[font color=\'#000000\']Bill, what time of the year are you visiting? During the summer school holidays (early July to the the first week in September) the narrow roads in the Lake District can be fairly crowded, so you might want to pick a central location such as Ambleside or Keswick to minimise traveling hassles.
Outside of this period it's more relaxed and you could base yourself pretty much anywhere. Keswick is in the wilder north, close to the Castlerigg Stone Circle, Stonehenge's smaller brother, and much more attractive as it's less visited and you can walk around the stones and get some spooky daybreak shots. Ambleside is in the more picturesque south, handy to see where Beatrix Potter wrote, John Ruskin painted, and Wordsworth wandered lonely as a cloud.
It's a beautiful area, but it's wet. The weather systems cross the Atlantic and the first high ground they encounter is the hills of the Lake District. Guess that's where the lakes come from! It's also really an area for walkers rather than sightseers, in fact it's pretty much the only bit of England not thick with castles, cathedrals, and grand country homes, but it is very special and very lovely.[/font]
