National parks, a working index

The Lake District is the famous one: fells, lakes, poets, and summer roads that crawl. The Peak District is closer to more people — gritstone edges in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White — and easier without a car from Sheffield or Manchester. The Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors are stone villages and big skies. Northumberland is the quiet park, with Hadrian’s Wall along its southern edge and dark skies at Kielder.

South of that: the Peak’s cousins in character are Dartmoor and Exmoor, the New Forest, the South Downs, and the Norfolk Broads, which are water more than hill. None of these are empty. Dry-stone walls mean somebody’s sheep.

Scotland has two national parks: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs, and the Cairngorms. Much of the most famous Highland scenery — Skye, Glencoe, the north-west coast — is not inside a national park and is no less protected by custom, crofting and the weather. Do not use the park map as a list of what is worth seeing.

Wales has Eryri (Snowdonia), the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons), and the Pembrokeshire Coast. Use the Welsh names; the English ones still appear on older signs. Northern Ireland has no national parks. It has the Mourne Mountains, the Causeway Coast and the Glens of Antrim, which do the same job for a visitor.

Paths are the point. Summits are optional. A two-hour circuit from a village will show you more than a six-hour convoy to the busiest peak. Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis and Helvellyn are serious hills that are also popular. Go up only with a proper map, a forecast, and the honesty to turn around.

Pubs and cafés cluster in honeypots: Ambleside, Bakewell, Betws-y-Coed, Aviemore. Stay one village further out if you want morning quiet. B&Bs and small inns are the classic base. Campsites need booking in summer. Wild camping is broadly tolerated in many parts of Scotland under the access code, and generally not a right in England and Wales.