Two miles south-east of Hawkshead in the hamlet of Near Sawrey, the small seventeenth-century farmhouse where Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated many of her best-known books is one of the most-visited literary sites in England. The rooms — kitchen, parlour, treasure room — appear directly in the illustrations of Samuel Whiskers, Tom Kitten, and The Pie and the Patty-Pan.
The house is small and entry is by timed ticket; booking ahead in summer is essential. The garden, with its rhubarb patch and beehives, is open without a ticket and is enchanting in its own right. National Trust members get in free.