Ambleside, United Kingdom

AMBLESIDE is a first-class base for walkers, who are catered for by a large number of outdoors shops. The town centre consists of a cluster of grey-green stone houses, shops, pubs and B&Bs hugging a circular one-way system, which loops round just south of the narrow gully of stony Stock Ghyll. The rest of town lies a mile south at Waterhead, on the northern tip of Lake Windemere and overlooked by the grass banks and spreading trees of Borrans Park. Walking to Ambleside from the Lake Windemere ferry piers at Waterhead takes fifteen minutes, while all buses stop on Kelsick Road, opposite the library.