The essential guide to the best places to shop, eat and relax in Oxenholme (for Kendal, Windermere and the South Lakes). Find the best restaurants, cinemas and nightlife spots along with general need-to-know information including shopping hours and going out tips.

Between Stricklandgate and Market Place, the Westmorland Shopping Centre has more than 30 stores on two levels, ranging from Argos to Ottaker's Book Shop. New developments in the Yards - of which more than 50 survive from Kendal's tanning and woollen trade - include Elephant Yard, with its individual gift shops and boutiques. Newer still, Wainwright Yard is home to Booth's Supermarket, packed full of locally sourced and organic produce, and a speciality food shop and restaurant, Artisan.

No visitor to Kendal can leave without some Kendal Mint Cake. Romney's of Kendal have been making the world-famous energy bar since 1936. Pick up Gold Taste award-winning Cumberland sausages from Plumgarths Farm Shop on the outskirts of town, and Sticky Toffee Pudding from nearby Cartmel.

More than 30 stalls sell local produce in Market Place and on Stramongate on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 8am and 4.30pm. On the last Friday of the month there is a Farmers' Market in the Market Place.

Shopping hours are 9am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday. Some shops observe the traditional Thursday half-day closing. Only the larger chains open regularly on Sundays.

Don't leave Kendal without some Cumberland sausage or Kendal mint cake.

Organic vegetables and Kendal Mint Cake

Numerous local pubs include Ye Olde Fleece Inn on Highgate, which opened in 1654, and the Castle Inn on Castle Street, which opened in the early 1700s. The Globe Inn is handily placed for the local markets. For warm Lakeland pub welcomes, try the Punchbowl at Barrows Green, or the cosy traditional feel of Bowness’s Hole int'Wall pub and the Masons Arms at Strawberry Bank. Kendal's clubs range from from Passions nightclub, just off Finkle Street, to the more diminutive Dickie Doodles off Stricklandgate. With a band on most evenings, it's guaranteed to be lively. The Mint Bar on Stramongate, a café by day, turns into another intimate live music venue in the evening.

The Brewery Arts Centre on Highgate has two cinemas, a theatre space, two art galleries, the Green Room Restaurant and Vats Bar, all retaining elements of the building's original incarnation as a brewery. Abbot Hall Art Gallery houses great art as well. Close by, Kendal Parish Church hosts concerts, and Kendal Leisure Centre stages gigs, orchestral concerts, theatre and opera.

From the Park and Punchbowl to the Brewery Arts Centre

Kendal's restaurants offer everything from Chinese and Italian to Indian, Spanish and Thai food, while traditional fish & chippies include Frydays on New Road and Flounders on Highgate. Look out for the wealth of delicious food to be found in pubs and hotels in local villages, country pubs and lakeside hotels.

Local recommendations include Paulo Gianni's Pizzeria on Stramongate, while those in need of a curry should head to Mumbai close by, or to Saffron on Blackhall Road. Vegetarians are well-catered for during the day, both at the Waterside Wholefoods Cafe, Kent View and at the Quaker Tapestry Tea Rooms.

A good pub meal costs up to £10, while the Michelin-rated L'Enclume in nearby Cartmel will set you back £100 for up to 20 courses!

On the site of Cartmel's old smithy (l'enclume is French for anvil), Simon Rogan combines the best of French cuisine with local Cumbrian flavours for a distinctive menu. Menus range from three courses at lunch up to 20 courses at dinner (allow 4 hours).

Famed particularly for its heavenly sticky toffee pudding, this Highgate restaurant is both central and top quality. From 5.30pm to 6.30pm Tuesday to Friday there is a special "Happy Hour" menu for those going out in the evening.

9am-5.30pm Monday to Friday

Tourism, Agriculture, Manufacturing and Distribution, Retail and Administration

Shopping and restaurants in the town centre, the South Lakeland Retail Park to the north on the A6, Kendal Hospital to the south-east