Site-seeing

Drives

Maybe it’s a rainy day or maybe you’d just like a tour, here are a couple of suggestions for a 2-3 hour drive around the Lakes.

Langdale

Windermere – Langdale – Coniston – Hawkshead – Bowness

This is a stunning drive. We take it anticlockwise from Windermere. Once past Chapel Stile, the dramatic Langdale valley opens up with the imposing Langdale Pike mountains to your right. You loop round over a steep route back down and then touch the top of Coniston Water (you could detour into Coniston here), then on to Hawkshead, and back past Hill Top (Beatrix Potter’s house), across the ferry at Far Sawrey to Bowness and back up to Windermere. The pass through Langdale, and/or the ferry, might be closed in bad weather. If you want to end up for tea in Ambleside reverse the journey. You can check the ferry is operating via this webcam.

SatNav waypoints

Old Dungeon Ghyll (hotel in Langdale)Little LangdaleConistonLA22 0LZ (car ferry western shore)Crook (optional for direct route back to Kentmere avoiding Windermere)Kentmere

Satnav waypoints

KeswickBorrowdaleButtermereKeswickKentmere

Northern Lakes

Ambleside – Thirlmere – Keswick - Borrowdale – Honister – Buttermere

This drive takes you up the road-spine of the Lake District to the Northern Lakes. Starting in Ambleside and driving up past Grasmere, along Thirlmere (actually a reservoir), past Helvellyn, to Keswick. Then down into the beautiful Borrowdale past Seathwaite, one of the access paths to Scafell Pike. Then up through the Honister Pass and its slate mine, over the pass to Buttermere. Then it’s a steep narrow twisty but spectacular lane back to Keswick. Take a detour north from Keswick to the Lakes Distillery, on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake, while you are up there.

Places to visit

See also the ‘Activities’ section for more strenuous activities such as biking and boating.

In the shopping section we listed the towns of Ambleside, Windermere, Bowness, Grasmere, Hawkshead, and Coniston which are all Lake District tourist spots, and the nearby market towns of Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale, a charming little market town. A little further away is the village of Cartmel, near the coast and Grange-over-Sand. It is a quaint little village with good artisan shops, an ancient priory, a Michelin restaurant, a racecourse and claims to be the home of Sticky Toffee Pudding!

Beatrix Potter's House, Hill Top is just the other side of Windermere at Far Sawrey. Close by the west shore ferry terminal in Near Sawrey is the eccentric Claife Viewing Station where Victorians would admire the splendid views over Windermere through coloured glass, apparently to enhance appreciation. You can do the same today. From the station there are lovely walks along the western shore. Wordsworth’s houses Dove Cottage is in Grasmere, and Rydal Mount is just north of Ambleside. Sticking with a literary theme, the Brontë Parsonage Museum is a 90 minute drive away across the York Dales but very well put together. Good for a rainy day. Levens Hall south of Kendal has beautiful gardens and boasts the worlds oldest topiary. Close by is the National Trust's Sizergh Castle. The Windermere Jetty is an excellent and award winning museum of all things boats - from record breaking speed boats to a 19th century steam ferry recovered from the bottom of one of the lakes. And it has an excellent cafe with beautiful views over Windermere. Good for a rainy day. It is run by Lakeland Arts who also run an Arts and Crafts house Blackwell in Bowness, and the Lakeland Museum in Kendal.

Close to home the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley does tours and the bar there is well worth a visit. Our housekeeper Samantha is married to one of the brewers. Up in the Northern Lakes beyond Keswick, the Lakes Distillery also does tours and makes delicious Gin (at time of writing the Whisky is still maturing in its barrels!).

Staying in Kentmere you are spoiled with the continuous and every changing classic Lake District mountain and valley scene, but if you are looking to tick off a few more, our two suggested drives (above) cover the beautiful valleys of Langdale, Borrowdale, and Buttermere.

A drive from Ambleside up the Troutbeck Valley and over the Kirkstone Pass and down into Ullswater is also worthwhile and takes a lot less time than the drives listed above. You can hire boats or set off on many walks from Glenridding at the foot of Ullswater. The Kirkstone Pass is often closed in bad weather.

You will find organised tours all over the place. Try Mountain Goat who organise informal tours all over the area as well as providing a comprehensive alternative bus service to the Lakes. You can read about the founding of this business in Hunter Davies’ “A Walk Around The Lakes” which you’ll find amongst our guide books. It’s a great primer on the Lake District from one of its better known residents.

Ferries ply Windermere and Coniston and you can plan good walks between ferry pick up points. Roanhead Beach is a National Trust beach on the coast.

There are Cinemas in Windermere, Kendal and Ambleside. We also hear very good things about The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal which has a cinema, theatre, live music, and restaurant.