AIBU to plan a day trip to the Lake District? Help!

If you are coming from Manchester then Windermere is probably your destination, it really does depend on what you want from your visit. Windermere obviously has a number of boat trips either along or to various points, it also has a decent range of shops including a couple of Beatrix Potter ones. It’s also within an easy enough drive to Grasmere which personally I prefer. Ullswater, however would be close to an hours drive from Windermere. Be aware, parking , especially in summer can be a nightmare

I live about 8 miles from Keswick .

Come to Keswick park at the Rugby club ( its cheaper for the day ) walk down to Hope Park , it's very pretty and the moment . Your older 2 might like pitch & putt but maybe too young . Have an ice cream at the kiosk .
Walk down to the Lake , feed the ducks ( you can buy duck food ) there are also boat trips around the Lake .
Walk back up to Theatre by the Lake and opposite there you will see a metal gate and a path that run alongside the lake ( this will take you back to near where your car is )

Walk to Booths supermarket to have lunch in the cafe .

If you are in Keswick on a Saturday there is a market , you could have a look around there .

Keswick also has a few attractions to do (look up to see the ones best suited for your kids )

Take a drive to the Borrowdale Valley , there is Great Wood ( national trust car park ) or other car parks by the Lake you kids could have a play beside the Lake ,

Drive back to Keswick where there are several chip shops that also do sit in as well as takeaway .

Drive home .

There wasn’t a cafe at Tarn Howes last time I went, which was only last year. Just a van man selling ice creams.
Id go to Keswick and park by the lake and have a walk from there on the good paths and then a boat ride and the. Walk into Keswick for a look round.
Or Ambleside if that is easier to get to from where you are starting from.
Newby Bridge/ Haverthwaite is where the steam trains go from, and then a boat ride to Bowness and back.

Yeah I know, I was just emphasising it for the other poster 😂 Maybe I should have quoted them x

I think that’s what I said?! 😂

It's a popular pub quiz question "How many lakes are there in the Lake District?" With the answer being one, as the rest are meres or waters.

Keep it simple with kids that age. Book the world of Beatrix Potter attraction and maybe a boat ride (all in Bowness)

Not really the Lakes but we visited it when we were on holiday in the Lakes. It’s actually nearby in the Dales but was brilliant for the kids (and me). Such a great day out.
https://www.theforbiddencorner.co.uk/

Another shout out for Tarns How. Its special. We go for the day regularly to the lakes from Morecambe. Personally I dont like it around Ambleside or Windermere, its crowded and quite sterile. My kids do much better with less, so no parks or museums, or shops. They get that living in a town.
I make a nice picnic the day before and lots of snacks. The older ones can carry a bag, or hang it off the buggy. Apart from petrol and parking I spend nothing else.
We go to somewhere like Tarn Hows and go on "an adventure". We climb trees, skim stones, paddle, look out for squirrels and birds.
I find they almost never argue. Whereas if we go to the museum or shops, they do and continuously ask for stuff they don't need. Also you then don't need to worry about timings for boats etc.
Hope you have fun!

It’s just a nice little fun fact, like I said technically they are not lakes except one
www.lakelovers.co.uk/blog/how-many-lakes-in-the-lake-district/

That’s like saying something isn’t a river but an Avon, you’re just using old English to describe a lake. Bassenthwaite is the only one with lake in the name, it doesn’t mean it’s the only lake.

Brockhole is also worth a visit will often have on specific activities for children

I live here, I would go Keswick or also love Grasmere, Allen Bank is fabulous. Theres a room where kids can paint and be creative. There are always red squirrels about and it’s just a lovely place to wander round. Beatrix Potter stuff there too. A few nice shops/cafes in the centre of Grasmere and the gingerbread place. Lovely walks around the lake and a fairy place with boats. You can also paddle and swim if nice day.

technically none of the ‘lakes’ are actually lakes except Bassenthwaite, the others are waters, meres and tarns.

I’m in the NE and get to the Lakes usually every year, mostly just day trips. I like Keswick or Bowness, both good for kids.

Yes, this is probably the best option. If you want to go to the North Lakes instead as we usually do then I would head for Keswick and take the launch on Derwentwater. Go part way round clockwise and get off at High or Low Brandlehow, taking a picnic and clothes and footwear that they can paddle in. Then pick up the launch later on back to Keswick. There’s a big car park near the Lake with toilets.
We often have tea at the Fish and Chip restaurant at the top of the High St. As you’re going up the High St there is a fabulous sweet shop on the left.

It is a lake. Mere is just an old word for lake hence Windermere, Grasmere, Buttermere… A mere isn’t a separate thing.

Sorry - wasn’t getting at you - more an interesting fact - hence I then used lake to describe it because everyone does! 😀

I would def. Come in from the North / M6 -> A66 as the Kirkstone pass is currently closed (we were in the lakes last week!)

Will you be coming in from the a66 or m6?
What kind of things do you enjoy doing? Are your kids big walkers/ into boat rides/ splashing in lakes etc? Do you have a baby carrier or off-road pushchair?
Happy to make suggestions with some more details 😊.

I love the Lakes- very regular visitor!

I'd plan around Keswick. Loads to do there.

Puzzling place/the pencil museum are both good for an hour with kids.

Hope Park is lovely and you can get ice cream/play crazy golf.

Boat ride on the lake.

Nice easy lake side path for a walk - can go as far as you want and either walk back or get the boat back.

Plenty of places to eat.

The kids will love fraiers sweet shop on the maim Street.

Have a great time!

I agree with you that Windermere is actually a "mere", which apparently means "shallow lake", but if you look up the largest lake in England, it names Windermere, so I don't think we need to get too bothered by semantics here, when we are referencing what the OP wants to know. Having said that, when discussing something more formally, I am very keen on the correct usage of words, especially their accuracy, so thank you @akkakk for that information.

Maybe Ullswater in that case - I think it is further North, but I'm not positive about that? I loved Ullswater, and I know that it at least used to have a passenger boat, as we had a lovely split trip on it once. However, at that time I thought it was more of an adult, and maybe older teenager area when consideing tourists, than the lakes further south are? We certainly didn't have our children with us when we went there for a long weekend, but I could have been erroneous in my thinking then, and any actual activities for youngsters may have improved a lot, since then, if I wasn't.

It depends where you are, the Lake District is huge so saying you’re 50 mins away is like- 50 mins from where exactly?? Windermere? Keswick? Ambleside? St Bees? Eskdaleside? It’s a pretty huge region!

Beatrix Potter world is good but always absolutely rammed, same with the boat trips on the lake in Windermere. To be frank, Windermere is lovely but just so packed all of the time. Beatrix Potter’s house in Ambleside is nice. The pencil museum in Keswick is surprisingly good on a rainy day… it’s mostly walking and scenery though OP!