A trail to inspire

With its moody skies, heather-mottled hills and glassy, grey waters, the Lake District makes a spectacular film set. So it was no surprise that when Hollywood decided to capture on film the life of Beatrix Potter, one of the region's most treasured authors and illustrators, they chose the real location to shoot the movie.

Over the past 12 months, the inspiration for Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Jemima Puddleduck has been inundated by film crews and stars, including Renee Zellweger, who plays Beatrix Potter in the film.

This flurry of A-list activity around Windermere, Ambleside, Hawkshead and Coniston, has been matched by a clutch of hotel and restaurant openings.

Traditionally inspired

One of the most notable is the Punchbowl Inn, near Crosthwaite. Its sister pub, the Drunken Duck, is renowned for its warm, welcoming interior, home brew and smart gastropub food. Zellweger was a regular here during filming.

The Punchbowl is a more modern, serious restaurant, perfect for cosy winter evenings. The polished oak-floored, beamed dining room combines past and present, with stone fireplaces and tall leather seats, a trad-modern feel that is reflected in the menu. Expect roasted wood pigeon with puy lentils and liquorice jus, homemade beef stew with thyme dumplings or, whole roasted mallard with spicy plums, Anna potatoes and star anise jus.

It also has nine gorgeous bedrooms that have a modern country feel, with beams, floral wallpaper, plum painted walls and generous roll-top baths, plus flatscreen TVs and Roberts radios.

Zellweger (and crew) holed up north at Holbeck Ghyll Country House Hotel, in very private satellite suites, in the grounds of this 14-room luxury hunting lodge hotel on the edge of Lake Windermere.

From here, she would have had views across the lake to Sawrey, where Potter lived. High above the village of Sawrey is the author's former home, the 17th-century Hill Top Farm, now a National Trust museum. Many of Potter's beloved later works were set at Hill Top. The rats that infested the farm inspired The Tale of Samuel Whiskers and Tom Kitten and his sisters' climb of the rockery wall at the bottom of Hill Top's garden, while Ginger and Pickles' shop is set in Sawrey village.

Potter used her book royalties to accrue 4,000 acres of land, including the Tarn Hows and 15 tenanted hill farms between Windermere and Coniston, which she left to the National Trust when she died in 1943. But you won't see the real Hill Top in the film. Instead, nearby Yew Tree Farm was repainted and a vegetable garden was added to transform it into Hill Top.

Then and now

In 1930, the farm was bought by Potter, who encouraged her then tenants to open a tea room. Present tenants Jon and Caroline Watson have reopened the tea room for walkers and have furnished it with Potter's original furniture. They are renovating a self-catering cottage to house Potter fans, as well as a B&B (bed and breakfast).

In the meantime, ramblers will be thrilled to stumble upon Number One Silverbank, just across Coniston Water. The cottage has been restored by Fay and Antony Gorman-Hext and while it has all the romance of wood-burning fires, low-beamed ceilings and higgledy-piggledy nooks, it also has all the cosseting details of a boutique hotel: roll-top baths, stylish leather furniture, fine linen and a brilliant concierge service.

Just up the road from Coniston, at Hawkshead, is the Beatrix Potter Gallery, which houses an annually changing exhibition of her original artwork — it was also once the office of her solicitor husband, William Heelis. He is not to be confused with Norman Warne, the son of Potter's publisher and her first love. Played in the film by Ewan McGregor, Warne lived in London and proposed to Potter. But shortly after their engagement, fell ill and died. She eventually married Heelis in 1913 and they lived in Castle Cottage, in Sawrey.

Muse memories

But what of Potter's characters? At Derwent Water, you can take a trip to St Herbert's Island in the middle of the lake, which was the inspiration for Squirrel Nutkin's Nutkin Island. The Catbells walk around Derwent Water takes in views of the lake and is where Potter set her Mrs Tiggy-Winkle story.

In Hawkshead, Puddleduck fans might recognise the 17th-century Tower Bank Arms. The inn features in The Tales of Jemima Puddleduck, and today, children are as welcome as adults at this oak beamed National Trust-owned pub.

For the final shot of the film, you have to puff your way up a steep track between Loweswater and Mockerkin. The view from there is worth the effort.

You might want to take provisions but don't bother with Kendal Mint Cake. Zellweger has another suggestion: "Grasmere ginger bread — phew, that is some good stuff." She loved it so much she took some to Los Angeles.

By far, the most welcoming lodge in Lake District must be Gilpin Lodge. This homely country house hotel and restaurant offers touches such as walkers' maps and homemade fruit punch in your room and fabulous Cumbrian food. It also has six individual garden suites, featuring outdoor hot tubs — the ideal end to a day of fell walking on the Potter trail.

Go there ... Lake District

From the UAE
One of the closest airports to the Lake District is Manchester. Emirates flies daily to Manchester from Dubai.

Etihad flies daily to Manchester from Abu Dhabi.

How much
Dubai fare: Starts from Dh2,040 exclusive of taxes.

Abu Dhabi fare: Starts from Dh1,350 exclusive of taxes.

— Information courtesy: Al Tayer Travel Agency

Where to go
The Punchbowl Inn, (www.the-punchbowl.co.uk, doubles £110 or Dh793). Holbeck Ghyll Country House, www.holbeckghyll.com, doubles from £230 or Dh1,659.

Yew Tree Farm , (www.yewtreefarm.com, rooms from £27 or Dh195). Number One Silverbank (www.boutiquegetaways.com/no1silverbank; from £480 or Dh3,463 for three nights) Tower Bank Arms (01539 536334, www.towerbankarms.co.uk).

Gilpin Lodge (01539 488818, www. gilpinlodge.co.uk, doubles from £115 or Dh830)

For Lake District information, www.golakes.co.uk.