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Peak District

Things to Do in the Peak District

Britain’s first national park sits inside an hour of Manchester, Sheffield and Derby, which makes it one of the most-visited in the country. Here is what to do when you are not on a hill, and the 28 places we list to stay.

Published 18 August 2026

The Peak District rewards a mix. A full weekend of walking is available and covered in the best walks in the Peak District, but the park also has four show caves, one of the great English country houses, a Victorian spa town with a cable car, and a set of villages that reward slow driving. This is the non-walking half.

The Castleton caves

Castleton sits on the geological boundary and has four separate show caves within walking distance of each other, an unusual concentration anywhere in Britain.

CaveWhat it is
Peak CavernThe largest cave entrance in Britain, with a rope-making history inside it
Speedwell CavernReached by boat along a flooded lead-mining level to the Bottomless Pit
Treak Cliff CavernStalactites and the best of the Blue John seams
Blue John CavernThe mineral itself, banded purple-blue fluorspar found nowhere else on earth

Blue John is genuinely unique to this hill, which is a rare claim to be able to make honestly. Treak Cliff is the pick if you only do one, and Speedwell is the most memorable because of the boat.

Peveril Castle

The Norman keep on the crag above Castleton, with a steep zigzag path up and a view down the Hope Valley. Small, quick, and the best value hour in the village.

Chatsworth

The Devonshire seat near Bakewell, and one of the most-visited country houses in England: the house, the Capability Brown parkland, the cascade and the farmyard. The estate walks are free and pleasant even if you skip the house entirely, and the Christmas market is a fixture.

Matlock Bath

A Victorian spa town wedged into the Derwent gorge that has, improbably, become a seaside resort a hundred miles from the sea: amusement arcades, fish and chips, and a large motorcycling scene on Sundays. The Heights of Abraham cable car runs up the gorge side to hilltop caverns and a viewpoint. It is not remotely typical of the national park, and that is the appeal.

The trails

Three former railway lines are now traffic-free routes, and they are the best cycling in the park:

  • The Monsal Trail: 8.5 miles, six lit tunnels, the Headstone Viaduct.
  • The Tissington Trail: 13 miles of open plateau from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay.
  • The High Peak Trail: a further 17 miles from Parsley Hay toward Cromford, including the Middleton incline.

Villages worth stopping in

  • Eyam: the plague village that quarantined itself in 1665; the museum and the cottages are genuinely affecting.
  • Bakewell: the market town, the pudding, and the eastern end of the Monsal Trail.
  • Tissington: an estate village of limestone cottages, and the home of well dressing.
  • Hathersage: Stanage Edge above it, an outdoor pool, and Little John’s grave in the churchyard.
  • Castleton: caves, castle, and the start of the Great Ridge.

Wet weather

The caves are the obvious answer, and the reason Castleton is busiest on bad days. Beyond them: Chatsworth’s house, the Heights of Abraham, the Eyam museum, and Buxton, where the Crescent, the opera house and the thermal baths make a comfortable afternoon indoors.

Where to stay

We list 28 sites across the Peak District catchment, 16 of them inside the national park boundary. The Hope Valley is best for the caves and the ridge; Bakewell and Ashbourne for the trails and the White Peak dales.

Glamping in the Peak District

Across the Peak District, best-rated first.

See all 28 sites (22 more not shown here).

Common questions

What is the Peak District best known for?
Being Britain’s first national park, designated in 1951, plus the Castleton show caves, Chatsworth House, the gritstone edges and the traffic-free former railway trails.
What can you do in the Peak District when it rains?
The four Castleton show caves are the standard answer. Chatsworth, the Eyam plague museum, the Heights of Abraham cable car and Buxton’s Crescent all work indoors too.
What is Blue John stone?
A banded purple-blue and yellow variety of fluorspar found only at Treak Cliff near Castleton, nowhere else in the world.
How many days do you need in the Peak District?
A weekend covers one half of the park properly. Three or four days lets you do both the Dark Peak ridges and the White Peak dales and trails without rushing.

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