Holiday Homes in Whitehaven

With one of the best-preserved Georgian harbours in the country, Whitehaven is a handsome and characterful town on the west Cumbrian coast, looking out over the Irish Sea. It lies outside the national park, but its proximity to the quiet western valleys of the Lakes, together with its own rich maritime heritage, makes it a genuinely interesting base for a different kind of holiday by the sea.

The town was laid out as a planned Georgian port, and its elegant grid of streets and grand harbour reflect a prosperous past built on coal and trade. That story is told vividly at The Beacon Museum on the quayside and at The Rum Story, which traces the town's links with the rum and spice trade, while the Haig Colliery mining heritage recalls the dangerous work that once went on far out beneath the sea. The harbour itself, with its marina and Georgian quayside, is a lovely place to wander.

Whitehaven makes a practical and good-value base, with more shops and amenities than the villages inland. The peaceful western fells around Ennerdale and Loweswater are within reach, the dramatic valley of Wasdale a little further, and the Cumbrian Coast railway and coastal walks are right on hand. For a seaside base with real heritage and the wild western Lakes close by, choose one of our Whitehaven holiday homes.