This is now two shops - cool and trendy kitchenware on one side of the road and a gift shop with…read morelots of porcelain and ornaments on the other. Good for kitcheny presents, plus there's a good value key cutting service at the back of the gift shop.

Top class service ! our family , parents and my generation Have used wave for all our special…read moreoccasions . Most recently our wedding rings . Everyone I know uses wave for their repairs & gifts . They made an amazing job of re-designing and making my mums engagement ring . We have had many well received gifts from wave . Their jewellery is so different to all the generic 'bluurgh' in the other jewellers especially kendal Make sure you visit their store in manchester too as they have some different thing there too x

Lovely, creative and different jewellery for yourself or the other half. Costs tend to be a little…read morehigher than Hogarths, but a much more contemporary look to much of their collection. Recommended jewellers

Great little tea room, fabulous homemade cakes and scones and lovely mellow coffee makes this a…read moreperfect drop in spot just off the Ullswater road, 5 minutes from Rheged. Check their new website for all things alpaca!

Speaking as a typical male shopper I quite like this store as the menswear is decent. Good deals to…read morebe had on Craghoppers clothing and certainly cheaper than some of the outdoor gear shops in kendal and Ambleside. Would be even better if some chairs and papers were provided for bored males though.

A lovely little surprise of a place in the heart of Ambleside. It makes a welcome change from shop…read moreafter shop of walking gear, Beatrix Potter souvenirs and other tourist shops. There are 2 floors full to the gunnels of all kinds of products from great British designers as well as some other cool Europeans ones too. All modern, funky little unique designs from the Sedburgh Soap company Bud Duck, the Big Tomato Company, Suck Uk who produce the most adorable Salt and Pepper Bots and quirky stationary products from Takkoda, to name just a few. Some of my favourite finds in the store were the cookie stamps, adorable magnets in the shape of sparrows and Babbushkups, a trio of Russian Doll inspired glasses.

I love this store... mostly because they have such an assortment of items that I can find something…read morefor everyone I am shopping for... and myself of course. I particularly love the journals/books. Last time I purchased a Listography journal, this time I purchased a journal that gives you hundreds of topics to write about. Not just any kind of topic, but things like: Write a love letter to a person you dislike, What would you buy from the SkyMall catalogue and why?, or write a ransom note. More stuff to keep me from actually being productive! I also purchased a humorous Mother's Day card (my mom is American, but I feel the need to send her a card on British Mothering Day as well... lucky she is, two Mother's Days in one year) and a coffee mug for myself that says 'BLIMEY' and on the back it explains that it is an exclamation of surprise. Better than any tacky tourist souvenir shop. Of course there were a lot of things that I did not purchase, otherwise I would not have been able to have a very luxurious lunch... and dinner, but it is hard to narrow it all down. For example, the 'Poo Log' and the 'What My Poo Tells Me" books would be fantastic purchases for people like my brother, but completely unnecessary. If you are looking for others, souvenirs, or just something for yourself... bypass everything else and stop here!

Situated on the quaint area of Angel Lane in Penrith Town Centre this family run jewellers is…read moredefinitely top notch. I visited here in search of my engagement ring as Carlisle only had shops that were commercial and I wanted something a bit more special. After having a full consultation where the the owner himself talked us through the different types of settings and stones, and then what the diamond ratings equated to we went away with a lot of food for thought. So much so that we went back the next day and ordered a gorgeous platinum solitaire which was very high on the diamond scale and was going to be made particularly to my finger size which was also a half measure. No altering of another ring here as it was made just for me. It only took two weeks for my ring to be made although it felt like an eternity as I was so excited. I particularly really liked the service we recieved here. There was no pushy selling tactics and we were given all the time in the world to decide which was best. It felt very personal, not like we had just chosen a ring from a shop window as the owner even rang his stone dealer to see what was available just for me. I would definitely recommend this jeweller as they were just brilliant.

Great shop on three floors: art, cards, gifts, kitchenware, jewellery, clothes.. And a fab little…read moreself service coffee shop on the first floor. Tea, coffee, hot choccie.and some lush cakes. Cosy sofas, great music playing (Bob Dylan as I sit here writing this). Oh and free wifi :)

A brilliant little shop tucked awway in the Devonshire Arcade right at the bottom. Although it is…read morequite small it has a huge range of gifts and candles. It also stocks a variety of more ethinic jewellery and clothes. I love to visit here just before Christmas as it is perfect for grabbing a few canndles as presents. I also love to browse their selection of candle holders and you can often find something a little bit different that looks gorgeous. They also sell incencse sticks and room fragrances in scents such as the smell of baby powder which is actually quite nice. Their novelty range is fab and they had the little bath ducks that lit up and flashed before anywhere else around here and they made fantastic unusual gifts. Although it is a little bit expensive the quality is very good.

Find unusual presents here! It looks from the outside like it is all tie-dyed and beaded (and there…read moreis some good stuff in that vein if you're buying for a nut-eating hippy (that's not my term!)) but if you go inside to poke round there's also lots of posh toilettries like neals yard and other niche brands so you can get something much more exciting and cute and stylishly packaged than from e.g. Boots.