A57 between Sheffield and Manchester, so not a peaceful location for just pushing a pushchair from and not much to do other than outdoor activities.

The Peak District is not huge and if you stay fairly central (e.g. Buxton or Bakewell) you have loads nearby. Bakewell is the prettier town but the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton is a fantastic spot for kids and grandparents. Although technically not in the Peak District, Buxton has great riding from the doorstep and places like the Hope Valley are not even 30 minutes away.

Matlock Bath for Heights of Abraham cable car, Riber Castle (and zoo) and a high street by the river that almost feels a bit like a seaside town.

Loads of pretty villages; easy strolls down the Manifold Trail followed by a pub lunch at Hulme End, Hartington, Warslow… take your pick. It’s a little quieter in this Staffordshire end of the National Park. Just a little 🙂

Outdoor swimming pool at Hathersage; another nice village with amazing outdoor activities on the doorstep. Another one that gets busy.

If I didn’t have to get back to work I’d keep going…

Wirksworth. Right on the southern edge of the Peak District. Matlock bath, Bakewell, Ashbourne, carsington water etc all less than half an hour away. Lovely town with loads to do and great riding from the door. Several cheap cottages in the area. Also not so touristy, did I mention I’m from there..

did I mention I’m from there..

Ooh interesting. Fancy showing me some of the riding?

Where you based still?

Still in Leek, but don’t really get over your way on the mountain bike

Chatsworth House is a huge rip off. It’s an impressive house alright, but £30 to walk around the small select area that’s open to the public is a joke. I felt like I’d be violated.

I can recommend staying anywhere around the Hope valley or Derwent. castleton, Hathersage or Hope are all good with great access to the outdoors. You can’t go wrong for walks and biking. Best non-bike thing I did around there was the caves near Castleton.

Just bear in mind that the dark peak (hope, hathersage, bamford, Edale) offers a different kind of riding to the white peak towards Buxton , bakewell etc

(Dark peak = steeper, gritty big rocks and in my humble opinion more fun!)

Thanks guys, keep it coming!

DAVE

Oh and be prepared for some tough routes – I minced a mere 15 miles last Saturday but took in about 2300 ft of climbing :-/

DAVE!

I’m out local every Tuesday evening and Saturday mornings barring work/family stuff. I could pretty much describe anything from 10 to 20 odd milers bringing in a (enters secret difficult to crack code names) certain rocky area and a certain shiny woods.
The routes can also probably be found on my STRAVA profile if that’s any good?

Just bear in mind that the dark peak (hope, hathersage, bamford, Edale) offers a different kind of riding to the white peak towards Buxton , bakewell etc

Yes, but…

The Dark Peak is typically gritstone and moorland and a lot of it is reasonably fast draining and often makes for better wet weather routes than the limestone-based White Peak. However there’s some great, well-drained, weatherproof riding on grit moors and valleys to the south and west of Buxton that is nearer than trundling off to Hope/Derwent valleys if Buxton is your base. It’s quieter too. You don’t need to go to the traditional “Dark Peak” area to get Dark Peak style riding. Confusingly a lot of the area around Hope is actually limestone!

What the honeypot of Hope/Derwent does offer is a high proportion of linked off-road riding with relatively little road-work compared to, for example, the stuff near the Staffordshire/Cheshire borders.

Wrightyson, who are you on Strava?

Don’t get too exited about Riber castle (and zoo) as it shut years ago and is now in the late stages of being converted into posh “appartments” for wealthy incomers.

If you have a small person and grandparents, my suggestion for the Chestnut Centre ticks a lot of boxes while you are riding

Riber Zoo has been closed for quite a while ago. Darwin Forest on the moors above Darley Dale is good place to stay (make sure that lock your bikes up as one was nicked a few weeks ago) – about 10 mins from Chesterfield has indoor play area and a fitness centre. There a few interesting routes that you can join plus there is a farm park a matter of a few minutes away, ideal for Matlock, Chesvegas, Chatsworth, Haddon, Bakewell, Peak Rail etc

Wirksworth, fine place that it is.
Did I mention I also live there.

So you an inbred like me mac or an out of towner with money 😉

Christ on a bicycle, don’t go to the Dark Peak.

Fear the bogs

Looks convincing.

Been here 18 years.
But am Derbyshire born with 15 years in Nottingham.