Culture Guides
Destination Guides
Seasonal Guides
Festival Guides
Think of Cumbria and what springs to mind? A rural retreat complete with hearty hikes and snug pubs? If these are the images scudding across your mind’s eye, you’d not be wrong. Yet there are more things to do in Cumbria than its outdoor image might suggest. Tourism actually began here back in the 1700s, when clergyman Thomas West published a Guide to the Lakes. It banished forever the idea that Cumbria was wild and inhospitable. It’s thanks to West that when we think of the Lake District, we think of a chocolate-box landscape. Yet the ideal of the ‘picturesque’ is both a blessing and a curse: good for tourism, yet occasionally overshadowing the contemporary art that is made, performed and shown here year-round.
Cumbria is full of artists, from those taking part in the C-Art fest to those exhibiting at Blackwell and Abbot Hall; for them, the landscape’s ability to turn in a moment from benign beauty to lowering skies continues to inspire. It is this that has piqued our interest – and will, we hope, keep yours.
Picnic Cinema, Cumbria
Picnics, dancing, shenanigans, capers, discos, tomfoolery and great, classic, cult and horror films in extraordinary locations. This year’s selection of films includes Pulp Fiction, The Wicker Man and Boogie Nights.
Picnic Cinema: Pulp Fiction (18) at Muncaster Castle
Picnic Cinema presents one of the defining films of the nineties. Grab your tasty beverage of choice and enjoy Quentin Tarantino’s effortlessly cool crime flick in the magnificent surroundings of Muncaster Castle.
Kendal Calling Festival 2018
So good that 2017’s edition sold out before the line-up was announced, snap up your tickets for 2018 fast.
Picnic Cinema: The Wicker Man (15) at Appleby Castle
Don your animal masks, dig out your best tweed, meet us at the glorious setting of Appleby Castle this summer for a screening of the cult classic The Wicker Man.
Picnic Cinema: Boogie Nights (18) at Muncaster Castle
Picnic Cinema revisit the golden age of disco and debauchery with a special outdoor screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. Flares and roller skates are heavily encouraged.
The Winter Droving 2017 in Penrith
A wonderful winter adventure of outdoor arts, masquerade and pint carrying competitions in Penrith.
Cumbria District Guides
South Lakes, Cumbria
No trip to Cumbria is complete without a visit to its best-loved places, Coniston and…
Penrith, Cumbria
Located in the Lake District’s Eden Valley, the market town of Penrith is a jumping-off…
Kendal and Sedbergh, Cumbria
The South Lakes are where it’s at for most visitors, and usually has the tailbacks…
Eden Valley, Cumbria
Sustainability is a theme that resonates throughout the Eden Valley, which stretches from Sedbergh to…
Cockermouth and West Cumbria
Once known for its industry, West Cumbria has an independent, industrial streak that sets it…
Carlisle and Keswick, Cumbria
Carlisle is a city framed by its famous castle and still showing the battle scars…
Cumbria Visitor Guides
Hotels in Cumbria
Cumbria’s hotels range from the painstakingly ecological to the unrestrainedly luxurious. Here’s our guide to the best.
Art Galleries in Cumbria
Ranging from impressive, nationally-significant collections in Grade listed buildings, to historic houses that now have a particular focus on local, contemporary artists, here’s our guide to Cumbria’s collection of art galleries.
Restaurants in Cumbria
Cumbria is far from short of good places to eat – here’s our guide to restaurants to put on your map of the area.
Museums in Cumbria
Cumbria is studded with fantastic museums – read our picks of the best here.
