Holiday Cottages In Derbyshire

Derbyshire has over 1,600 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, from stone bolt-holes deep in the Peak District to comfortable bases near Chatsworth and the spa town of Buxton. The county pairs gritstone moors and edges with the limestone Dales, and more than 1,000 of those cottages take dogs while over 250 have a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Derbyshire

Most of Derbyshire's cottages sit in or around the Peak District, with the marquee bases being the spa town of Buxton, the market town of Bakewell, Ashbourne on the southern fringe of the hills, and Matlock, the county town in the Derwent valley. Broadly, the high gritstone country of the Dark Peak lies to the north, the limestone White Peak Dales fill the centre, and the Derwent Valley runs south towards Derby.

• Castleton: a village at the western end of the Hope Valley, ringed by show caves and high moor
• Hayfield: a High Peak village under the western moors, a classic starting point for a day on the hill
• Bradwell: a small Peak District village handy for the Hope Valley
• Tideswell and Foolow: limestone villages in the heart of the White Peak with old lead-mining roots
• Over Haddon: a small village above Lathkill Dale, a short hop from Bakewell
• Winster: an old lead-mining village in the Dales between Matlock and Bakewell
• Hartington: a village in the centre of the White Peak on the River Dove, which forms the Staffordshire border
• Wirksworth and Cromford: Derwent valley towns south of Matlock, the latter the cradle of the early cotton mills
• Hognaston: a quiet village near Carsington Water, close to Ashbourne

Most of these make an easy drive to the Dales and the bigger houses, so a cottage in one is rarely far from the rest of the county.

Derbyshire countryside and the Peak District

Derbyshire holds the greater part of the Peak District National Park, the first national park designated in Britain. It splits into two contrasting halves. To the north and west is the Dark Peak, a high country of gritstone moors and bold rock edges where the walking is open and exposed. Through the centre runs the White Peak, a gentler limestone plateau cut by steep wooded Dales: Dove Dale on the Staffordshire border, where the River Dove runs past Hartington, and Lathkill Dale below Over Haddon among them. The spa town of Buxton, one of the highest market towns in England, grew up on its warm springs, and the River Derwent threads south through the valley past Cromford and Matlock. Along that stretch the Derwent Valley Mills are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, marking the place where water-powered cotton spinning first took hold.

Things to do in Derbyshire

The county's great house is Chatsworth House near Bakewell, the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, with its painted state rooms, gardens and parkland. Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield, is one of the most complete Elizabethan houses in the country, and Bolsover Castle stands on its ridge nearby. To the south, the National Trust looks after both Kedleston Hall and the time-capsule house and estate at Calke Abbey outside Derby. In the heart of Buxton, the restored glasshouse and grounds of the Pavilion Gardens make an easy afternoon, while at Matlock the Crich Tramway Village runs vintage trams through a recreated period street. For a green day out near the city, Elvaston Castle Country Park spreads its woods and formal gardens beside the Derwent.

When to visit Derbyshire

Late spring through to early autumn is the prime walking season, when the Dales are green and the long days suit a full circuit on the moors. Summer is busiest, with Bakewell and the show-cave villages drawing crowds and the honeypot car parks filling early at weekends. September and October bring quieter trails and autumn colour in the wooded Dales. Winter belongs to the high Dark Peak, with bracing walks on the gritstone edges and cosy nights back at the cottage, though the tops can be cold and the weather changeable, so it pays to check conditions before you set off.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Derbyshire

More than 1,000 of the cottages in Derbyshire take dogs, and more than 200 have a hot tub. Browse the places that take dogs or places with a hot tub to narrow your search.

Getting to Derbyshire

Derbyshire sits in the East Midlands, within easy reach of the major motorways. The M1 runs down the eastern edge of the county, while the A6 is the main road through the hills, linking Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton, and the A50 and A52 serve the south around Derby. Trains reach Derby, Chesterfield and Matlock, the last on a branch line from Derby, and Buxton has its own line from Manchester. The nearest airports are East Midlands, close to Derby, and Manchester to the north-west.

Useful links

• Visit Peak District & Derbyshire
• Peak District National Park Authority
• Derbyshire County Council

Derbyshire is a landlocked county in the East Midlands of England, bordered by Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire and Staffordshire to the south, and Cheshire to the west. Its defining feature is the Peak District National Park, designated in 1951 as the first national park in Britain, which covers much of the north and west of the county. The park divides into two distinct landscapes: the Dark Peak, a high country of gritstone moors and dramatic rock edges, and the White Peak, a limestone plateau cut by steep, wooded dales. The rivers Derwent, Dove and Wye drain the uplands, the Dove tracing the boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire.

Matlock is the county town, set in the Derwent gorge, while the city of Derby in the south is by far the largest settlement. Other notable towns include Chesterfield, famous for the twisted spire of its parish church, Buxton, a Georgian spa town and one of the highest market towns in England, the Dales town of Bakewell, and Glossop in the north-west. Chatsworth, the grand seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, stands in the Derwent valley near Bakewell. The county has a long industrial past built on lead mining in the limestone hills and, at Cromford, on the early water-powered cotton mills that helped launch the Industrial Revolution. That heritage survives today in the Derwent Valley Mills, now a World Heritage Site.