The Eden Valley is the quiet side of Cumbria. It runs from Kirkby Stephen down through Appleby towards Carlisle, with the Lake District fells on one shoulder and the North Pennines on the other, and it does not shout about itself. The villages are built from red sandstone and grey limestone, the rivers are shallow and stony, and the Settle–Carlisle railway still cuts straight through the middle. Two days is enough for four or five villages and a couple of proper walks. Here is a plan you can shuffle to suit the weather.
Start where the valley is at its most confident. Boroughgate in Appleby is one of the finest main streets in the north of England: wide and green at the top, narrowing as it drops down to the castle gate. The castle sits at one end, St Lawrence's Church at the other, and between them there are enough independent shops and cafes to fill a slow morning.
Park near the top of the street, walk down, then take the riverside path along the Eden. It is a flat, easy mile or so, with the castle on the bank and plenty of benches, and it is the right way to stretch your legs after a drive. The Moot Hall on Boroughgate is the obvious place to pick up local leaflets and check what is open.
Before you leave, buy lunch, or at least a loaf and some cheese. Appleby has a small supermarket and a bakery or two; the villages further up the valley are thinner on the ground for shops.
Head south-west on the B6260 to Orton, a small village on the limestone with a chocolate shop, a pub and waymarked paths leading straight off the green. The scar above Orton carries a line of cairns and gives wide views west to the Lake District and north to the Howgills; the climb to the top takes about half an hour at a stroll.
If you would rather do one good walk than two, push on to Great Asby and go up onto Great Asby Scar. It is a national nature reserve of limestone pavement, reached by a path that follows Asby Beck out of the village and onto the rock itself: a cracked, grey moonscape of grykes and clints, with ash and hazel growing out of the fissures. Allow three to four hours for the round trip, and a bit more, because you will keep stopping.
The Eden Valley does plain food well and fussy food rarely, which is a compliment. Expect pies, local lamb, fish on Fridays and puddings that have not been deconstructed. The villages with the strongest pub reputations are Ravenstonedale, where the Black Swan has been feeding walkers for a long time, and Crosby Ravensworth, whose village inn is small enough that you should ring ahead.
For a bed, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen have the widest choice, from inns with rooms to farmhouses and a scattering of self-catering cottages. Ravenstonedale and Newbiggin-on-Lune are quieter options with hills on the doorstep. Book early for weekends between spring and autumn, and be aware that the whole area fills up during Appleby Horse Fair in June. If you are travelling with a dog, say so when you book; plenty of places take them, but not all.
Kirkby Stephen is a proper small market town, with a broad main street, a cluster of yards and ginnels behind it, and a church, St Stephen's, that holds the Loki Stone — an Anglo-Scandinavian carved stone with a bound figure on it, and one of the more unexpected things you will see in a Cumbrian churchyard.
From the town, walk down to Frank's Bridge, a narrow old packhorse bridge over the Eden, then choose your effort level. The gentle option is a riverside loop back through the meadows, an hour or so of flat walking. The ambitious option is Nine Standards Rigg, the line of stone cairns on the skyline above the town — a hill walk of several hours with boggy ground in places, so boots and a map are not optional.
Drive to Smardale for the best short walk of the weekend. Smardale Gill is a wooded valley with the huge viaduct of the old Stainmore railway striding across it, and a path along Scandal Beck underneath. It is a nature reserve, red squirrels are about, and the whole thing can be done in an hour and a half or stretched into a half day if you keep going.
Then finish in Ravenstonedale, whose churchyard contains both an old and a new church side by side — a curiosity worth the ten minutes. Have a last cup of tea, look up at Wild Boar Fell and the Howgill fells, and decide whether you are coming back in autumn, when the valley is at its best.
Driving is the realistic way to link these villages. Bus services exist but are sparse, especially on Sundays, so check timetables before relying on them. Fuel is available in Appleby and Kirkby Stephen; fill up when you pass rather than assuming there will be something further up the valley.
Mobile signal is patchy in the side valleys and on the fells. Download an offline map before you set out, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, and remember that most of these walks cross farmland. Keep dogs on a lead around livestock, shut gates behind you, and give way to tractors on the narrow lanes.
Finally, check opening times on the day. Village pubs, cafes and small shops in the Eden Valley keep their own hours, and a phone call saves a wasted journey. The reward for that bit of planning is a weekend of empty lanes, good stone walls and views that do not need a crowd to be impressive.
Photo: Neville Hawkins / Pexels
