The Derbyshire Dales
| Location: | Derbyshire, England | |
| Length: | 7 days | |
| Grade: | Moderate to strenuous | |
| Group Size: | 6-12 | |
| Point of Origin: | Chesterfield, England | |
| 2012 Dates: | ||
| 2013 Dates: | September 14-21, 2013 (Saturday to Saturday) | |
| Price: | ||
| Accommodations: | Stone cottages charmingly converted from former barns and stables, near the village of Ashford in the Water.
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The rural county of Derbyshire is known in England as the Peak District, due to the hills and ridges that constitute the southern end of the Pennine Range. The Peak District is approximately a two-hour train trip north of London and possesses an amazing range of attractions for both avid walkers and anglophile tourists.
Throughout the Peak District are the country homes of members of the British nobility. These immense and beautiful estates, once the scene of lavish country weekends and hunting parties, are now the frequent setting for television and film productions. We walk the footpaths that cross the lovely estate parklands and tour the stately homes of Chatsworth and Haddon Hall.
The network of footpaths in the Peak District also take us through villages of great charm, filled with stone cottages that fit the landscape perfectly. The paths follow tranquil river valleys through lush meadows with profuse wildflowers. And some of the paths go up, up to the wild and lonely moorlands of the southern Pennines. The moors have a delicious loneliness, windy and exhilarating, that is a satisfying contrast to the happy, gentle valleys down below.
Walking in the Peak District is a great way to see a part of England that is largely unknown outside of Britain, off the beaten track for American tourists.
