In reply to martinturner:
It was me, I'd just do 3 days of the best walking with the least boring bits and camping at the best spots. There are loads of ways you could do this, this is just made up off the top of my head and assuming you want to start and finish at some public transport.
Get to Patterdale from Penrith, there's presumably a bus. Walk up Striding Edge, over Helvelyn and Fairfield, down to Grasmere and get yourself somewhere up the top of Easdale or Far Easdale to camp (haven't camped there myself).
Over the Langdale Pikes, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike and down into Upper Eskdale to camp.
Across and up to Crinkle Crags, down to Wrynose, up Great Carrs and along the ridge to the Old Man to end in Coniston.
My only reservation about this route is that while you take in a lot of the best hills, you're missing the Gable and Pillar area which is probably the best bit of the Lakes. Also, this includes the fairly horrible walk to Scafell Pike from Esk Hause - so this route could definitely be much improved with a bit more thought. But this is the kind of thing I'd do rather than something linear or sign-posted.