A Staycation in Every UK National Park

There are fifteen national parks in Britain: ten in England, three in Wales and two in Scotland. The designation tells you that a landscape is protected. It does not tell you whether the place suits a pushchair, a serious walker, a swimmer, or somebody who mainly wants a pub with a view. They differ enormously, and picking the wrong one is the most common way to be disappointed by an otherwise good trip.

England

For mountains and water

The Lake District is the most dramatic and by some distance the busiest. If you want high fells and long lakes, this is the one. If you want quiet as well, go in the shoulder months or stay on the western side.

For walking with pubs

The Peak District is the most accessible from the big northern and midland cities, and splits neatly into the gentler limestone dales around Bakewell and the harder gritstone moors further north. The Yorkshire Dales offer a similar combination with more space between people.

For coast and sky

Northumberland is the emptiest national park in England and has some of the darkest skies in Europe around Kielder. The North York Moors reach the sea at Whitby, which gives you moorland and coast in a single trip.

For gentle days

The New Forest is flat, open and unusually easy going with young children. Exmoor is smaller and quieter than its neighbour Dartmoor, which is the wildest and least forgiving of the southern parks.

Wales

Snowdonia has the highest ground in England and Wales and the most serious mountain walking outside Scotland. The Brecon Beacons are gentler and greener, and better suited to families. The Pembrokeshire Coast park is unique among the fifteen in being defined by its coastline rather than its uplands, and is the one to choose for beaches and cliff paths, based around Pembrokeshire and Tenby.

Scotland

The Cairngorms is the largest national park in Britain, with genuine sub-arctic plateau, ancient forest and skiing. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs sits closest to Glasgow and is the easiest introduction to Highland scenery without a long drive north.

Practical points

National park status restricts development, which means fewer large hotels and proportionally more cottages, campsites and small inns. Book earlier than you would for a town of similar size. Parking is the other recurring problem: the well-known car parks fill by mid-morning in summer and on any fine bank holiday, so plan to arrive early or start somewhere less obvious.

See also our guides to walking breaks, stargazing staycations and wildlife breaks.