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England Lake District Itinerary

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Are you looking for the idyllic countryside and quaint villages of your favorite British literature? England’s Lake District is one of the most picturesque areas of the country. Whether you call it Lakeland, Cumbria or the Lake District, the area within the Lake District National Park in northern England is full of charming small towns and picture perfect scenery. Becks, dales, meres, tarns and hows make up the landscape (streams, valleys, lakes, small mountain lakes, and rounding hills). Walking paths through the countryside connect all the towns.

Thanks to the many literary figures that found inspiration in the area, many historic houses, gardens and attractions are dotted around the national park. Whether you are interested in outdoor activities like hiking or kayaking or cultural pursuits like visiting museums and historical houses, you will find so many things to do in the Lake District.

This suggested England Lake District itinerary, organized by town, includes the best of both the local attractions and outdoor adventures in the countryside of the southern Lakes District. With some additional activity suggestions for each town, customize your days to fit your preferences.

Stay in Windermere and use this itinerary to get ideas on how to explore the nearby towns with five days in England’s Lake District.ย  You can spend everyday in a different area and reach each village on this itinerary by bus. See my Lake District transportation guide for more information about getting around the Lakes District. If you prefer, check out the tour options I list to see all the places on this itinerary.

Day 1: Arrive in Windermere

Windermere in England's Lake District
Windermere

Choose Windermere for your nightly accommodation during your five days in the Lake District. Windermere is bigger than other Cumbria towns on this itinerary. While you still are staying in a cute Cumbrian town, you also have access to many shops, restaurants and transportation options. Whether you are traveling on foot, by public bus or by tour bus Windermere is the perfect starting point.

Food

Even though we were in different towns everyday, we always made it back to Windermere for dinner at night. Here were some of our favorite places that we tried and others that came highly recommended that we didn’t get to try.

The Lamplighter Dining Rooms: Located directly across from the Lingmoor Guesthouse, Lamplighter’s is a great place for traditional British fare. We ate at the Lamplighter’s Restaurant Bar on the outdoor patio. Both my mom and I loved the sea bass speciality of the night. It is a step up from casual dining, yet would not be considered fine dining. Lamplighter’s is also a guesthouse. Like the restaurant and bar, the rooms come highly rated.

Francine’s: Francine’s is another slightly more upscale bistro style restaurant with a lot of seafood options. We didn’t get a chance to eat here, but it looked like a nice place from the outside. Most importantly several locals recommended it to us.

Cafe Italia: Cafe Italia is a bustling casual cafe with great service. Out of all our meals during our two week UK trip, mom said her pasta dish here was her favorite.

Brown Sugar: Brown Sugar is probably the most casual restaurant on this list so far. You can eat downstairs at the bar. Ordering at the bar makes the dining experience a little quicker if you are crunched for time. There is a fun vibe to the place and a variety of items on the menu, including pizzas and burgers.

Life is Sweet: The only food my mom ranked higher than her pasta at Cafe Italia, was her salted caramel ice cream cone from this little ice cream parlor and candy shop.

Where to Stay

Deciding where to stay in the Lake District can be overwhelming. Trust me, I went back and forth deciding which charming town to choose. If you read last week’s post you know that Windermere won, because in addition to having a train station, it is easy to connect to all the other towns in the southern Lakes District by public bus. You can still spend time in the surrounding towns without needing to pack up your suitcase every-day.

You won’t be disappointed if you stay at the Lingmoor Guesthouse in Windermere. The location is perfect, the owners are friendly and the rooms are clean. It is a cozy guesthouse that has all the amenities you need, including made to order breakfasts each morning.

Day 2: Coniston

A Day in Coniston
Lake Coniston in the Lake District
Lake Coniston

From the train station in Windermere we took bus #505 to the Waterhead Hotel stop outside of Coniston. It can be hard to know where the stop is, so ask the bus driver to let you know when to get off. From the bus stop we followed a path on foot about 10 minutes to the lake. We had our first experience encountering one of the many gates in the Lake District. We turned around when we saw the gate. Luckily we shortly ran into some locals that let us know we could just open the gate and go through. Who knew?

Once we arrived at the lake we went to find a kayak. You can rent motor boats, canoes, kayaks and more from the Coniston Boating Center. We weren’t sure about weather conditions so we waited until we arrived to reserve a kayak. We rented a kayak for two hours and made use of the free range of the lake. Our only problem was staying clear of the big boats! There is a restaurant and free bathroom facilities by the lake.

After trying to dry off as best as possible from kayaking we had a leisurely 10 minute walk into Coniston. On the way we stopped at the Coniston Fudge, Gifts and Gallery for some triple layer (caramel, vanilla & chocolate) fudge. We seriously needed the snack to tied us over until lunch because my mom sent us walking on the wrong side of town in search of a place to each lunch.

Coniston really isn’t that big of town, but we went left at the main intersection instead of right….that made all the difference. Once we found the busy part of town, well as busy as a ~1000 person town can be, we found several stores and restaurants.

Hiking to Tarn Hows
Hiking to Tarn Hows

After lunch we hopped on bus #505 again to the Chapel Cottage stop. From there we walked to Tarn Hows, or at least we tried to. Following the signed walking paths we should have arrived much sooner, but as we were going to continually learn while walking in the Lake District, the signs can be very confusing and misleading! The Tarn (lake) has a 1.5 mile path around it that offers beautiful views of the lake and the woodsy area that surrounds it. When we finally reached Tarn Hows we had already been hiking for a couple hours, so we didn’t have enough time to hike around it. Regardless we had a really nice walk in the woods. There are free toilets at the Tarn Hows parking lot.

We followed the road back to the same bus stop and that was quicker and a little easier, but I still wouldn’t say it was straight forward! Make sure to get to the stop to catch the last #505 bus of the day back to Windermere. The bus may stop in Ambleside, where you can transfer to a #599 bus to Windermere.

If you are short on time and/or looking for something not quite as active you can take a morning Langdale Valley and Coniston tour or an afternoon Langdale Valley and Coniston tour. You will get picturesque views of both Lake Coniston and Tarn Hows on both tours, but the itinerary varies slightly.

More to Do in Coniston

Our day was heavy on outdoor activities. If you prefer something a little less strenuous you can get off the #505 bus at the Monk Coniston stop for the Steam Yacht Gondola or the Waterhead Hotel stop for the Coniston Launch. Both of these boats will take you to Brantwood. Brantwood was the home and gardens of John Ruskin. You can visit the gardens and home to see how John Ruskin, one of England’s most prominent social and cultural figures lived.

You could also visit the The Ruskin Museum within Coniston. Along with some local heritage items, the museum is dedicated to the life of John Ruskin. To reach the museum take the #505 bus all the way into Coniston to the Crown stop.

Day 3: Near Sawrey & Hawkshead

A Day in Near Sawrey & Hawkshead
Walking to the Beatrix Potter House: Hill Top
Walking from the Ferry Dock to Hill Top (Beatrix Potter’s House)

Take bus #599 or #508 from the Barclays Bank stop to Bowness Pier. There are pay toilets near the visitor center at Bowness Pier. We spent a little time walking around and enjoying the lake front as we headed to the Bowness Ferry House, about a 20 minute walk away. You can easily walk all the way from Windermere, but we decided to save both time and our legs for more walking later in the day.

From the pier we took a short ferry ride across the lake. There are free toilets once you arrive on the other side.

Our end goal, or at least our first destination we had in mind was Hill Top Cottage in Near Sawrey. Even though the estimated walking time was about 40 minutes, it was almost two hours before we arrived. First we took a slight detour to the free Claife Viewing Station that overlooks Lake Windermere.

With only the wooden signs to guide us we continued on to Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s house. Feeling like we were in one of Beatrix Potter’s stories, we walked alongside fields, crossed rivers, climbed hills and observed animals grazing. It was one of those times when the journey was truly more important than the destination. The paths were fairly well marked so we were confident of the direction we were going, but the distance we had left kept changing. A sign would say one mile left and then we would walk for 20 minutes and the next sign would still say 1 mile left.

Our favorite moment was when we took a break at a bench by a stream and had some shared camaraderie with fellow walkers about the un-reliability of the signs. Although I grew up in a small Midwestern farming town I have spent very little time in the countryside. Following the paths in England that often cut through livestock fields was a new experience for me! We got as close to some lambs as possible, without upsetting their mother who was eying us closing.

Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's Home
In front of Beatrix Potter’s Home: Hill Top

When we finally made it to Hill Top, we realized the house was closed! The house is open almost every day, but for some reason it was closed on the day we visited. Like with any attraction, make sure to check the hours before visiting. Or if you are like me, check and then remember if one day there is a closure!

Despite not being able to tour the house, we were able to visit the gardens, shop in the gift shop and use the free toilets. Also if you think Windermere is a charming village, wait until you see Near Sawrey. With only a couple hundred residents this sleepy town gives you a taste of what rural life is like in Cumbria. We got our lunch at the Tower Bank Arms, just in time before they stopped serving at 2pm. The one other restaurant in town was closed for the day. If you arrive here hungry at 3pm you will probably be out of luck.

After Near Sawrey we got on a Mountain Goat bus to Hawkshead. Stagecoach buses do not run in or around Near Sawrey so you will not be able to use any daily or weekly ticket bought with that company. The Mountain Goat company offers a #525 cross lakes experience that runs from the ferry to Near Sawrey to Hawkshead. We only took the bus from Near Sawrewy to Hawkshead but you could also take it from the ferry dock and skip the walking in between.

In Hawkshead we took a tour of the Hawkshead Grammar School. The school was founded in 1585 and was one of the best all boy schools in the country. While the school is small, we received a semi-private tour by a passionate guide that told us a lot of interesting details about the history of the school. I’m always fascinated by how education has changed over the years.ย 

If you are in Hawkshead for lunch or tea time, stop in at Poppi Red. It’s a cute cafe & store combination with lots of homemade cakes and goodies. There is also a free toilet there if you want to avoid the pay toilets in the main square’s park next to the bus stop.

At the end of the day take the #505 bus back to Windermere.

More to Do in Hawkshead

We actually returned the next morning to go to the Beatrix Potter Gallery, which is a museum that displays the author’s artwork and books. You can learn more details about her life and where she found inspiration for her tales.

I would say this was our trickiest day figuring out public transportation and quite a bit of walking. If you want to do less walking and let someone else keep track of the details you can take a full day Beatrix Potter tour. You will visit Hill Top, the Gallery, the Armitt Museum (described below under Ambleside) and Wray Castle (described below under Bowness). These are all locations connected to Beatrix Potter.

Day 4: Ambleside

A Day in Ambleside
Rydal Mount House & Gardens
Rydal Mount House & Gardens

Ride the #555 or the #599 bus to the Church for Rydal Mount bus stop outside of Ambleside (it is one of the first stops after you go through Ambleside). As you walk up the steep hill to Rydal Mount, you will first come to Rydal Hall on the right. Continue a little further to Rydal Mount on the left.

Rydal Mount is the former home of the poet William Wordsworth. We toured the inside of the house which contains furniture and possessions from the Wordsworth family. I’ve read books from Beatrix Potter, but I don’t know if I had ever read a single one of Wordworth’s poems and knew even less about him. While walking around the house we became more informed about him and his life.

Within the gardens you can tell that Wordsworth was keen on gardening. The gardens are actually quite large and include several different paths and an abundance of different flowers.

If you are a big William Wordsworth fan or want to learn more about him you can take a full day Wordsworth tour. The tour includes visits at the most important places from Wordsworth’s life including Rydal Mount, Dove Cottage where he also lived and the Hawkshead Grammar School that he attended.

The Old Schoolroom Tea House at Rydal Hall appealed to us more than the tea room at Rydal Mount, so we had a light lunch there. Rydal Hall is an accommodation and event venue set on a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From eco pods to cottages, they have a unique range of accommodation available.

Waterfall hike at Rydal Hall near Ambleside
On one of Rydal Hall’s hiking paths.

While we didn’t stay at the hall, we made use of the 30 acres of lovely gardens and woodland on the property.

More to Do in Ambleside

Within Ambleside you can visit the Bridge House for free. Our visit only took a few minutes because it is the tiniest house in Ambleside. It may be tiny, but this 17th century house is an icon of the Lakes District. There isn’t a lot to see inside, but a guide will give you a few details of the history of the house.

The Armitt Library and Museum Center is focused on the cultural heritage of the Lake District. Beatrix Potter’s watercolors and books are one of the main exhibits.ย 

Just outside of Ambleside is Skelghyll Woods and Jenkin Crag. We didn’t have enough time to do this walk, but it was one we were considering. It is supposedly comprised of three parts that go through scenic countryside and take about 1 – 2 hours. To reach the starting point get off at the Waterhead hotel on the #555 or #599 bus routes. The nearby car park has free toilets.

We choose to go kayaking in Coniston (described above), but you can rent boats for Lake Windermere through Windermere Canoe Kayak. They have a location in Waterhead which is also just outside of Ambleside and accessible at the Waterhead hotel stop.

Like all the small towns Ambleside is great for some shopping and strolling around the town. There are three places in the town with pay toilets. Be warned that they all close at around 5pm or 6pm. We found that out the hard way, but a kind restaurant owner let me use their facilities without buying anything from them.

Day 5: Bowness-on-Windermere

What to do in Bowness on Windermere
Alongside Lake Windermere

Before you head back home or on to your next destination hopefully you will have a little time to spend in Bowness-on-Windermere, which is right next to Windermere. On our trip we found it worked well to visit the Beatrix Potter attraction and go for lunch in Bowness-on-Windermere before catching our afternoon train to Wales!

Transport

Walk: Bowness-on-Windermere is about a 20 – 30 minute walk from Windermere. The two towns blend together. If you aren’t paying attention you don’t know when one turns into another. It is an easy walk on the sidewalks of one town right into the sidewalks of the next.

Bus: You can also take the 555 bus between the two towns.

Activities
The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in Windermere
Peter Rabbit scene at the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction

The World of Beatrix Potter attraction is geared towards children, but anyone who grew up reading the books will also love to visit and reminisce. After watching a short introduction video you walk through interactive exhibits that represent many of Beatrix Potter’s stories.

There are a lot of different Lake Windermere cruises available. From Bowness Pier you can take round-trip cruises without getting off the boat or you can combine a cruise with an attraction. You can also break up a cruise and visit another town on your own and take the same boat back later in the day. An option I was considering was the cruise & walk combo ticket. It combines a cruise going one way on the lake and walk alongside the lake on the other side. It gives you an opportunity to visit Wray Castle on the northwest of the lake and the Claife Viewing Station on the western shores of the lake.ย You could also walk to Wray Castle after taking the ferry across the lake. That’s the ferry I wrote about at the beginning of the Near Sawrey & Hawkshead day.

Windermere Canoe Kayak provides canoes and kayaks to rent and use on Lake Windermere.

Food

We found we liked the restaurants in Windermere a little more than in Bowness. Our guesthouse host said that the restaurants in Bowness are geared more towards tourists and therefore the Windermere ones are sometimes a little better quality.

House of Siam: Our favorite place was the House of Siam Thai restaurant. It has your typical Thai dishes with fun decor.

Lake Raj Indian Restaurant: We didn’t make it to this Indian restaurant, but several people told us it was the best Indian food in the area.

Getting around the Lake District on foot or by bus can be confusing, but is completely doable! Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions! I hope this England Lake District Itinerary inspired you to visit the region and enjoy all the wonderful indoor and outdoor activities available.ย 

More Places to Go in Wales & England

Combine all these posts for a two week UK itinerary in England and wales.

  • Llangollenย (Northern Wales): Canoeing over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
  • Hay-on-Wye (South Wales): “The Book Town”
  • Cardiffย (Walesโ€™ capital in the south): St Fagans Open Air Museum & more about Cardiff

Not quite what you are looking for? Donโ€™t worry, I can help! Through my Personal Travel Planning service I can plan the perfect England Lake District itinerary to meet your travel needsโ€ฆor any other place you dream of visiting!


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32 Comments

  • Maggie

    What a gorgeous area to explore! I love that you can visit different landscapes from the lake to the forest to cute villages. My daughter would love the Beatrix Potter attraction! The food in Windermere looks really good. This looks like the perfect getaway from busy city life.

  • Daniel

    The landscapes of the Lake District are surreal. I fell in love in with this place when I visited for the first time a few years ago and I keep coming back ever since. It’s the perfect place to get away from everything and just relax and reconnect with nature.

  • Paulina

    Oh the England Lake District looks like a gorgeous place to hike! Also the ice-cream place looks perfect to get new energy. I particularly love those cute fairytale villages.

  • Val

    I love this Lake District itinerary, Iโ€™m definitely gonna save it. I lived in London for 3 years but managed to do a quick exploration of the area only once and I’d love to return. The Beatrix Potter home is super pretty!!

  • Sandy N Vyjay

    The England Lake District seems to come alive in your post. The beautiful landscapes seem so enchanting and each place covered in the itinerary has such a magical appeal. I was fascinated by reading about the former house of Wordsworth. He lived in such a beautiful area, no wonder that the beautiful environs fueled his imagination to write the masterpieces like Daffodils and others.

    • admin

      A lot of authors, poets and artists found inspiration in the Lake District because it is so beautiful and enchanting!

  • Shreya Saha

    The Lake District is a must visit in England. I am surely going to keep a week in hand to explore this beautiful place. I like the pattern in which you have put all the day’s activities in order, with really good explanations of the activities along with how to go there, and what to eat. I would love to try the Indian Restaurant in Bowness-on-Windermere.

  • Archana Singh

    I visited the Lake District some ten years back and it looked so different because it was filled with snow. I would love to visit it now when it’s all lush green. The Bridge House in Ambleside looks good. I am a fan of heritage homes and visiting the tiniest house in Ambleside from the 17th century would be fun.

    • admin

      I bet the Lake District would look really pretty during winter with snow. I loved visiting in the spring with all the green, flowers and lambs!

  • Alicia

    I canโ€™t believe I lived in England for the first 23 years of my life and Iโ€™ve never been to the Lake District!! It looks so beautiful and when Iโ€™m home Iโ€™ll definitely be visiting all these places!!

  • Jackie

    Let me just start by saying thank you for deciphering the various geographic terms. Itโ€™s amazing how similar but different English can be across the pond!

    I appreciate this inspiring itinerary around the lakes region. I read so much in the 5 days I know I would enjoy, but once you mentioned Beatrix Potter, it stirred my heart. ๐Ÿ’– I have such fond memories with my children enjoying those stories and watercolor artwork, that I would surely immerse myself in anything to do with them! You would find me in Hawkshead, meandering the inspiring settings, on the tour, etc. I never even gave it a second thought until reading your article. Thank you for bringing these activities to my attention. I will definitely want to visit this area when I visit the UK!

    • admin

      I know there are so many differences between British & American English! You would love all the Beatrix Potter places! I hope you get to visit one day ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Shelley

    These look like such quintessential and charming small England towns. I bookmarked + pinned this post for future UK travel inspo… I’d especially like to see that waterfall on the Rydal Hall paths.

  • Dorita

    My trip England was canceled because of Covid. I planned to stay a week in the Lake District.
    Mostly I think wanted to walk the lake trails and end up at cafe for tea and a scone. A have a collection of Beatrix Potter’s books and now I can’t wait to see her home.

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