Chatsworth House and England’s Scenic Peak District
The next part of our English countryside itinerary was the drive from our Cotswolds stay HERE to the beautiful Scenic Peak District and the iconic Chatsworth House. You probably could have guessed we would definitely make this a stop in our travels based on our visit to Jane Austen’s house if you are at all familiar with the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie which was partly filmed at Chatsworth and is widely known to be the actual inspiration for Pemberly. And let me assure that if you thought it was a romantic sensation in the movie, it’s even more so when you’re standing on its grounds and taking in the grandeur. I could have spent days here, and let me tell you some of the reasons why…
The drive itself to the estate is reason enough to cross oceans to see this kind of stunning landscape. There are pastures and hills and dales and streams and dreamy stacked stone walls that run for miles. Sheep and cows dot the vibrant green and the expansive skies can change from bright blue to a foggy gray and back to blue again in a matter of minutes.
Arriving at Chatsworth is an event itself, as the estate unveils itself slowly from behind the trees and increasingly welcomes you as you approach the house.
It was lightly raining when we arrived, but we had blue skies on and off throughout the visit, and then the skies opened up and poured as soon as we got into our car to leave. There are timed entries for the house, so be sure to plan your visit well in advance here on their site. We allowed ourselves a half day here, including lunch on the property and it was adequate time to see the highlights, but as I said previously, I would have stayed longer if had been able!
We toured the inside first and had an audio guide for an informative tour. The famous painted hall…
The dining room…
The chapel (with a hidden staircase in the far right corner of the floor).
A bedroom with gorgeous wallpaper…
The library…
The famous veiled statue…
And of course, the bust of Mr. Darcy which is now in the gift shop, but not to be missed. OR kissed, per the sign posted. Lola did enjoy this as you can see!
There is so much more art and interesting rooms inside but I have to show you the grounds as well. They are simply amazing. The walk down the path away from the house is lined with trees and leads to the gardens.
The maze garden was so charming with the stone walls surrounding and hedges, peonies, and more.
It literally feels like a fairytale scene…
Heading down a path adjoining the maze garden is the Rockery– and it s full of plants, flowers, and trees, and nestled amidst beautiful rock formations.
The Ring Pond is surrounded by even more hedges…
And as you walk back toward the house, you can see the Glasshouses and the Rose Garden.
There were food trucks with ice creams and coffees as well as some very nice restaurant options in the Stables and shops area near the parking lot. We had a late lunch there and then headed on our way. There were so many more sites and grounds on this property that I would have loved to explore, but yet there was so much of the Scenic Peak District we needed to see as well.
As we were leaving the property, we came upon the Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop, which was a gorgeous grocery market that is a must see.
This shop and the neighboring village of Edensor are such an aesthetic! The charm is straight out of a dream with the cohesive stone and the perfect shade of teal blue accents.
From here it was a short but beautiful drive to Bakewell where we were staying for the night. We had been told not to miss the famous Bakewell Pudding Shop and it was Dave’s first stop in town.
So cute inside and the baked pudding was delicious!
The village is entirely walkable, and around the corner was the hotel!
We had heard good things about the H Boutique Hotel and it was definitely a very clean and comfortable stay!
The room as well as the bathroom were both very large and we had windows on 2 sides looking out into the village. There was a restaurant downstairs where we had dinner that night. Very friendly staff as well. Check out their website HERE.
There are coffee shops and bakeries all around the village for great breakfast options.
We took a morning walk in this beautiful garden as well…
We spent a little more time doing some scenic drives all around Derbyshire to see more of the Scenic Peak District. There are several great drives to do and beautiful overlooks and vantage points to see. Click here for more info curated about the scenic drives.
We didn’t have time to choose all of the drives mentioned, but we loved and highly recommend Winnats Pass as a breathtaking drive through a deep gorge.
I wish these pictures could actually capture the beauty of this area, but instead, I’ll just encourage you to visit yourselves. As I shared in a previous post, we rented a car and drove from London, so we returned there after 4 days and spent one more night before taking the train to France. That’s next on our itinerary from this trip!
