The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

You'll find this place tucked right on Grasmere's main street, impossible to miss if you're passing through the village. The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop is exactly what it sounds like - a small, no-nonsense operation that's been making the same gingerbread recipe for donkey's years. Walk in and you're hit with the smell of spiced cake and butter. They sell it by the piece, wrapped in the sort of paper that wouldn't look out of place in a Victorian sweet shop.

It's not a destination in itself, mind you. You're not going to spend two hours here. But if you're tramping around the Langdale valley or staying at one of the nearby campsites like Great Langdale Glamping or Lakeside Retreat Glamping, it's a proper little stop-off. Five minutes, buy a piece, sit on a bench outside with a cup of tea. Job done.

The gingerbread is dense and spiced - real comfort food stuff, the kind of thing that makes sense after a morning's fell walking. Families passing through with kids will find it appeals more than yet another gift shop full of tat. Walkers on the Grasmere circuit or heading up to Dungeon Ghyll swear by it.

Free to browse, obviously - you only pay if you buy. Open most days, though it's worth checking before you make a special trip. Not a must-do in the Lakes, but a decent little moment if you're in the village anyway.