They're opening up Lakeland again this weekend, as they do every year at this time, ready to welcome the Easter visitors. The big plastic sheets, which they put over each mountain every winter, are being taken down and dusted. The RAF and the Mountain Rescue teams will be helping, as they always do. The 16 lakes, which are drained dry every October, are being filled up again. Doesn't take long, with a bit of rain. Keswick is being reassembled, house by house, having been in storage all winter. No problem there, they kept the street plans. Dove Cottage is coming out of the big drawer where it was shoved six months ago.

Ha Ha. April Fool. Got you there. Lakeland, of course, never closes. One interesting development in the last 20 years has been the rise in off-season tourism. Lake steamers have expanded their winter service, cultural places now offer winter programmes. Lakeland is lovely in frost and snow and the hotels do have central heating. People generally have been taking more holidays, fitting in a winter break. The result has been that twice as many people have been going to Lakeland between January and March as in the past - some 18% out of an annual total of 14 million.

The vast majority of these millions still do go in the so-called summer season, which now begins, the curtain is going up.

Some things are beyond Lakeland's control, however. Last year, much of it was closed. And it wasn't a joke. Millions of pounds were lost, lives and businesses ruined, as foot and mouth rampaged. Now everything that was open and accessible in the past is available again. But what should you do and see when you get there? Here's 10 things to think about, places to ponder, activities to consider, for getting the best out of Lakeland.

Walking

The single most remarkable thing about Lakeland is that once you are above the field line, up on the open fells, you can walk anywhere, and it's all free. No mountain is private. No fell has security gates. Still no entry charges - some sort of tolls might come in one day, to limit the cars, but so far there are none.

There are masses of walking leaflets at every tourist office, and books of walks in every book shop, with rambles to suit everyone. One of the easiest and prettiest is to walk round Buttermere, all on the flat, only takes two hours, even with young kids. To be really flash, you could walk up Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain at 3,210ft, but it takes a while to walk to it, before you start climbing. If you want to bag a big mountain, in Lakeland terms, then Skiddaw and Helvellyn, each over 3,000ft, are easier to get to.

What to wear? Clothes. You don't want to frighten the sheep. They've had a tough enough time. No need for fancy gear or those stupid walking poles. Just remember - comfort is all.

Sailing

In the sense of going for a sail on one of the lake steamers, though there are also masses of opportunities for yachties. Four of the lakes have a regular steamer service. On Windermere (015395 31188) and Ullswater (017684 82229), they go up and down, on Derwentwater (017687 72263) round and round, almost all day long, with stops where you can get off. On Consiston (015394 36216), the big attraction is Gondola, an 1859 steam yacht, derelict for years till it was restored by the National Trust. It glides so smoothly and silently, a pleasure in itself. Normally runs four times a day.

Literary trails

The two big stars to follow are William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. Wordsworth has three homes associated with him open to the public - his birth place in Main Street, Cockermouth (01900 824805); Dove Cottage in Grasmere (015394 35544); Rydal Mount, Ambleside, (015394 33002), where he died. Dove Cottage has most to see, plus a museum, but gets busy. The other two are quieter.

Beatrix Potter appears to have taken over Lakeland, with displays of her books and animals in every shop window. The number one place to visit - if you can, as the owners, the National Trust, are trying to limit visitors at busy times - is Hill Top, Near Sawrey (015394 36269) where she lived and wrote.

Stately homes

There's not a Chatsworth or Blenheim Palace, nothing as whopping as that, but there are some handsome castles and historic houses that can be enjoyed and done in half a day. In Northern Lakeland, the best are Dalemain, (017684 86450), and Hutton in the Forest (017684 84449) both not far from Penrith. In Southern Lakeland, Holker Hall (015395 58328), Levens Hall (015395 60321) and Sizergh Castle (015395 60070) are all fairly handy from Kendal.

Sports and shows

Featuring the sort of activities you won't see elsewhere on the globe, such as Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling and hound trailing. Almost every place has its own local event, the two biggest being Grasmere Sports and Ambleside. Most are in the summer and late autumn.

Towns and villages

Best to avoid Bowness and Windermere, Keswick and Grasmere, the main Lakeland tourist towns, on a bank holiday. They are the honey pots and get sticky, if it's hot, or just chocka, if it rains. Hawkshead, one of Lakeland's most attractive small towns, also gets busy, but there's good parking just outside the town. Ulverston, also in the south, is another attractive small town, and not too touristy. In the north, Cockermouth is a good place to escape the hordes, yet still get a feeling of Lakeland.

The west coast

A good way to avoid the worst of the crowds, overlooked and unknown to most people who stick to Central Lakeland. Whitehaven is my favourite with its wonderful harbour, recently and beautifully restored, its Georgian streets and of course Mr Moon's secondhand bookshop. Now that is a whopper. St Bees and Ravenglass, further down the coast, smaller and more bijou, are also a delight.

Musuems and galleries

In case it rains, which of course it hardly ever does, it's best to have a few indoor pleasures lined up. Abbot Hall in Kendal (01539 722464) has the classiest art gallery and museum in Lakeland - and now also has a branch on the shores of Windermere at Blackwell (015394 46139), an arts and crafts house built in 1900, recently renovated. Of the smaller, more unusual, not to say madder, museums, there's the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick (017687 73626), which houses the world's longest pencil, 25ft, 11 1/2 inches of it; Cars of the Stars (017687 73757) also in Keswick, which displays motors that have appeared in films or TV, such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Del Boy's Reliant Robin; the Laurel and Hardy Museum (01229 582 292) in Ulverston, which is where Stan was born, as, of course, you knew.

Reading

If it's really wet, which it never is, you can always stay in bed or crouch in your tent and read about Lakeland. What you want, what you need and what you will love are Wainwright's seven guides to the Lakeland Fells, published by Michael Joseph. Wainwright was born in Blackburn in 1907, became borough treasurer of Kendal and spent 13 years climbing every Lakeland fell, getting to each by public transport, usually wearing an old tweed jacket and stout shoes. He wrote, laid out, designed and drew the books himself and the results are works of art.

Eating

In the last 20 years, there have arrived many new excellent eating places in Lakeland, but two of the oldest still shine, for situation, ambience, as well as food. Sharrow Bay (017684 86301) on Ullswater, whose fans range from John Major to Paul McCartney, has now lost, alas, both its founders, Francis Coulson and Brian Sack, who created Sharrow Bay 50 years ago as England's first country house hotel. They have both recently died, but Sharrow Bay continues in much the same style. Over on Windermere, John Tovey has sold Miller Howe (015394 42536) but the new owner, Charles Garside, ex-Fleet Street, has kept up the standards.

For further information: Cumbria Tourist Board, Ashleigh, Holl Road, Windermere, LA23 2AQ (08705 133059, cumbria-the-lake-district.co.uk

Hunter Davies is the author of The Good Guide to the Lakes published by Forster Davies at £5.99, and also the biography of Wainwright, now in paperback from Orion at £8.99.