Just a ferry ride across Lake Windermere, Far Sawrey is the essential port of call for thousands of Beatrix Potter fans who make the trip to the Lake District each year. Her house, Hill Top, is just behind the Tower Bank Arms – its pretty wooden porch & clock are set into the apex features in the author’s illustration for The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck. Given the popularity of the area, the pub is remarkably unspoilt & is as delightful inside as out – rich in beams, with flagged floors & an old kitchen range. Food can mean a bowl of soup & a chunky ham sandwich or essential Lakeland favourites of Cumberland sausage & mash followed by sticky toffee pudding. Hawkshead & Barngate’s ales are on tap & the Tower Bank has four pretty en-suite bedrooms.