Windermere in October? For someone that has never been to the lake district?

[Wiifitmama]

My dh and I are supposed to be in Budapest mid October for his 50th birthday which of course is not happening now. So we are looking for somewhere in the UK to go. We live in central London with no car. We have done lots of the seaside places so don't really want to do that again. Or a city. We have never been to the Lake District before but love lakes and mountains holidays in Austria so thought we might like it.

We are looking at Bowness on Windermere as the destination. Train from London. We will not have a car when we are there so would need to walk, take the ferries on the lake, etc. We are planning 4 nights, no kids. Are we mad? Will it just pour down the whole time? Is there enough for us to do?

Any thoughts before we book?

My first thought is you'll be quite restricted without a car. Do either of you drive? If so, I'd highly recommend either driving up, or getting the train to Kendal or Oxenholme and hiring one.

Public transport in the Lakes is expensive and not particularly reliable, especially in the evenings and on the weekends, and you'll have much more flexibility with your own vehicle.

Car is not an option for us - haven't driven in over 10 years. I had thought we would stay local - walks, ferry across the lake, etc. Do you think there is not enough for us to do?

As far as the weather's concerned, who knows? We sometimes have lovely weather in the Lakes in October and sometimes we don't. I must admit, I wouldn't want to be without a car if I were staying for a week or more, but I guess for 4 days you can stay local. I live 20 mins from Windermere but I've never used public transport in the area. People do say it's crap though (the transport, not the area ).

Just take appropriate clothing eg lots of warm clothing. It will be beautiful up there in autumn.

Have you looked at what’s in in the area? Look at restaurants you’d like to try, spas you’d like to relax in, Walks that are near. You could email the hotel and ask them to recommend activists as such.

I’m jealous!

I’m a local! Taxis are expensive and non existent but public transport (buses) are ok especially if you buy a day-rider or weekly ticket. Also Can get deals on ferry etc. Loads of sight seeing (From the bus), walking etc. Eg buses are half hourly from Windermere to Keswick/kendal/lancaster. Great Pubs and restaurants inc Michelin *. Museums and galleries. Independent shops. Local breweries and distillers. Tourism in the lakes is 12 months a year. Check out the stagecoach website for buses. You’ll be ok in Bowness as a base but also look at Ambleside and Grasmere.

Thanks for the replies!

Ok, here is what I thought we could do, but correct me if I am wrong! We would only be there 3 full days, plus parts of two travel days. We would walk around both Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere. Remember we are Londoners so little towns/villages are quaint to us! Walk around the lake. Take the ferry to Lakeside and take the steam railway. Maybe the Lakeside aquarium while there? Hawkshead by ferry? Eat nice dinners, stop for coffees.

We don't mind taking a taxi if there is somewhere else really good to go. My dh would love a distillery tour or something like that. Not keen on buses.

How does this sound?

@Wiifitmama

Car is not an option for us - haven't driven in over 10 years. I had thought we would stay local - walks, ferry across the lake, etc. Do you think there is not enough for us to do?

There's plenty to do, I'm more thinking about convenience than anything else! I lived in Ambleside for several years - the buses are regular enough but they do stop early - I think they often only run every couple of hours past 6pm so it's worth considering that if you want to go out for a meal in say, Ambleside or Grasmere.

Otherwise there's plenty to do - lots of outdoor shops, lovely cafes and restaurants. Are you into hill-walking at all or were you planning to do other things?

Sounds great actually! I'd happily go and spend a few days doing that, and I'm a local (well, not a proper local, I'm a southernerand I've only lived here 6 years!). You'll have a lovely time. Bring good waterproofs.

We don't mind taking a taxi if there is somewhere else really good to go. My dh would love a distillery tour or something like that. Not keen on buses.

Ah. If you're not keen on buses you might struggle. There's no other means of transport from Windermere into the lakes - it's either bus or taxi. Unless you're planning to spend the entire time in Windermere?

I'm local and your plan sounds fine. Plenty of walks you can do from Windermere. You can get the chain ferry from Ferry Nab across to the western side of the lake and there are some nice walks from there, Hill Top if it's open then. Also if you can hire a bike you can take bikes on the chain ferry and you could cycle up to Wray Castle on the lake path.

Like you said you can get the boats to Ambleside or the southern end for the Aquarium etc. Plenty to keep you going for three days.

We hadn't planned to leave Windermere lake. I guess people who are used to cars probably think the way we do things is strange! But because we always travel somewhere by train and don't have a car, we holiday locally to where ever we stay. We don't try to explore a whole area. I don't want to be stuck in the town of Windermere the whole time, but with the ferry across the lake, it seemed like we could go to other villages.

We like walking. Happy to walk to get places (looking at a hotel half way between Bowness and Windermere towns so an easy 15-20 minute walk either way). Also happy to go for walks to beauty spots. We are city people so would not go "off path" but otherwise we are good walkers.

If you like a walk there’s a fairly decent one up Orrest Head behind Windermere. The view from the top is lovely on a clear day. Otherwise, ferry to Ambleside, nice little village to wander around with a path to a waterfall that’s quite nice. Definitely take warm clothes and sturdy shoes, the wind chill across the lake can be surprising even on a hot day.

Walk to a waterfall sounds amazing! Check to warm clothes and good shoes!

I think you could easily fill 4 days in the Windermere area. There are plenty of lovely walks. The ferry will take you to Hawkshead, or you can get the Windermere "steamers" to Ambleside, Wray Castle or down to Newby Bridge. The Steamboat Museum has recently been refurbished and is very nice. You could easily get a bus into Grasmere to visit Dove Cottage, and the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop - the gingerbread is lovely. The only distillery I know of is the Lakes Distillery near Cockermouth but it is a bit off the beaten track. You could probably get a bus to Keswick and then a taxi, but its quite a hike. Its very nice there, with a lovely restaurant, but I'm not sure I would bother without a car.

If you stay at Bowness you can easily fill your time without a car and your planned days sound good. I love Bowness and part of attraction, is just slowing down your pace and being a countryside tourist.

Autumn in the Lakes is lovely ,we live here and is such a beautiful time of year , and as others have said plenty to explore around the lake and surrounding villages . If you wanted to take a trip further afield the Mountain Goat do mini bus tours which you might enjoy and worth checking them out .

If you don't mind walking, you could walk to Ambleside from Bowness no problem. It takes around 2 hours I think - I've done it. There's a bus, but if you miss the last one it wouldn't be the end of the world, is what I mean.

I’m local, from a different tourist town in Lakes, and I think you’ll be fine without a car, plenty to explore and I think you’ll have a great time!

We hadn't planned to leave Windermere lake. I guess people who are used to cars probably think the way we do things is strange!

It's not strange at all!

It's just worth bearing in mind that buses and things do stop fairly early - from about 6pm they go to every two hours, and often the last bus is around 9pm or so. Obviously this doesn't have to be a problem, but it's just worth thinking about if you want to go to Ambleside or somewhere for a meal, iyswim.

But there's plenty to do from Windermere - I'd look at getting the ferry or steamer to Hawkshead and Ambleside, or get the bus to Grasmere and get some Sarah Nelson's gingerbread. The Lakes Aquarium is more for young children imo. but it could pass an hour or two if the weather is bad. There's a lovely hotel at Newby Bridge that you could visit for afternoon tea too.

If you want to do some walking, there's Orrest Head, or Loughrigg and Wansfell, both of which have great views if the weather is clear :)

Don't go to Bowness. It's too touristy. Go to Grasmere/ Ambleside/hawks head or Keswick. All accessible on public transport (very expensive). More authentic Lake District. Still touristy but not as bad! And prettier.

My sister lives in Grasmere. It's a great base for exploring. With loads of busses.

Ps. Do leave Windermere. You'd miss so
Much if you just stay there. The scenery is more dramatic the further in you go.

Thanks everyone! We are going to book it!

Just jumped on to say we went to the Lake District last October and had good weather, maybe we were lucky! We're going again this year.

We went a few times to Bowness as a couple, plenty of restaurants and pubs, the lake, boat trip and walks from the town. You should easily be able to get to Ambleside from there too - by bus/boat.

OP we've been to the Lakes many times and the last time we went to Bowness we parked the car up and didn't need it at all. We walked a lot and used the ferry to explore. You really don't need a car for Bowness.