10 brilliant hotels for walking in the UK

Run as a hotel with warmth and generosity, James Moffett’s 17th-century house in the White Peak area is surrounded by dales and hills, with the 13-mile Tissington Trail, one of the oldest of Peak District Trails, on the very threshold, and walks for all, from families and absolute beginners to the most bullish footsloggers.

The High Peak trail, which meets the Tissington Trail at Parsley Hey, follows the old Cromford railway line through limestone countryside, passing close to Minninglow Hill, site of Neolithic chambered tombs and Bronze Age barrows. The Dove, ‘princess of rivers’ and inspiration for Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, carves its way through National Trust Dovedale, with its limestone crags and caves. Take a free packed lunch and unwind at night as you dine by candlelight.

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Lord and Lady Manners have planned a variety of circular walks from the door of their Peak District hotel, a 17th-century manor house on their Haddon Hall estate. The itineraries take in Rowsley village, Stanton Moor and the Nine Ladies stone circle, Manners Wood, the rivers Derwent and Wye, stately Haddon Hall and spectacular Chatsworth.

This is a smart but outdoorsy place, in the best country house tradition. Above-average pub fare is served in the bar, or opt for fine dining in the restaurant. Characterful, dog-friendly bedrooms range from snug singles to a luxury suite.

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Tucked away in a hamlet, this well-liked pub with rooms is the ideal base for exploring the vast wilderness of Dartmoor, where ponies and sheep crop the grasses, and some 129 tors, strange granite outcrops, beg to be climbed. Step out of the door, and within 25 minutes you can be standing on Haytor, enjoying panoramic views as far as the sea.

The 18-mile Templer Way, a disused granite tramway, leads all the way to Teignmouth. Staff can advise on the best forays for you, including a spring bluebell walk. Bedrooms are cosy and old-fashioned. Two are dog friendly. There is traditional pub grub at lunchtime and more sophisticated cooking at night.

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With views to Tal-y-llyn lake, and with Cader Idris rising beyond the back garden, Lorraine Hinkins and Alex Yorke’s farmhouse B&B is the ideal place to set up base camp when exploring Snowdonia. Recommended walks range from waymarked trails in Coed y Brenin Forest Park, via waterfalls and defunct gold mines, or an easy circuit round a ravine carved through by the Clywedog River, to the more demanding Tarren Hills and Cader Idris itself.

The hosts provide copies of guidebooks, maps and their own first-hand experience. A drink from the honesty bar and a soak in the outdoor hydrotherapy spa tub will revive you at the end of the day.

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Clare Banner and Joe Burnett are happy to help plan adventures from their gastropub with four spruce rooms and sublime views on a road to nowhere, on the coast of the Kyles of Bute. It’s a short drive to the Cowal Way, which runs through landscapes of forest, shoreline, hill and loch.

Munros await climbers, while the less energetic can wander Benmore Botanic Gardens, which blazes with colour in spring, and magical Puck’s Glen. Whatever you do, work up an appetite: Ben’s cooking wins acclaim. Your dog can stay, too, and is welcome in the bar; the resident cats won’t turn a hair.

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Bring Wainwright’s Walks in Limestone Country when you head for the Reynolds family’s country house hotel within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Here, maps and guidebooks are at your disposal. The staff will happily share local knowledge, and you can request a packed lunch.

Competitive types will rise to the Three Peaks Challenge, clock in and aim to tackle Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent within 12 hours. Softer options include an amble in the peaceful Forest of Bowland. You can bring your dog and eat in the bar at this hotel and there's brasserie fare in the restaurant, with a tasting menu from Tuesday to Saturday.

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Caroline and Jonathan Kaye are welcoming hosts at their Victorian villa close to the shores of England’s largest lakes. Take the ferry across the water, and hike up Black Fell for some stupendous scenery, or head to Ambleside and Todd Crag to gaze down at shining Windermere.

Other favourites include Wansfell Pike, the Riverside Walk along the Brathay to Skelwith Force, and a leisurely circuit of Tarn Hows, but this is the Lakes and you are spoilt for choice. Start the day with a Cumbrian grill and be back in time for a cream tea. Platters are available from the lounge menu, with plenty of dining options in town.

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The wild beauty of the Borrowdale Valley takes the breath away, and there are walks to leave you breathless, too, from this Edwardian country house. The Borrowdale fells ‘frown on it like a hardened tyrant’ wrote the 19th-century Welsh traveller and naturalist Thomas Pennant, but when the sun shines it is Elysium, and fell walkers love such hard taskmasters as Great Gable, Dale Head and Scafell.

A 10-mile pootle around Derwentwater, or a stroll from Hawes End to Lodore Falls are less daunting. Comfortable bedrooms in contemporary style, and an imaginative, locally-sourced set
dinner are among the considerable rewards for a day’s endeavours.

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