Buttermere Loop

As everyone knows, it's very difficult to find somewhere in the Lake District that is not stunning, however, Buttermere is up there as one of my favourite places to visit.

We arrived at lunchtime on a Wednesday in April thinking it would be pretty quiet - it was absolutely heaving and cars were parked everywhere. We luckily had a reserved spot at the hotel where we staying, otherwise we'd have been stuck. Safe to say, if you aren't staying in the village, it's best to get there early to avoid disappointment.

The walk around Buttermere is beautiful. It has a bit of everything: waterfalls, views of the fells, woodland and countryside and is pretty everywhere you look. We opted to head around the south side of the lake first and this takes you along an easy path, passing trees, waterfalls and the odd Herdwick Sheep - a great start. After a couple of kilometres you'll reach the end of the lake and you'll have views over Buttermere and up to Honister Pass.

We headed towards Gatesgarth Farm where there are refreshments available depending on the time of day. The path continues onto the road, so take care along this stretch. You are only on the road a few minutes before you're back on the path, however.

When we visited, the gorse was in full bloom and the yellow flowers looked beautiful as we walked along. They also apparently smell of coconut but as I'm an anosmia sufferer, I don't know! We reached the shoreline and spent some time here just admiring the views - stunning. The terrain is still fairly easy after this, although slightly more rocky at this stage.

A little further along is a cave which you go through and this can be quite wet and muddy so take care. Continue on the obvious path and you'll walk through some woodland. Great for twitchers like us, we saw some unusual birds along this stretch including Common Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers, both gorgeous birds.

It's not long until you're back to the village from this point. The Buttermere loop is a great introduction to this part of the Lake District.