B&Bs in the Peak District

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a B&B in the Peak District?
• B&Bs in the Peak District: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring the Peak District: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in the Peak District?

• Small, characterful stays: Bed and breakfasts in the Peak District tend to be converted stone cottages and farmhouses, ideal for solo travellers, couples and weekenders wanting somewhere personal.
• Breakfast sets the tone: Most hosts serve a cooked or continental breakfast, so you can head straight out onto the moors or dales without hunting for a café first.
• Best areas to base yourself: Bakewell, Castleton, Buxton, Matlock and Hathersage each suit a different weekend, from spa town culture to caverns and climbing.
• Brilliant café culture: Tea rooms and independent coffee houses are everywhere, and the highest-rated ones sit in Bakewell, Buxton and Castleton.
• Seven walkable highlights: Mam Tor, Dovedale, Kinder Scout, Chatsworth and the show caverns are all within a short drive of one another.

Bed and breakfasts here are mostly small, family-run places: gritstone farmhouses on the edge of the moors, former coaching houses on a village high street and a handful of rooms above a tea room. Whichever you choose, expect stone walls, low beams and a host who knows the footpaths. Most B&Bs offer a familiar set of comforts:

• Cooked or continental breakfast made with Derbyshire produce
• Free Wi-Fi and a private en-suite bathroom
• Drying space and boot storage for walking gear
• Views over the dales, moorland or a village green
• Wood burners

Parking is usually free but limited, so confirm a space when you book.

What are the best areas to stay in the Peak District?

Bakewell is the easiest first base, sitting roughly in the middle of the park with buses, shops and the White Peak dales on the doorstep. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guest feedback across the Peak District is consistently warm, and the same themes come up again and again: generous breakfasts, hosts who point you towards the quieter footpaths, and rooms that feel genuinely lived-in rather than styled. Travellers rate the setting most highly of all, with properties close to Bakewell, Castleton and the Hope Valley regularly scoring above 9.0+ for location. Cleanliness and value also score strongly, and solo travellers in particular mention how easy it is to arrive late, drop your bags and be on a trail within minutes.

The Peak District is Britain's first national park, straddling Derbyshire and its neighbours, with the gritstone moors of the Dark Peak in the north and the limestone dales of the White Peak in the south.

🥗Where to eat in the Peak District?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Eat at No 5 is the best rated restaurant in the Peak District. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Charlotte, on a weekend away, recommends Dolly's Tearooms in Castleton: it is the sort of small, slightly old-fashioned tea room where a pot of tea and a slice of cake easily fills an afternoon between walks.

1. Walk the Mam Tor ridge
2. Wander through Dovedale
3. Go underground in Castleton
4. Explore Chatsworth House
5. Climb to Kinder Scout
6. Take the waters in Buxton
7. Browse Bakewell market

1. Walk the Mam Tor ridge

   The paved path up Mam Tor is short enough for a lazy start and rewards you with one of the finest views in the country, straight down the Hope Valley on one side and the Edale valley on the other. Carry on along the ridge towards Lose Hill if the weather holds, or drop back down the old collapsed road, which is worth seeing in its own right. Go early on a weekend morning and you will often have the summit almost to yourself.

2. Wander through Dovedale

   The most photographed valley in the White Peak, Dovedale is a gentle riverside walk that suits absolutely everyone. Cross the famous stepping stones, then follow the Dove upstream past limestone spires, caves and the wooded slopes of Thorpe Cloud. It is around three miles there and back to Milldale, where a tiny shop sells ice creams through a hatch. Arrive before ten or after four to dodge the busiest hours in summer.

3. Go underground in Castleton

   Castleton sits above four show caverns, each with its own character. Speedwell Cavern is reached by boat along a flooded miners' tunnel, while Peak Cavern has the largest cave entrance in Britain and a rope-making walk inside. Treak Cliff and Blue John Cavern are the places to see Blue John stone, the banded purple mineral found nowhere else in the world. Bring a jumper, as it stays cool underground whatever the season.

4. Explore Chatsworth House

   Chatsworth is the grandest day out in Derbyshire: a vast stately home filled with sculpture and painting, wrapped in a hundred acres of garden by Capability Brown and Joseph Paxton. The Cascade and the gravity-fed Emperor Fountain are the highlights outdoors, and the farmyard is a hit with younger visitors. The wider parkland is free to walk at any time, so even a short stop is worthwhile if you would rather not pay to go inside.

5. Climb to Kinder Scout

   At 636 metres, Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District and the wildest ground in the park, a plateau of peat groughs and gritstone tors. The usual approach is from Edale via Grindsbrook Clough or the stepped Jacob's Ladder, and it is a serious half-day out that needs a map and proper boots. In return you get Kinder Downfall, a waterfall that blows back on itself in a strong westerly wind.

6. Take the waters in Buxton

   Buxton is the Peak District at its most elegant, a Georgian spa town of pale limestone built around thermal springs that have been used since Roman times. Fill a bottle for free at St Ann's Well, walk the restored Crescent, then spend an hour in the Pavilion Gardens glasshouse. The Opera House puts on a busy programme, and the surrounding streets have some of the best independent cafés and delis in the park.

7. Browse Bakewell market

   Bakewell has held a market for centuries, and Monday still brings stalls of Derbyshire cheese, cured meats and baked goods to the riverside. Try a Bakewell pudding from one of the rival bakeries that each claim the original recipe, then walk it off along the Monsal Trail, a level former railway line with lit tunnels that runs for eight and a half miles. It is the easiest cycling in the national park.