Perhaps the most iconic of the national park’s addresses is a humble, white-painted, green-shuttered cottage that opened as a gingerbread shop way back in 1854. Today, Sarah Nelson’s recipe for a biscuit-cake confection draws a continuous crowd each day, all flocking to savour a bite of the trademarked ‘best gingerbread in the world’.

A Scandinavian-Cumbrian-influenced menu is at the core of Mathilde's, an all-day café tucked within the art gallery and craft supply store, Heaton Cooper Studio. Tour the collection of family-made prints across the three resident galleries before stopping at the café for a chunk of blueberry, lemon and salted caramel brunsviger (an all-butter brioche).

Might sound like a cliché, but we’re always in for a freshly brewed flat white in a small, cosy spot. With outposts across the country, ASAP Coffee is our go-to for a cup (and generous chocolate-drizzled French toast or poached eggs with hollandaise when we’re feeling slightly cheekier) when in Ambleside.

Housed in William Wordsworth's former office in the heart of Ambleside, The Old Stamp House is chef Ryan Blackburn's ode to Cumbria. He draws on the region's rich culinary heritage (from Herdwick lamb and Morecambe Bay shellfish to forgotten recipes and wild-foraged ingredients) to create a tasting menu that feels as rooted in the landscape as the fells themselves.