Lake District, England - 2018 August

Chiang Yee: "The Silent Traveller in Lakeland", 1937 reprinted 2004 will give you an Chinese perspective of the Lake District.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/research-journal/issue-no.-4-summer-2012/the-silent-traveller-chiang-yee-in-britain-1933-55/

Chinese artist and writer Chiang Yee (1903-1977) came to Britain in
1933, where he lived and worked until 1955. During this time he wrote
a successful series of illustrated travelogues using the pen name
‘Yaxingzhe’ or ‘Silent Traveller’. The books describe Chiang Yee’s
life in London and Oxford during the turbulent years of the Second
World War and record his travels to the Lake District, the Yorkshire
Dales, Edinburgh and Dublin. Illustrated throughout, with his own
unique ink and watercolour paintings, sketches and poems, they
represent a significant artistic, as well as literary project.

In 1937 the first of the ‘Silent Traveller’ books was published, under
the title, The Silent Traveller: A Chinese Artist in Lakeland. It is a
slim volume of just 67 pages divided in to five chapters, each
dedicated to a different Lake area and describes Chiang’s two week
journey through the region, in 1936. Using a combination of detailed,
descriptive narrative and 13 monochrome illustrations,he conveys the
distinctive character of the landscape and the people in each place he
visits. For Chiang, the Lake District held particular appeal as a
subject for his first travelogue because of the region’s historical
associations with several of Britain’s literary and artistic elite,
including Wordsworth, Constable and Turner. Chiang saw a connection
between the activities of these artists and the traditions of China’s
literati, in terms of their common love of natural beauty and their
efforts to capture it, which he felt transcended cultural boundaries.
In this book Chiang makes his own contribution to the artistic legacy
of the Lake District.

A nice place to stop on the way to the Lake District would be Stratford-upon-Avon. If you get an early start from Exeter you can have a few hours in the afternoon to see the town (walking -- Shakespeare's birthplace, his burial site, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre complex, etc.) and then next morning visit the outlying sites: Mary Arden's farm, Anne Hathaway's cottage, etc.

On the way back you could stop near Warwick Castle. Or, alternatively, in one of the charming villages of the Cotswolds such as Stow-on-the-Wold or Chipping Campden.

I will mention that just to the east of the Lake District, right on the M6 motorway, is the town of Penrith which has a helpful Tourist Info office. A good place for lunch is the Narrowbar Cafe.

For 6 people plus luggage you'll need a large vehicle (a "people carrier" -- what is called a mini-van in the USA) or else two cars.

It is quite a distance from Exeter to the Lake District from Exeter. Have you explored the south-west = Devon & Cornwall?

Thanks for the reply from epltd. Very useful.

Thanks for the reply from James. I will separately have a few days at Exeter and will tour around the area. I have been to Dartmoor national park. Any other places in Devon and Cornwall you would recommend me to go ?

Yes - the south Hams = Totnes, Dartmouth and Salcombe (easy day trip from Exeter).https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/explore-south-devon/south-hams

Going SE from Exeter, Beer is worth a look - walk west up the coastal path to see some high chalk cliffs.

Cornwall > Look, Polperro, Fowey, Eden Project (near St. Austell). Further west (a bit far for a day trip from Exeter) in Cornwall - Marazion - to view St. Michael’s Mount, Mousehole, Porthcurno/Minack Theatre & St.Ives. Google the places mentioned.

A magical place in Cornwall is St. Michael's Mount, offshore by the village of Marazion. I highly recommend it if you have time.
https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/plan-your-visit

Thank you again for the recent replies.

Sound like St. Michael's Mount at Cornwall is a place well worth visiting. I have it written on my "To-see" list.

This is what I found from their website:

St Michael's Mount sits in Mount's Bay, separated by the sea from the town of Marazion. A short bus ride from Penzance and easily accessible from Cornwall's main roads, getting to Marazion is simple.................

Any other places in Devon and Cornwall you would recommend me to go ?

All of it!

Well, I guess I have to plan a longer holiday in UK next year.