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England’s largest festival of history and culture takes place this September. The festival, Heritage Open Days, sees hundreds of places of historical and cultural interest across the country open their doors for members of the public to explore for free. Many of these places are not normally open to the public, whilst others would normally charge an admission fee.

The OVO Energy Tour of Britain, Britain’s most prestigious cycling event, returns this September. Attracting cycling’s top talent, including Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, the race offers members of the public a chance to view the heroes of the sport up close and in action, for free! The race is an eight-day event with the aim to cover as much of Britain as possible during that time.

September is the time when we begin to say goodbye to this year’s long hot summer and start looking forward to the delights that autumn brings. The leaves on the trees slowly change colour as they lose their dark green shades and hints of yellow, gold, and orange shine through, whilst the hedgerows are dotted with bursts of colour, as berries and seeds become plump and ripe.

August is country fair season in Cumbria with over ten taking place across the county. The biggest show this month is happening this weekend at the Lowther Estate. The Lowther Show attracted around 60,000 visitors last year and despite being one of the youngest country shows in Cumbria, it is one of the highlights of the show calendar.

School's out for summer! If you haven’t already planned a Lake District trip for you and your family during the long summer break then it’s not too late, with plenty of hotels, campsites, and lodges still available for booking. However, they are likely to sell out pretty fast, so don’t delay booking much longer to avoid disappointment.

As we prepare this month’s What’s On guide we are reflecting on what has been a glorious summer so far, with endless days of sunshine and little in the way of rain. Whilst we can’t promise this will continue throughout August (and we do desperately need some rain to replenish those lakes and return the greenery to the fells), we can promise you another packed calendar of events.

Here in the Lake District, we have had some fantastic weather. With the exception of one or two wet days, it’s generally been very dry. So dry in fact, that the lakes and rivers have started to shrink quite noticeably. There’s even been some sightings of the sun! As a result, it’s a perfect time to enjoy a Lake District picnic.

July brings haybales to the lowlands and the early blooms of purple heather to the uplands of the Lake District. The days are long, the nights are warm, and the paths become trickier to navigate, overgrown with wild flowers and plants. July is one of the busiest periods for tourism in the Lake District. The Scottish schools are on a break throughout the month, with the English and Welsh schools starting their six week long break towards the end of the month.

Last year, according to Cumbria Tourism, the Lake District and Cumbria received over 47 million visitors, which is more than the population of Spain. The peak tourist season is now upon us, and 2018 is already looking to be another record breaking year for tourist numbers to the area.

Most visitors flock to the well-known towns and lakes with Windermere, Keswick and Derwent Water, Grasmere, and Buttermere all being very popular. However, there are still plenty of places where you can go to escape the crowds and enjoy a bit of peace, providing you are willing to drive and walk a bit more.

Summer is here at last with the weather turning warmer and the days getting longer. June is a delightful time to visit the Lake District, as it’s an opportunity to make the most of the summer sunshine outside of the peak tourist periods that coincide with the school summer holidays.