Lake District Guide: 20 Best Things to Do, Walks & Where to Base Yourself
England's biggest national park — sixteen lakes, the country's highest mountains, and the villages that inspired Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter
The Lake District is 900 square miles of fells, valleys, and water in the northwest corner of England, three hours by train from London. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Romantic poets, and the most-visited national park in the UK. It also rains a lot — which is why the lakes exist — so the trick is planning around weather rather than hoping for sun.
This guide covers where to base yourself, the walks worth doing at every level, the lakes and villages, the literary sites, and how to manage it without a car. If you only have a weekend, the "Three Days" section at the end lays out a route.
Where to Base Yourself
Keswick — for walkers
The best all-round base. A proper market town on the north shore of Derwentwater with outdoor shops, pubs, Theatre by the Lake, and fells rising straight from the edge of town. Catbells, Skiddaw, Castlerigg Stone Circle, and the Borrowdale valley are all on the doorstep. No train station — bus 555 from Windermere takes about an hour, or X4/X5 from Penrith station.
Ambleside — for a central location
At the head of Windermere, halfway between the southern lakes and the northern fells. A busy town of slate buildings, outdoor gear shops, and good restaurants. Loughrigg Fell, Rydal Water, and Grasmere are walkable. Bus 555 stops here every 30 minutes. Slightly less charm than Keswick but the most practical hub for covering the whole park.
Windermere & Bowness — for train access and families
Two towns that have merged into one. Windermere has the park's only railway station; Bowness, a mile downhill, is the lakefront with cruise piers, the World of Beatrix Potter, ice cream, and crowds. It's the busiest and most commercial part of the Lakes. Fine as a base if you're arriving by train or travelling with kids; less so if you want quiet.
Grasmere — for a quiet village
A small village between Ambleside and Keswick with Wordsworth's Dove Cottage, a famous gingerbread shop, and Grasmere lake a 10-minute walk away. Busy with day-trippers in the middle of the day, peaceful in the mornings and evenings. Helm Crag and Easedale Tarn walks start from the village.
The Lakes
1. Windermere
England's largest lake — 10.5 miles long. Windermere Lake Cruises run from Bowness, Ambleside (Waterhead), and Lakeside, with 45-minute round trips to 3-hour full-lake circuits. Paddleboard and kayak hire is available at several points on the shore. Orrest Head, a 20-minute walk from Windermere station, is the classic first view of the lake — it's where Alfred Wainwright decided to spend his life walking the fells.
2. Derwentwater
Keswick's lake, and the prettiest of the big ones — three miles long, ringed by fells, with wooded islands in the middle. The Keswick Launch does a 50-minute circuit stopping at seven jetties, which means you can hop off for a walk and pick up a later boat. Friar's Crag, a 10-minute walk from Keswick, has one of the most painted views in England. The full lakeshore walk is 10 miles.
3. Ullswater
The most dramatic lake, a serpentine 9 miles in the northeast of the park. Ullswater Steamers run between Glenridding, Howtown, and Pooley Bridge. The classic move is boat to Howtown, then walk the 7-mile lakeshore path back to Glenridding — one of the best lowland walks in the park. Aira Force, a 65-foot waterfall in National Trust woodland, is a short detour off the western shore road.
4. Buttermere
A small lake in a deep valley west of Keswick, surrounded by fells on all sides. The 4.5-mile lakeshore circuit is flat, takes about two hours, and is one of the best easy walks in the Lakes. Two pubs in the hamlet at the north end. Reached by the 77/77A bus from Keswick in summer, or a spectacular drive over Honister Pass.
5. Wastwater
England's deepest lake and the one that regularly wins "Britain's favourite view" polls — a dark sheet of water beneath 2,000-foot screes, with Scafell Pike and Great Gable at the far end. Remote: it's in the western valleys, an hour's drive from Keswick and effectively car-only. Wasdale Head at the top of the lake has a famous climbers' inn and the start of the Scafell Pike path.
The Walks
The Lake District has 214 Wainwright fells and thousands of miles of paths. Here's a selection by difficulty. All times are for a moderately fit adult with breaks.
| Walk | Start | Distance | Time | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orrest Head | Windermere station | 2 mi | 1 hr | Easy |
| Friar's Crag | Keswick | 1.5 mi | 45 min | Easy |
| Buttermere circuit | Buttermere | 4.5 mi | 2 hrs | Easy |
| Tarn Hows circuit | Tarn Hows car park | 2 mi | 1 hr | Easy |
| Loughrigg Fell | Ambleside | 5 mi | 3 hrs | Moderate |
| Catbells | Hawes End (Derwentwater) | 3.5 mi | 2.5 hrs | Moderate |
| Ullswater shore (Howtown–Glenridding) | Howtown jetty | 7 mi | 3.5 hrs | Moderate |
| Helm Crag | Grasmere | 4 mi | 3 hrs | Moderate |
| Old Man of Coniston | Coniston | 6 mi | 4 hrs | Hard |
| Scafell Pike | Wasdale Head | 6 mi | 4–5 hrs | Hard |
| Helvellyn via Striding Edge | Glenridding | 8 mi | 6–7 hrs | Hard / exposed |
6. Catbells
The best introduction to fell walking in the Lakes. A 1,480-foot ridge on the west shore of Derwentwater with a short, steep pull up (one easy scramble), a grassy summit ridge, and views over the whole lake to Keswick and Skiddaw. Take the Keswick Launch to Hawes End jetty and walk from there. Doable with kids from about age 7.
7. Scafell Pike
England's highest point at 978 metres (3,209 feet). The standard route from Wasdale Head is the shortest — 6 miles round trip, 900 metres of climbing, 4–5 hours. The path is obvious low down, rocky and steep higher up, and the boulder-field summit is disorienting in cloud. Not technical, but the weather changes fast and mountain rescue is busy here. Boots, waterproofs, map, and a forecast check are non-negotiable. The Corridor Route from Seathwaite in Borrowdale is longer (9 miles) but more interesting.
8. Helvellyn via Striding Edge
The most famous ridge walk in England. Striding Edge is a narrow rocky arête with steep drops on both sides — not a place for anyone nervous about heights, and dangerous in wind, ice, or wet rock. The reward is the summit of England's third-highest mountain (950m) and a descent via Swirral Edge, the slightly easier twin ridge. Start from Glenridding on Ullswater. Experienced walkers only; in winter it's a mountaineering route.
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9. Hill Top — Beatrix Potter's farmhouse
The 17th-century farmhouse in Near Sawrey that Potter bought with her Peter Rabbit royalties in 1905 and left to the National Trust exactly as she kept it. The garden and rooms appear in the illustrations — you'll recognise the gate, the porch, the rhubarb patch. Timed tickets, and it gets very busy; book ahead. Reach it by the Windermere ferry to Far Sawrey and a 2-mile walk, or bus 525 from Hawkshead.
10. Dove Cottage — Wordsworth's Grasmere home
Where William and Dorothy Wordsworth lived from 1799 to 1808, and where he wrote much of his best work. The cottage is tiny and dark and the museum next door holds the manuscripts. Rydal Mount, his later and grander home two miles down the road, has the gardens he designed and the view he wrote about. Both are between Grasmere and Ambleside on the 555 bus route.
11. Brantwood — Ruskin's house on Coniston
John Ruskin's home on the east shore of Coniston Water, with 250 acres of gardens climbing the fellside and one of the best lake views in the park from the house. Quieter than the Potter and Wordsworth sites. Combine with a trip on the Steam Yacht Gondola, a restored Victorian steam launch that stops at the Brantwood jetty.
Villages & Sights
12. Castlerigg Stone Circle
Thirty-eight standing stones on a plateau above Keswick, around 5,000 years old — older than Stonehenge — with a 360-degree ring of fells around them. Free, always open, and a 30-minute walk from Keswick town centre. Go at sunrise or sunset and you may have it to yourself.
13. Hawkshead
A car-free village of whitewashed cottages and cobbled squares between Windermere and Coniston. Wordsworth went to school here (the grammar school is a small museum), and the Beatrix Potter Gallery holds her original illustrations. Tarn Hows, a much-photographed tarn with an easy 2-mile circuit, is a couple of miles up the road.
14. Grasmere Gingerbread
Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread has been made to the same secret recipe in the same tiny shop by the churchyard since 1854. It's more like a chewy spiced shortbread than cake, and there's usually a queue. Wordsworth's grave is in the churchyard next door.
15. Honister Slate Mine & Pass
The last working slate mine in England, at the top of Honister Pass between Borrowdale and Buttermere. Underground mine tours, a via ferrata up the cliff face, and one of the most dramatic road passes in the country. The drive alone justifies the trip if you have a car.
16. Cartmel
A village just outside the park's southern edge with a 12th-century priory, a racecourse, the shop that invented sticky toffee pudding, and L'Enclume — Simon Rogan's three-Michelin-star restaurant, one of the best in Britain. Worth the detour on the way in or out.
Water & Adventure
17. Wild Swimming
The Lakes are the centre of England's wild-swimming boom. Rydal Water is the gentlest entry point — small, shallow at the edges, a 15-minute walk from the road. Buttermere and Derwentwater are bigger and colder. Wastwater is deep and cold enough to need a wetsuit even in August. Never swim near the cruise routes on Windermere, and check for blue-green algae warnings in late summer.
18. Ghyll Scrambling
Climbing up a mountain stream — through waterfalls, plunge pools, and rock chutes — with a guide, helmet, and wetsuit. It's the Lake District's signature adventure activity and works for anyone over about 8. Half-day sessions from Keswick and Ambleside run around £50–60 per person. Stoneycroft Ghyll near Keswick and Church Beck at Coniston are the classic venues.
19. Whinlatter Forest
England's only true mountain forest, above Keswick, with Go Ape treetop courses, graded mountain-bike trails, walking paths, and an osprey viewpoint (April–August). Good for families and a reliable option when the high fells are in cloud. Bus 77/77A from Keswick.
20. Steam Yacht Gondola on Coniston
A rebuilt 1859 steam-powered launch with a saloon of velvet and walnut, running circuits of Coniston Water from the village pier. Slow, silent, and unlike anything else on the lakes. Stops at Brantwood. Runs April to October.
Three Days in the Lakes
Day 1 — Windermere & the south. Arrive by train at Windermere. Walk up Orrest Head for the view. Bus or walk down to Bowness, take the ferry across to Far Sawrey and walk to Hill Top. Return by ferry and cruise up the lake to Ambleside for the night.
Day 2 — Grasmere & Keswick. Bus 555 to Grasmere: Dove Cottage, gingerbread, and a walk round the lake or up Helm Crag. Continue on the 555 to Keswick. Evening at Castlerigg Stone Circle, then a pub.
Day 3 — Derwentwater. Keswick Launch to Hawes End, climb Catbells, drop down to the lakeshore and walk back to Keswick or catch the boat. If the weather's bad, swap for the Buttermere circuit. Bus X4/X5 to Penrith for the train south.
Practical Tips
Getting there. Train to Windermere from London Euston via Oxenholme (about 3 hours) or Manchester (about 2 hours). Penrith, on the same main line, serves Keswick and Ullswater by bus. Driving from London takes 5–6 hours; from Manchester about 2.
Getting around. Stagecoach bus 555 is the spine — Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, Keswick, every 30–60 minutes. The 505 covers Hawkshead and Coniston; the 77/77A loops Keswick–Whinlatter–Buttermere–Honister in summer; the 508 runs Penrith–Ullswater. A Lakes Day Rider ticket covers all of them. Lake cruises double as transport. Roads are narrow, car parks fill by 10am in summer, and Windermere/Ambleside gridlocks on bank holidays.
Weather. It rains about 200 days a year. Waterproofs are essential regardless of forecast, and boots for anything above lake level. The fells are 5–10°C colder than the valleys and often in cloud when the towns are clear.
Budget. Accommodation is the big cost — £100–200 per night for a decent B&B or pub room, more in summer. Hostels (YHA has several, including Ambleside on the lakeshore) are £25–40. Cruises and attractions run £10–20 each. Pub meals £15–25. A bus day ticket is around £12. Walking, the main event, is free.
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