70 Best Days Out in the Peak District
The Peak District National Park was founded on 17 April 1951, the first national park ever to be created in the UK. It covers 555 square miles of the most beautiful parts of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and even parts of Greater Manchester.
To celebrate the 70th birthday of our very favourite place, we’ve collected together what we consider to be the 70 Best Days Out in the Peak District to inspire you to visit more of this wonderful area. Have a browse through our collection below to get suggestions for entirely new spots to discover, or to remind yourself to revisit old favourites.
You’ll find all the region’s best attractions in here, as well as the most popular beauty spots and a few hidden gems as well, not to mention some wonderful little villages and many of the vibrant towns on the borders.
Join us in celebrating the very best that the Peak District has to offer, not just in this special birthday year but in every year to come!
Alton Towers, on the edge of the Peak District in Staffordshire, is the largest theme park in the UK and covers a whopping 910 acres, with more than 40 rides and attractions split across 10 themed areas of action and adventure. There's something here to suit guests of all ages, sizes and levels of thrill-seeking!
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This beautiful 5.5 mile walk between Eyam and Stoney Middleton is a great way to see this area. The route is a Figure of 8, with historic Eyam providing the start, middle and end point. You could do both circles with a break in the middle, or choose to complete either one on its own. The first half of the Figure of 8 takes you out of Eyam, past the Riley Graves and down into Stoney Middleton. The second half takes you through Eyam and out in the other direction, offering splendid views over the village from Eyam Edge before returning to your start point.
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The beautiful village of Youlgreave or Youlgrave (it's one of the most misspelt village names in the area, if not the country) is one of the largest villages in the Peak District. It’s a wonderful place to explore with history around every corner, and it’s surrounded by stunning countryside in all directions, perfect for walking.
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The Blue John Cavern in Castleton is home to 8 of the 14 known varieties of Blue John Stone, where it’s been mined for centuries. During the winter months miners still descend deep into the tunnels here, armed with traditional picks and shovels, in search of the beautiful stone. This is then cleaned and polished to be made into jewellery and ornamental objects. Guided tours of the cavern are conducted at short regular intervals. Each tour lasts around an hour and gives a wonderful insight into these magnificent natural cave systems. The famous Blue John Stone can be seen in its natural state, along with stalactites, stalagmites and huge, beautifully...
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Arbor Low is a stone henge situated just outside the pretty town of Bakewell. It's regarded as being one of the most important Neolithic sites in the UK, and very few henge monuments are as well-preserved. Thought to have been established in around 2500 BC and in use until the Bronze Age, Arbor Low was one of the first ancient monuments in the UK to be given statutory protection in the late 19th Century.
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Buxton Opera House is located in the heart of the elegant spa town of Buxton, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. A famous landmark in the area, it's a stunningly beautiful Edwardian theatre and one of the country's finest examples of theatre design by the great architect Frank Matcham. Buxton Opera House is one of Britain's leading receiving theatres and presents around 450 performances each year including dance, comedy, children's shows, drama, musical concerts, pantomime and opera, as well as a great programme of Fringe Theatre and Community events.
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