Unlike Withnail and I, we very much hope that you don’t go on holiday here by mistake. (Although the thespian townie pair could have saved a lot of heating and food hassle by staying in a Penrith campsite rather than bedding down in Uncle Monty’s decrepit cottage.) Penrith is full of highlights the drunkards missed – they didn’t even see Penrith Castle, and their only forays into the surrounding countryside seemed to be to shoot fish and narrowly escape getting gored by a bull – but we’re sure any Penrith camping people these days will be eminently more sensible...
Penrith was once the capital of Cumbria and is still a prime place to shop; actor types visiting from London will probably also be happy to hear there are plenty of pubs to dip into too. A climbing wall and several gyms are here for the energetic (ha, says Withnail), and dramatic views are across the Eden Valley from the eighteenth century beacon at Beacon Hill. Round and about, we insist that Penrith guests wander among the award-winning gardens of Dalemain House to the south-west; the Lake District National Park is a paltry three miles away for more, very unWithnail-like, healthy countryside days out.
