What do you think of the Lake District?

[Serfisafleur]

We're doing the "leaving the city and moving to somewhere nice" research.

Looked into the Yorkshire Dales and it's maybe. Possibly Peak District.
Now we've looked at some houses in the Lake District. Some of them look lovely and the pictures look gorgeous!

The thing is we're from the south, and have never been to or even driven through the Lake District. At least we have actually been a few times to the YD and many times to the PD so have some idea.

I hear it rains all the time in the Lake District and it's cold. Also bad for shopping. We'll obviously visit if we're serious about it but in the meanwhile,
What's it like to visit/live?

I heard a saying once about the rain in the lake district. Something about 'well those lakes won't fill themselves'.

Yes, the Lake District is very beautiful. But there are downsides and I'm not sure it's wise to just move there.

But, you can find very rural areas in the Peak District, South Pennines or just off the southern Edge of the Yorkshire Dales, that are less than half an hour outside Leeds, Sheffield or Manchester. Somewhere like that might suit you better?

This thread has been really helpful. It's actually putting me off a bit from taking the next step and taking a weeks holiday visiting the LD to look around at houses.
Which is a good thing because we can spend more time looking around the Peak District or Yorkshire Dales.

billybag those roads sound terrible! I love Harrogate. And Knaresborough and York which are close to the Dales. Another reason to look into the Dales.

There is much more to Cumbria than the Lake District. You can still get impressive scenery etc outside of the main tourist hotspots.

Kendal, Carlisle and Penrith are all just outside the national park but have plenty of small villages surrounding them which overlook the fells and the lakes.

All three of the places I've listed above have excellent transport links to the M6 and the West Coast Mainline.

I love it and would give anything to live there. Some towns are touristy, yes, but there are beautiful villages and towns like Cockermouth which are quieter and lovely. The Bowland area is not as well known, and very beautiful too.

I love the LD but wouldn’t live in it. Lots of lovely places just outside it which are closer to transport while also being beautiful and less crowded in school holidays.

I think you’d better give it a try for a week’s holiday to start with OP 😂

Clawdy Yes, funnily enough we had an electrician here for 3 days who was from Cockermouth. It was speaking to him that spurred on our interest.

Have you thought about The Marches, the border between England and Wales? There's some fabulous scenery, nice towns, history, foodie stuff, rivers, lots of walking and mountain biking ...

My parents live in the Lake District, I grew up there. I love it, it's very beautiful. But can get crowded in the summer and the traffic can be bad on some of the main roads.

It's not somewhere to go if you like shopping, unless Beatrix Potter tea towels are your thing.

My dp is from Keswick in the Lake District and I'm from a town in Lancashire which is very near the Yorkshire border and I was a 10 minute drive to Lancaster with good rail and bus links. I actually moved to Keswick and lived there for a couple of years before moving to Scotland. Yes the weather can be wet but isn't that the case for most of the uk. The scenery is lovely but is very busy in summer. Carlisle is a 40 minute drive and is ok for shopping and you can easily get to Newcastle or Glasgow via train from Carlisle. We're actually going to Keswick for our family holiday next July to see both sides of the family and do touristy stuff for a change. I hope this was helpful and sorry if a bit long winded 😊

I was born and bred (left aged 26) in the southern lakes and would never live there again. The scenery is beautiful.

What isn't so great is the lack of diversity, decent shopping, any museum that isn't about bloody sheep or pencils, having to drive 2 hours to the nearest airport, the small mindedness of the locals.

The greyness, the grim weather, you don't really get a summer. V few holiday clubs for kids.

I had to go back frequently when my mum and dad were old and I'll. now they've both passed on, I am happy never ever to go there again.

I lived in the Yorkshire dales for 5 years and whilst it's still freezing there with a lot of snow, there was much more diversity and more fun things going on.

Once you get Preston or Manchester in the NW the train service in the evenings and Sunday's is notably lacking!

Ribble Valley and Bowland are stunning it just depends if you want to live remotely.

It's very well connected in terms of trains. I'd like a house there but wouldn't live there. Actually, I would so I could shop at Booths 😍
I think Knaresborough is beautiful as well

My family are from the Cumbrian west coast, my parents have retired back there, it even drives them mad. I’ve spent many holidays there. It’s beautiful but it’s remote, wet, poor for shopping, far too busy in places. I’m in Yorkshire in one of the towns already mentioned. We get much less rain, access to good shops and road networks, beautiful countryside on the doorstep. There’s much more going on and it would be less of a culture shock. We get a lot of people moving up from London, sadly they are able to snap up the beautiful houses more easily than the locals.

It's beautiful and loads to do but I can heartily recommend Northumberland (it's much quieter and we have the best coast in the world) or the Durham Dales.

Yep - Northumberland or Teesdale!

I think you've had some very poor advice here OP from people who visit the lake district rather than live here, and therefore of course see all the tourists, as they are tourists themselves.

I live in the South Lakes and don't need to use the windy roads in my day to day life, Booths is 2 minutes away as is a Tesco Express, within a 20 minute drive there's an Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, ALDI, Lidl, Iceland, 30 minutes the other way is a Sainsbury's and Sainsbury's deliver here too. I live in a market town with a packed events calendar of festivals, gigs and comedy nights and within 15/20 mins drive of Lake Windermere. I have a beach nearby, loads of lovely walks and loads of amazing places to eat out. We're 30 mins from the M6.

I grew up here but lived in a city for a long time. There's so much going on here that i don't miss the city, and I really appreciate the environment I'm living in.

You don't only have to like going walking or be bored in the Lake District, that's a load of crap to be honest.

I really don't think you can comment on living in the Lake District when you've only ever been up on holiday. Of course if you visit as a tourist, you do touristy things and visit tourist places, but as a local it's completely different.

I never go to the tourist towns in summer, for example, because there's so much else to do, and I can go during the off season when it's much quieter and cheaper! So I don't experience the awful traffic and the crowds and the expensive parking that you have to suffer with as a tourist.

Without being rude you obviously need to do some more research on the area if you’re asking if the train service is ok did you see the headlines over the summer about the completed collapse in rail services .... they had to bring a 40 year old diesel train into operation 2 weeks after northern rail suspended all services!
Appreciate things have been sorted but it says it all about priorities in this country Gorgeous scenery and very affluent in areas, loads of second homes etc but still the north and second fiddle to the south Rant over lol

I love the Lake District and have spent many a happy week there on holiday but even i'd think twice about moving there.

Friends of ours did it and only lasted 18 months. They didn't get as many visitors as they'd hoped, were too far away from family and were made to feel like outsiders in their village.

Are you planning on working in the area? Have you looked into jobs in your field? Or is this retirement and are you just planning on walking all the Wainwrights?

Lancaster is a lovely little city, and there is easy access to the Lakes (well, it's not a long drive at least...). I would move back there in a heartbeat. Worth thinking about?

I ageee with Adaline and Emma. You're getting advice from people who visit the Lake District as tourists. Hence why they think it's 'too touristy' Well, yes it will be if you're going to the tourist hotspots during school holidays.

There are plenty of decent supermarkets plus they all do home delivery like they do anywhere else. It's not the outback.

It does rain all the time though. That is true. This Summer with 2 solid dry weeks felt unnatural. During winter it's almost guaranteed to rain at least slightly, 6 days out of 7. It's why the gardens and countryside are so lush and beautiful.

I really don't think you can consider moving somewhere you haven't even visited. Visit when it isn't the school holidays and go places that aren't on the touristy path. Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale are good places to start.

Visit in January or February before making any decision. Research where facilities you need are- it may be miles to a bank, for example. Think how you would manage if illness or injury stopped you driving.

Living in a tourist area is not something I would do unless the tourism was year-round. Local wages tend to get depressed, and you need to think about what your DC would do once they are post education.

What are your circumstances? Kids? And your ages?

I absolutely love it up there to holiday, been pretty much every year since I was born, even had our honeymoon there. I wouldn’t chose to live their though - previous reasons mentioned - takes ages to get anywhere, public transport variable and expensive, if you have kids you’ll be ferrying them round everywhere.
I’m a HCP that used to do elderly care and from my perspective, I’d only consider going further North like Carlisle where there’s a big hospital. As far as I’m aware, Kendal’s hospital is small with limited services, so you’d be transferred either to Lancaster or Carlisle depending on which is closest/ could meet your needs. That could be an hour’s traveling from some parts. Not ideal if you’re heading towards older age. Obviously wouldn’t put everyone off but is something I’d consider!

Love love love the lakes. BUT it’s very touristy, takes ages to get anywhere and it rains 90% of the time!

But get glorious weather and it’s stunning. We went last week and it was better weather than in July! It’s somewhere that I love to visit but wouldn’t want to live there. Could be pretty bleak in winter. Peaks is your best bet for stunning views but not far from civilisation. Sheffield is particularly close. Some beautiful towns in the peaks too.

I like, the Lake District if you can get away from the crowds a bit but find places like Bowness & Ambleside too busy/touristy

The weather can be very temperamental and it definitely rains more than in the North West than other areas of England

If you are happy to be remote and won't need to commute to a city for work then I would choose Scotland over the Lake District any day, with the added do us that you would get far more for your money property wise than in the Lakes