Considering it was the UK’s first National Park, the Peak District keeps a low profile. Its natural attractions – craggy tors and damp caves, bleak moors and verdant valleys – need no embellishment, and even its most famous towns and villages can seem a bit no-frills at first glance, especially when it comes to refreshments, but the good stuff is out there if you know where to find it. Anyone who has gone to the effort of at least packing their walking socks deserves a well-made hot drink and a memorable slice of cake, and these are the unassuming little cafes and tearooms that can provide.
Its proximity to the all-too-TikTok-famous Winnatt’s Pass and the absolute must-climb that is Mam Tor makes Castleton a visitor hotspot. For the finest caffeine hit in town seek out Castleton Coffee Co., a tiny cafe that uses locally roasted beans (and can do you an excellent iced matcha latte, if you’re that way inclined). A little further along the Hope Valley is the Grasshopper Cafe, where the stone-flagged floors and farm-adjacent courtyard garden belie the modern outlook. Their kim-cheese sourdough toastie with homemade soup is the very best fuel for big walks.
Over in Hathersage the food options are perhaps even more noteworthy than the views; Colemans Deli is an excellent stop if you’re after the classics, or settle into the warm, calm atmosphere at Open House for an exemplary flat white and a slice of rhubarb frangipane tart. The David Mellor kitchenware shop and mini museum is a wonderful outing for food-lovers even before you’ve eaten anything, but once you’re there make sure you stay for what is without a doubt the most elegant lunch in the area, at their Riverside Kitchen cafe.
You may be tempted to seek out puddings and tarts in Bakewell. In honesty you needn’t bother (the town is cute but extremely busy and bakewell puddings are far more famous than they deserve) but if you must, then plan a stop at The Tin Hut Cafe. Their offering is far superior to anything you’ll find in town. Much less of a honeytrap is the lovely town of Eyam, where you can visit the plague museum, or just pretend you did and instead enjoy the wonderful cakes and Darkwoods coffee at the Village Green Cafe.
When you’re keen to venture further into the countryside, plan your yomps around one of these lovely spots. Fountain View Bakery in Youlgreave shares the ground floor of a beautiful, YHA-owned Victorian building with a mini bookshop. If their sourdough chocolate chip, sea salt and hazelnut cookies are available, you know what to order. Up in the High Peak - the Cheshire side - it’s Kickback Coffee in Kettleshulme that’s the coffee enthusiast’s stop of choice. Expect to see lots of lycra-clad cyclists psyching themselves up for the area’s serious climbs. Down in the Staffordshire corner, which boasts a Stone Age shelter known as Thor’s Cave among its highlights, seek out Pipistrelle Cafe. Their renovated barn is a wonderfully cosy spot for a hot chocolate or indeed an ice cream if the weather is particularly kind to you.
