Cottages in Bakewell

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a cottage in Bakewell?
• Cottages in Bakewell: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Bakewell: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Bakewell?

• Stone cottages with gardens: Most Bakewell cottages are built from local gritstone and limestone, with private gardens, log burners and full kitchens for self-catering stays.
• Town centre or open countryside: Stay near the Monday market and the high street, or a few miles out towards Baslow and Ashford-in-the-Water for quiet lanes and dark skies.
• Guests rate them highly: Our top-rated Bakewell cottages sit at 9.8+, with guests praising parking, wood-burning stoves and the short walk to the River Wye.
• Eat very well indeed: The town punches far above its size, from farm-shop cafes to fine dining, and of course the original Bakewell pudding.
• Walk, cycle, visit great houses: The Monsal Trail, Chatsworth and Haddon Hall are all within a short drive or ride of your front door.

Bakewell's cottages run from one-bedroom boltholes tucked down cobbled yards to twelve-sleeper farmhouses on the edge of the moor. Expect thick stone walls, beamed ceilings and log burners. Most cottages come well equipped for a self-catering week.

• Private garden or walled courtyard for long summer evenings
• Wood-burning stove with a starter basket of logs
• Off-street parking, which is gold dust on market day
• Wi-Fi for staying connected between walks and countryside days out
• Dog-friendly cottages with enclosed gardens and boot rooms

Between them these features suit couples, families and larger walking groups alike.

What are the best areas to stay in Bakewell?

For a first visit, base yourself in the town centre — everything from the market to the Wye bridge is walkable. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests consistently single out the same things in Bakewell: how quiet the stone cottages are once the day trippers have gone home, how useful a parking space is on a Monday, and how quickly you can be out of the front door and onto a footpath. Ratings of 9.8+ are common here, and many reviews mention hosts leaving local eggs, milk or a Bakewell pudding on arrival.

Here are our top-rated cottages from the past year:

1. Bakewell Stone Cottage, Sleeps 4 - 9.9+: A stone cottage in Bakewell itself with a log-burning stove, two bathrooms and parking, praised for warmth in autumn.
2. Netherwood - 9.9+: Sleeps six in Bakewell with a garden and dogs welcome, a favourite with walking parties and multi-generation family trips.
3. Bakewell One Bedroom Cottage - 9.8+: A peaceful one-bedroom cottage for two with its own parking space and garden, ideal for a quiet Peak District escape.

Bakewell is a small limestone market town on the River Wye, set in the Derbyshire Dales at the very heart of the Peak District National Park in northern England.

🥗Where to eat in Bakewell?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Cheese and Wine Bar Bakewell is the best rated restaurant in Bakewell. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Charlotte recommends the Piedaniel's in Bakewell: after a slow week of cooking in our stone cottage, a long, generous French dinner on Bath Street was exactly the right way to finish the holiday.

1. Cycle the Monsal Trail
2. Wander Chatsworth House
3. Step inside Haddon Hall
4. Browse the Monday market
5. Taste a real Bakewell pudding
6. Stroll the River Wye
7. Climb to All Saints Church

1. Cycle the Monsal Trail

   The Monsal Trail follows a disused railway line for roughly 8.5 miles between Bakewell and Blackwell Mill, running through six lit tunnels and over the celebrated Headstone Viaduct. It is flat, traffic-free and suitable for children, which makes it the easiest introduction to the landscape around your cottage. Hire bikes at Hassop Station, a mile north of town, then reward yourself with coffee in its bookshop cafe. Walkers get just as much from it, so bring proper footwear either way.

2. Wander Chatsworth House

   Chatsworth, home of the Cavendish family since the 1500s, sits four miles from Bakewell and deserves the best part of a day. Inside are painted ceilings, a sculpture gallery and one of the finest private art collections in the country. Outside, the 105-acre garden holds the gravity-fed Cascade, a maze and a rock garden. Families should head for the farmyard and adventure playground, and the farm shop at Pilsley is worth a detour for cottage supplies.

3. Step inside Haddon Hall

   Two miles south of Bakewell, Haddon Hall is a medieval and Tudor manor house that escaped later remodelling almost entirely, which is why film crews keep coming back to it. The long gallery, the chapel wall paintings and the banqueting hall feel genuinely unaltered. Terraced Elizabethan gardens drop away towards the River Wye and are at their best when the roses are out in June. Opening is seasonal, so check before you set off from your cottage.

4. Browse the Monday market

   Every Monday the centre of Bakewell fills with more than a hundred stalls and the town's population swells several times over. It is one of the largest and oldest markets in the region, mixing fresh produce, cheeses and baking with clothing, plants and craft stalls. Come early for parking, then work your way through with a basket. The neighbouring livestock market still runs too, which gives the whole morning a properly agricultural atmosphere rather than a staged one.

5. Taste a real Bakewell pudding

   A Bakewell pudding is not a Bakewell tart. There is no icing and no glacé cherry: instead you get flaky puff pastry, a layer of jam and a set, custardy almond and egg filling, served warm with cream. Several shops in town claim the original recipe, including the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop on The Square. The only sensible approach is to try more than one during your stay and settle the argument for yourself.

6. Stroll the River Wye

   The riverside path through Bakewell is a gentle half-hour that most guests end up walking every evening. Start at the medieval five-arched bridge, follow the water past Scots Garden, and watch for trout holding in the clear shallows along with ducks, swans and the occasional heron. The pedestrian Weir Bridge has become the town's love-lock bridge. Continue upstream and the path links towards Ashford-in-the-Water, another handsome limestone village.

7. Climb to All Saints Church

   All Saints Church stands on the hill above the town, reached by a short but steep walk up from the market place. The reward is a wide view over the rooftops and the Wye valley. Inside and out you will find an extraordinary collection of carved stonework, including an Anglo-Saxon cross dating from around the ninth century and a large gathering of medieval grave slabs. It is free to enter and rarely busy, even in high summer.