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!
70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Stanage Edge
Stanage Edge is a stunning gritstone escarpment north of the pretty Peak District village of Hathersage. It runs for almost four miles roughly north to south, rising to 458 metres (1,503 feet) at its highest point. Stanage Edge is the absolute epitome of the Dark Peak. Its gritstone plateau is a wild, unforgiving place offering unsurpassed views of the Hope Valley, and in warmer months its slopes are softened by blooming purple heathers and bright bracken. Here and there are abandoned millstones, harking back to the industrial past of this area. Despite its height and imposing presence, Stanage Edge is quite accessible for most, and a visit to this incredible...
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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Padley Gorge
The truly beautiful wooded ravine known as Padley Gorge is only a stone’s throw from civilisation, but it feels like another world entirely. Located on the border between Derbyshire and Yorkshire, it lies at the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park. Padley Gorge is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognised in 1972 as being “the best example of the remnant oak and birch woodland that once covered much of the edges of the gritstone uplands of the Peak District.” Here, ancient trees grow along gentle slopes, forming the most wonderful twisted shapes, and in the valley below a clear stream, Burbage Brook, tumbles over rocks...
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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Chatsworth House
The jewel in the Peak District’s crown, Chatsworth House is a magnificent English country house set in over 1,000 acres of parkland on the outskirts of Bakewell in Derbyshire. There’s more than enough for a full day out here, with plenty to keep the whole family happy.
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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Gulliver’s Kingdom, Matlock
For those with younger families, the wonderful theme park of Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath is a real treat. It’s especially designed for children aged between 2 and 13, with a wide range of rides, attractions and themed areas – from the Western World to Smuggler’s Wharf. There’s an exciting Log Flume and Drop Tower, as well as a Log Roller Coaster and a Pirate Ship. Aspiring digger drivers will also love the JCB Zone in Lilliput Land!
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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Bradfield
If you've never spent a day in and around beautiful Bradfield, you've really missed a trick! Only 7 miles out of Sheffield but surrounded by the most wonderfully wild countryside, Bradfield straddles the border of the Peak District National Park in Yorkshire. It's the largest civil parish in England and it's made up of two villages: High Bradfield, which is situated on the hillside, and Low Bradfield, which sits down in the valley alongside the River Loxley.
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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Buxton Opera House
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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70 Best Days Out in the Peak District: Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath was one of England’s first true tourist destinations in the late 17th Century, when the healing properties of its warm spa waters were first discovered. Access to the area was improved in the 18th Century, and by the 19th Century Matlock Bath was a place for society’s finest to visit. And little wonder, for it occupies a beautiful position in a limestone gorge on the River Derwent, with attractive riverside gardens and steep wooded hillsides.
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