Places I can’t wait to get back to...

The Filling Station in Keswick. This popular biker café makes quality brews just off the A66 – perfect if you don’t want to go into town (fillingstationcafe.co.uk, 017687 72103)

The Linnet Hill Guest House in Keswick has a friendly, trusting feel which can be a rare thing these days. (linnetthillkeswick.co.uk, 017687 44518, doubles from £90pn).

The Deli at the Rheged Centre, specifically in the fuel station. It’s rare to find quality food and drinks in the same place you fill up your car but here they have it all under one roof and that roof is covered in grass (rheged.com).

The Coniston Coppermines youth hostel.

It’s out there in the mountains, without being cut off (yha. org.uk, exclusive hire only at present).

The Quiet Site near Ullswater is as its name suggests, quiet. It has space for all the usual camping and caravanning activities, but also luxury pods and a quirky bar (thequietsite. co.uk, 017684 86337).

My guilty pleasure is to look in the Nordic Outdoor shop in Keswick. I mostly look as I can rarely afford any of the lovely stuff and there are only so many axes one man can buy (nordicoutdoor.co.uk, 01768 780550).

Zeffirellis in Ambleside is a consistently tasty vegetarian restaurant with great pizzas (I always have the Toscana) and there’s even a cinema (zeffirellis.com, 015394 33845).

Just outside the Lake District (in fact part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park), I always make the excursion over to Sedbergh to check out the secondhand bookshops.

Also west of the M6, there’s a wonderful shop called GR & RD Taylor Ltd in Kirkby Lonsdale. It’s a general and army surplus store and for me this place is a treasure trove (gr-rdtaylor.co.uk, 015242 71170).

For more info go to visitlakedistrict. com or call Keswick visitor information centre on 0845 901 0845.