17 Best Shopping in The Lake District, England

The smells wafting across the churchyard draw many people to the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. Since 1854, Sarah Nelson's gingerbread has been sold from this cramped 17th-century cottage, which was once the village school. The delicious treats, still made from a secret recipe, are sold by costumed ladies and packed into attractive tins for the journey home or to eat right away.

Artisanal cheese and the best of Cumbria's local produce, including the town’s famously good toffee, are available at this mouthwateringly good bakery and deli. The hot steak pie is perhaps the best you'll ever taste.

Between Kendal and Windermere, this bakery and café is the place to stop for mouthwatering, award-winning bread, cakes, and sandwiches, including an unforgettable bright green matcha tea blondie. It also brews fine coffee. Proximity to the neighboring Hawkshead Brewery makes for a couple of hours of true indulgence.

Clocks, hip flasks, doors, tools, kettles, toys, furniture, and all sorts of old treasure can be found in this wonderful antiques shop and salvage yard just up the hill from the town center. The Yard Kitchen serves excellent coffee, wine, and soft drinks, plus a menu of light snacks and cakes.

A huge range of delicious cheeses, mostly British, can be purchased in this welcoming, pungent little shop. Free tastings are often available, and you can also find their stall at the Saturday market in Keswick.

This fabulous delicatessen, famous for its award-winning sticky toffee pudding, is also a great place to purchase picnic provisions.

The area's largest and best outdoor equipment store, George Fisher sells sportswear, travel books, and maps. The staff is faultlessly friendly, helpful, and well-informed. Daily weather information is posted in the window, and there's a coffeeshop with a selection of local artwork and pottery.

The Lake District's mascot, Herdy is a smiling Herdwick sheep, and his flagship store in Kendal sells attractive clothing and homewares featuring the character and/or made from Herdwick wool.

Based at Yew Tree Farm, the farm once owned by Beatrix Potter, Heritage Meats has a conservation-based approach to farming and sells great free-range meat. If you're staying nearby in a self-catering cottage, ring ahead to arrange to pick up some Herdwick chops or wild Lakeland game.

This company stocks all the best equipment for mountaineering and for rock and ice climbing. They also provide information about local climbing and fell running clubs.

Penrith's weekly market takes place every Tuesday in the Great Dockray parking lot, but on the third Tuesday of the month, it moves to the market square. Here you can buy local produce and original crafts, and many of the award-winning farmers are happy to talk about what they've grown and raised.

This family-run woodcraft workshop, between Kendal and Windermere, sells bespoke furniture and finely honed boxes and bowls, among other items.

Rebecca Callis is a Cumbrian ceramicist specializing in hand-thrown porcelain. She produces a beautiful range of glazed bowls, beakers, and dishes which are sold at exhibitions and in this shop.

This welcoming little bookshop, hidden on a quiet pedestrian street, has a well-chosen selection of children's books on the ground floor and adult books upstairs, as well as a lovely selection of stationery and plenty of hiking maps. They often host book signing events with authors.

A butcher and delicatessen, Thomasons sells some very good meat pies—just the thing for putting in your pocket before you climb a Lakeland fell. The housemade sausages are fantastic if you're planning a barbecue.

This shop, where Queen Elizabeth II used to buy her toffee, may also have England's best fudge. The shop was established by Annie Furnass in 1910 and the toffee has been made in Penrith ever since.

This 19th-century traditional Westmorland barn is home to Wilson Reclamation Services, which sells architectural salvage and antiques; artisans' studios and a gallery; and Harry's Cafe Bar. It's a fascinating place to watch the craftspeople at work, including an artisan blacksmith and a furniture maker. Products on sale include antiques and handmade products, vintage clothing, and homewares.