Hipping Hall
Lake District, United Kingdom[view map]
Comments from members who've stayed at Hipping Hall
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We ate lunch in the Sun Inn in Kirkby Lonsdale. The meal was superb. The restuarant was well decorated and we whiled away a great couple of hours sampling the local beers! For outdoor equipment and discount clothing, pop to Gaynors in Ambleside to pick up some bargins. Ambleside is about 45 minutes drive from Hipping Hall, but is well worth a visit. Take the scenic route as opposed to the motorway – the views are spectular as you drive through the hills and alongside lake Windermere. Try the tasting at the hotel – it was really superb. The sommelier came up with some great wine recommedations. Take a walk up to the Ingleton waterfalls. The walk takes about two hours to complete and it's relatively easy going. The views are super.
We stayed Thursday and Friday and seemed to drop in on a bright spot in the middle of terrible weather conditions. Thursday saw a toss-up between the Old Man of Coniston and the falls at Ingleton. Obviously myself and my good lady wife decided to take on the Old Man – until we had breakfast, after that it was a quick lie down and then off to the gentler Ingleton falls. We had to pay, – think it was about £15 to park on the car park and do the walk (however if you do the walk in reverse and go throuigh the village first then I think it's free!). The weather held and, due to the amount that had been coming down from the skies over recent days, the waterfalls were tremendous: you could feel the power of them just walking along the footpaths. Two and a half hours later we had finished and headed off for a well deserved lunch in Kirby Lonsdale. There is a small café off the main street down one of the alleys (forgot the name) but it's always nice and reasonable so we rested our weary bodies over soup and sandwiches and contemplated how far up the Old Man we would have been by then!
Not strictly speaking a near-the-hotel recommendation, but a nice touch from the hotel itself. As a vegetarian is it very rare I have a range of options when eating out with meat-eaters. I emailed Hipping Hall prior to our arrival stating that I was a vegetarian and also did not eat mushrooms. On arrival, the hotel had noted this and designed a menu specifically for me for our evening meal. A very nice touch!
