Country escape meets city break. 

Whenever we look for a holiday base, we always want the best of both worlds. Somewhere we can hide from the world and somewhere we can enjoy drinks, good food and a fun atmosphere. 

It always seems hard to find both in one place; but we were excited to find that Aysgarth offers this. 

Tucked down a small country road, and with a view of the fields, it feels like we're in a small village. With the fire on and under a soft blanket on the sofa we could just doze the day away. 

When we do want to get out and about in the morning, a short walk and we're on the road, on our way into Brampton. Having looked over the cottage website, we know there's lots for us to do this week. Today we'll settle for exploring though. 

In Brampton we pop into 'Mr Brown's' for a coffee and some of the best cake. We may have leaned towards the Howard Arms pub next door, we'll save that for later though! The food menu looks great :) 

When we're done, we notice the bus stop outside and decide to head into Carlisle for the day. After a 20 minute ride we hop off and head into the city centre. There are lots of shops, so we decide to split up for a bit and look around. We agree to meet back up at Costa under the Tourist Information in an hour. 

Back together with a few new things, we wander through the centre and decide to get some lunch. A quick Google search brings up the Thin White Duke round the corner. We risk it without a booking and 20 minutes later we're digging into a Duke Burger and Thai Green Curry. With drinks we're on a Blue Moon and a Trick Margarita (the cocktails are delicious). 

Opposite and on the surrounding streets are some cool bars that we may have spent the afternoon exploring. Coco Mill, Penny Blue and In the Meantime were our favourites. 

While out we've planned the rest of the trip. We'll be heading to the Lakes District tomorrow, to visit Keswick and the Lakes Distillery. Later this week we want to come back to Carlisle to visit the Carlisle Castle and Tullie House museum, then we might head up to Hadrian's wall. With a few pub stops on the way of course!

We walk (sway) our way back to the bus stop. When we get back to Brampton, we realise that we can stay on the bus until the Sands stop, just round the corner from Tree Road. Hey! We can get the bus to Newcastle from here too, fantastic! Another day out right there. 

Although we're now closer to the cottage than the town centre we turn back for a cheeky pint in the Howard Arms. It would be rude not too :) 

Looking forward to the rest of our trip xx