5 or 6 nights, from London to Lake Dist. via Cambridge and Derbyshire?

Fred, are the hotels near Chatsworth truly booked or have they not opened booking for May 2027 yet? In the past forum members have suggested contacting the hotels directly to find out, which I have done with great success.

I have also considered adding Cambridge to our itinerary in addition to the Lake District next year and found out the same thing - that we will need to backtrack to London to get to the Lake District. I think I have now decided on visiting Ironbridge instead of Cambridge, but am looking forward to what the gurus here have to say about the transportation options.

Have a great trip!

Question 2- Ely to Bakewell- take the hourly train direct to Chesterfield or Sheffield(in 2 hours 30 or 2 hours 50) then the bus. From Sheffield the 218 every 30 minutes (journey 50 minutes) or the 257 every hour- a 90 minute journey, but routes via the plague village of Eyam.
From Chesterfield the hourly 170, journey 1 hour.
From Cambridge one of many connecting trains to Ely.

Via London it is 60/50 minutes from Ely/Cambridge to Kings Cross, cross the street to St Pancras, then 2 hours 10 every 30:minutes to Sheffield.

So not a lot of time difference.

Question 3- Bakewell to Penrith- the hourly TransPeak bus to Buxton- 50 minutes, train to Manchester Pic every half hour, 60 minute journey, change, hourly train to Penrith on TPE (Glasgow or Edinburgh train)- journey 1 3/4 hours.

Taking longer you could take the every half hour 199 bus from Buxton to Manchester Airport for the Penrith train, or the hour!y 58 over the Cat and Fiddle to Macclesfield, train to Manchester, train to Penrith.
Or the hourly 61 to Glossop, half hourly train to Manchester, etc.

For scenery the Cat and Fiddle would be my first choice, followed closely by Glossop. For speed clearly train from Buxton.

Maplady - Good question. I’ll check further.

Stuart. TY x2 Any further comment for the Trifecta?

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Penrith to Stratford is the hourly train to Birmingham New Street at about 20 minutes past the hour except 0920.

Out of New Street, 5 minutes walk down the road to Moor Street, train to Stratford- about 4 hours 30 minutes.

That is the route a through ticket will take you on.

However I believe the easier route is to get off the train from Penrith at Sandwell & Dudley, same platform change to a local train one stop to Smethwick Galton Bridge Low Level, up in the elevator to the High Level platforms, and board the Stratford train there.

Don't forget that you can buy a through train ticket from Keswick to anywhere, which includes the bus fare. Until the £3 fare cap ends in March 2027 that has no cost advantage (but will then), however it means that if the bus is delayed, you are entitled to take the next train even on an Advance Ticket.

Keswick to Stratford should be about £19.30 Advance Ticket, perhaps a shade less with a railcard.

When the fare cap ends then for the buses in Derbyshire, if taking 2 or more buses from Bakewell towards Penrith (via the Airport, Glossop or Macclesfield) buy a High Peak Buses Network Day ticket for £6 (a weekly ticket is £18)- https://www.highpeakbuses.com/home

By the way in 3 weeks time I'm doing a return trip from Cumbria (60 miles beyond Penrith) to March (two stations before Ely).

I'm routing via Nuneaton (to do a personal favour for someone) on the way out, and via Birmingham on the way back (because the connection at Lancaster works a bit better) - so a longer (in miles, not time) more indirect route. I've paid (with a railcard) £23.25 on the way out, and £24.50 on the return- booked 6 weeks before travel. So that's a price indication for you. I would have paid the same kind of price booking 12 weeks out, as that is almost the lowest price there is.
I've just checked (for this post) and the outward is about £1 cheaper now than when I booked. The return is the same.

The route via Manchester would have been a very similar same price.