This visits one of the most popular beauty spots in the Peak District...it's not a trip on which one is likely to want for company. I was lucky enough to be able to start from the door of my holiday cottage, but there are numerous parking areas along the route's length.
Having wandered up through the pastures to the village of Tissington (cracking sweet shop here, if you're interested) I picked up the old railway now converted into the Tissington Trail and followed it north. This meets the A515 after a few kilometres, from where a short stint on quiet lanes leads to the top end of the popular section of Dovedale.
There now follows around 5km along the left bank of the Dove through woodland tightly confined between steep slopes and with a extensive selection of limestone pinnacles and caves to admire. On exiting the narrow stretch of the dale I took the chance to nip up and down the shapely (by peak standards) little hill of Thorpe Cloud, then nipped across the famous stepping stones to exit onto the road near the village of Ilam.
A few more km of lanes and field paths led me back to the door and a nice unwind in the pool...I'm so appallingly middle-class.