Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

Walk up to the summit of Win Hill, north_west of Bamford, for a classic panorama of the surrounding countryside. Or at Bretton, step out of the Barrel Inn (+44 (0)1433 630856; www.thebarrelinn.co.uk), for an eyeful over Eyam Edge.

Arts and culture

Set among Capability Brown gardens, Chatsworth House (www.chatsworth.org) is the classical Palladian centrepiece of one of England’s most celebrated aristocratic estates. Another elegant spot is Buxton, a fashionable spa town during the 18th century, now with a restored opera house and high-profile summer arts festival.

Something for nothing

Watch a bunch of hanky-flappers in action in Winster, a former mining village south of Bakewell that’s home to one of Britain’s oldest Morris-dancing troupes. During summer, they perform outside the Market House, and also hit the local pubs to give new routines an airing year-round.

Shopping

Bakewell Pudding (never ‘Tart’) tastes best when you have purchased it ceremonially from one of the market town’s many purveyors – we like the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop in the main square (+44 (0)1629 812193). www.bakewellpuddingshop.co.uk). Stilton-lovers should make a pilgrimage to Hartington, where the Old Cheese Shop on Market Place (+44 (0)1298 84935; www.hartingtoncheese.co.uk) showcases several varieties – many made at the Hartington creamery – among a fine selection of more than 30 British cheeses.

Daytripper

Visit the ‘plague village’ of Eyam (pronouced ‘eem’), whose residents helped stop the Black Death spreading in 1665 by quarantining themselves from the outside world. Various plaques commemorating the plague’s victims tell the story – but it’s more absorbing than morbid. There’s even one outside the popular Eyam Tea Room on the Square (+44 (0)1433 630725).

Perfect picnic

Make up a hamper from the fine produce laid out at Chatsworth Farm Shop in Pilsley (+44 (0)1246 583392), then pick a spot up on Curbar Edge. There are few actual peaks in the Peak District – the lie of the land is characterised by escarpments, boulders, gritstone ridges and rocky outcrops. Rolling farmland, steep-sided dales and broad shale valleys make up the balance. The name comes from the Old English word Pecsaetan, meaning ‘hill dwellers’.

Walks

With its inexhaustible network of public footpaths and trails – some 1,600 miles’ worth in total – the region couldn’t be more of a walker’s paradise. If you want accessible, the Pennine Way is easily reached from Edale, and the Tissington Trail follows the genteel slope of another disused railway track. However, the walk up Kinder Scout makes for a classic, tough-as-boots excursion.

Children

We’d like our progeny to play with the nice children at Chatsworth Farmyard and Adventure Playground (www.chatsworth.org), but really we let

Activities

Climbers make their way to the major gritstone escarpments like the Roaches and Stanage Edge, a windy spot that doubles up as a launch pad for hang-gliders (+44 (0)845 108 1577; www.d-f-c.co.uk). A former railway track through the Manifold Valley has been transformed into a scenic cycleway (www.peakdistrict.gov.uk), and Carsington Water (www.carsingtonwater.com) is a good spot for windsurfing, kayaking and fishing.