HONISTER PASS

If you want to see more of the country without exhausting yourself with long walks, there's always the car. Honister Pass is one of the park's most popular tourist routes, between Borrowdale and Buttermere. This section of the B5289 rises to 332 meters and stretches for 6 km, with fantastic vantage points over both valleys. It can even be used as a starting point for some superb hikes, notably to Dale Head, where a path starts opposite the YHA Honister Hause inn. This is also the place to visit the former Honister Slate Mines, dug out of the bowels of the Lake District. The more adventurous can also try their hand at via ferrata, an exhilarating sport that's a cross between climbing and walking on a mountainside (information: ✆ +44 176 877 7230 - www.honister.com). For a loop back to Keswick, you can continue on the Newlands Hause road, which climbs up to the town from Buttermere, at the foot of several peaks.