Food shopping

The best supermarket in the area is Booth's in Windermere (or Kendal centre – slightly less convenient to drive to). If you don’t come from the North you may be unfamiliar with Booths. It is a privately owned chain of high quality super-markets. The Windermere store is right by the station (and also the Lakeland store and HQ). It is a gem.

Staveley has a Spar convenience store which has all the essentials, and some great artisan stores, including More? Bakery (by the Brewery), Mr Duffins Coffee (roastery) and the Blind Chocolatier. There’s also a butcher, pharmacy, Post Office (for newspapers), another coffee/antique Eclec, and a giant bike store that also rents e-bikes. And of course the Brewery! If the Post Office is closed you will also find newspapers at the petrol stations on the main road heading towards Kendal or Windermere.

Just down the Windermere road at Ings is the Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre which has a café, small gift/farm shop and activities including a daily 'lifestock show' and 'life of the farm' tour. Turn right just after the speedcam in Ings to find it.

In Kendal there’s a large Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Aldi on our side of the town, and a large Asda the other side. In the centre of Kendal there’s an M&S and Booths. Cheap petrol at Sainsbury's and Asda.

Windermere also has a number of smaller food stores including a Co-Op and Sainsbury’s Local..

Online delivery – Sainsbury and Tesco will deliver. They know our address (1 Long Houses, Kentmere, LA8 9JJ) though occasionally the driver will call for directions.

Other Shopping

Kentmere has a tiny post office open Mondays and Thursdays 09:00-12:00 where you can post parcels and letters and avail of other Post Office services. It is run out of a house named Pumple Syke (not to be confused with 'Pumple Syke House' next door!) and is the door to the left as you walk up the drive. Pumple Syke is to be found on Kentmere Lane at the foot of the hill leading up to the church, next to a wide turning space to the right of the road.

Kendal is a very pleasant market town. You can park in the centre and have a nose around. Farrers on Stricklandgate (the main street) has been selling coffee since 1819 from its black and white double-bow windowed quaint building. Theres a shop and café somehow fitted inside.

Lakeland, the kitchen store and mail order company is HQ’d in Windermere and is well worth a look at their flagship store, and also very good restaurant and coffee shop. It is right by the station.

More tourist targeted shopping is to be found in Bowness and Windermere. Take the Bowness car ferry over Windermere to Hawkshead and Coniston. Or drive beyond Windermere to the very pleasant Ambleside (which has a great new Deli called Rattle Ghyll and the Christmas shop at Hays Garden World is a family favourite) and Grasmere. Chesters by the River at Skelwith Bridge, just beyond Ambleside on the road up to Langdale, has a nice artisan shop and excellent restaurant (both dog friendly). But it gets very busy in high season.

Most of the sites such as Beatrix Potter’s house just over on the other side of Windermere, and Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount have small shops attached.

Other stores worth a look are the Low Sizergh Barn shop, close by Sizergh Castle and the very good Strickland Arms pub. It is just off the A591 on the other side of Kendal. Follow signs for Sizergh Castle. The kids will enjoy looking at the cattle in their 5-star accommodation. Further south from here Beethams Nurseries south of Milnthorpe has a large well-stocked shop with artisan food, soft furnishings, gifts and so forth, and a cafe, as well as a beautifully laid out garden centre.

On the other side of the M6 is Kirkby Lonsdale which is a lovely little town with small shops and restaurants around a central square. The village of Cartmel is a bit further away south of the Lake District but has nice artisan shops, a racecourse, and a Michelin restaurant. Worth a wander around.