By Anna Burdett

Last updated 11:36, Monday, 12 May 2008

WHITEHAVEN is the jewel in Cumbria’s crown, according to a new guidebook.

Tourism Beacon: The Rough Guide to England singles Whitehaven out for special praise

Visitors to the county must not miss a trip to the west coast and the Lake District National Park says the new edition of A Rough Guide to England, while Carlisle Castle is also described as a highlight.

The guide says: “South and west of the national park, the Cumbrian coast attracts much less attention than the spectacular scenery inland, but it would be a mistake to write it off.

“If you had to pick just one coastal destination, however, the attractive Georgian port of Whitehaven would be the clear winner.”

The Lake District is described as England’s most “hyped scenic area for good reasons”. At just thirty miles across, there are sixteen major lakes squeezed between the country’s highest mountains in an alpine landscape augmented by waterfalls and picturesque stone-built villages packed into the valleys.

While the guide says National Park might appear too popular for its own good, it says the crowds are easy to escape.

Go Ape Swing at Grizedale Forest, Wordsworth House in Cockermouth and the Rum Story in Whitehaven are listed as highlights of any visit to the county.

Castlerigg Stone Circle at Keswick with its 38 “hunks of volcanic stone” is another must-see.

Yew Tree Farm in Borrowdale also gets a mention as favoured by Prince Charles on incognito walking trips to the Lakes.

While Wasdale Head is described as a Shangri-La-like clearing between the mountain ranges.

It goes on: “Nothing prepares you for the first sight of Wastwater, England’s deepest lake and Lakeland’s most remote corner.

“Awesome screes plunge to its eastern shore, separating the lake from Eskdale to the south, while the highest peaks in the country – Great Gable and the Scafells – frame Wasdale Head, the tiny settlement at its head.”

Cockermouth’s vegetarian restaurant Quince and Medlar, which has been criticised by national restaurant critics in the past, gets a mention as a “fine-dining experience”.

Sellafield is described as a blot on the landscape that enjoys “high level bipartisan political support”. Its visitor centre is recommended as even-handed.

And visitors are told not to leave Carlisle without climbing to the castle’s battlements for a view of the city’s rooftops.

ABurdett@cngroup.co.uk