What would you do for one day in the Lake District?

[GoFishFingers]

Basically we will be on our way home from holiday, should be somewhere around Penrith by 11am ish on Friday and happy to drive an hour or so on from there and then have until 5pm ish free. Never really been to the lakes, would love some advice on what to do/where to go - four of us, 2 children ages 8 and 3.

Ullswater is up at the penrith end of the lake district. Aira Force is a beautiful series of waterfalls at the side of Ullswater, you can get boats from there too (if they are running). There is Gowbarrow Fell right next to Aira Force too, with great views of Ullswater. The circular walk from the waterfalls takes a couple of hours.

That sounds amazing. My 8 year old (and all of us really) would love to see some waterfalls

Came on the thread to say Aira Force! Stunning! Don't turn back at the first little waterfalls .. go the whole way. It is not that long and is wonderful!

Do either of you know whether the trail is pushchair friendly? Not a deal breaker if not but need to plan how to pack the car :)

Lots of steps at Aira Force

We were at Aira Force last week! The falls looked amazing after all the rain we've had recently.

We do the Gowbarrow walk from there every year. The views really are stunning. If you think the full circular walk from the top of Aira Force may be too much for your 3yo, you can walk up (30 min slow walk) from the bottom of the Force to the top of Gowbarrow for fab views of Ullswater then return the same way.

Also a steam boat from Glenridding at the bottom of Ullswater to Howtown(I think about an hr) then walk back along the lake back to Glenridding. 6/7 mile walk. Nothing too strenuous. Our DCs used to do it at those ages.

www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/walk-howtown-to-glenridding-ullswater-cumbria/

Hope this link works!

Near Penrith, with an 8 and 3 year old it has to be Lowther Castle.

Link

It's amazing, with something for everyone, and the kids will love the Lost Castle adventure playground.

All good suggestions.

Either drive to Aira Force, or look up the timetables for the Ullswater Steamers www.ullswater-steamers.co.uk/ and book for the Aira Force trip, the boat takes you from Glenridding to a pier near the path for the Waterfalls.

If the timing worked out, perhaps if you don’t do the steamer, you could then possibly spend the second half of the afternoon hiring a little motor boat on the lake from just south of Glenridding. It is fun and you get great views from the lake www.stpatricksboatlanding.co.uk/

There is a National Trust tea room at Aira Force. Glenridding has two great small shops that have pies, sandwiches, ice creams.

If you are continuing your journey south the drive over the Kirkstone Pass is fantastic, past Brothers Water and more great views.

Ummm, if the weather has been very dry Aira can be more of a trickle than a Force.

Aria force will be rammed - get there early or be prepared to drive round for ages. It is such a lovely walk though.

Indoor: there is the rhegad centre at Penrith which is good.

Keswick is lovely too - about 20minutes from Penrith (also gets busy but lots to do. We like the puzzling place and a walk along derwentwater). Catbells is a nice walk - bit scramble one way which may not suit a young child (but the other way up is fine)

The old railway walk from Keswick to threkeld has reopened and is pushchair friendly. It’s very nice scenery.

Yes to aura force and then do the drive to Glen ridding
It’s stunning
Carry onto keswick
Lovely little market town
My friends own spirit of keswick on bank st and sell their own craft gin, great outdoor and charity shops and cafes
Then get back in the car and drive to castlerigg stone circle just above keswick
It’s beautiful

If you want to swerve that drive over the kirkstone pass to windermere lake and feed the swans and get on a steamer

My favourite place

Ullswater, get the ferry across to Howtown, have cream tea at the café. Back across, drive to Pooley Bridge, wander the touristy shops, have lunch/tea in the Sun, paddle in the river. It being half term, it’ll be heaving, mind.

Yep, ullswater steamer, and head to pooley bridge and walk down to the edge of the lake and throw stones in and paddle. Easy walk up dunmallard if you fancy it.

Laurel and Hardy museum at Ulverston is brilliant!

If you’re in the lakes, you should def spend time walking along the edge of, and throwing stones into, a lake. They are so beautiful. Agree also castlerigg stone circle is a good bet. I would avoid the larger towns if poss as will be v busy but pooley is so handy for where you’ll be, and for ullswater, and lovely by the river and good for the steamer, it’s worth it.

God don’t do aira force with a three year old. It gets really slipply and some of the paths are steep. My heart was in my mouth trying to get my then four year old round.

Hi I live in Penrith.

Whilst Aira Force is a nice place it is definitely not pushchair friendly. There are sheer steep drops with no barriers too so extremely dangerous for little kids.

I would definitely recommend Lowther Castle. It’s a derelict castle in stunning grounds with an amazing outdoor adventure play area.

Or a walk around Keswick and visit the ‘puzzling place’ get a donut from ‘Bruce and Lukes’ and have a walk down to the lake.

If you want to play in water Ullswater is close to Penrith , glenridding is a lot quieter than Pooley bridge although we usually get there before 9.30 to make sure we get a parking space. We often get the steamer to hometown and go for a short walk with picnic and splash in lake.
If you do go to lowther castle: All our kids can happily spend a day walking around the gardens and going to the lost castle play area but it is quite pricey! If you want a cheaper day then there is Plenty of places to splash in the river that goes through the bottom on the lowther estate near Askham too & there is a lovely 1 hour walk around the river that our youngest managed at 3 year olds and if you don’t mind an out and back route then you can take a buggy. You can then get pizzas from their outdoor pizza oven and that has a (very) small swing set for the kids to play on too.
I agree Aira Force is not somewhere we take the kids until they’re at least 5. It will be very busy too.
For when they’re a little older a circular walk from glenridding up to lantys tarn followed by a splash in ullswater is a great day. It’s always quietish by the lake as even if car parks heaving most people disappear into the hills for the day.
Keswick is lovely too as pp have mentioned. Easily play in the park, wander round shops and do a buggy walk along part of the lake shoreline.

*howtown not hometown!

Hello, local here. It's meant to be lovely on Friday!

Agree that Aira Force walk may not be practical for a 3 year old, but it is lovely. I agree that if you're going to go, you get there super early.

Definitely Lowther Castle.

If you drive half an hour from Penrith, you could spend your time at Keswick. There's crazy golf, the puzzling place and the launch at Keswick. You can also hire a rowing boat (although 3yo bit young?). Latrigg is a very easy walk with lovely views, though it will be busy so get there early. There are also climbing walls in Keswick. Kong adventure has a climbing wall for the older one, and a hard and soft play for the younger.

Between Keswick and Cockermouth is the Lake District Wildlife Park. Not too far from Whinlatter Forest, which is just outside Keswick, so you could combine those two.

Keswick. You can wander round the town, go through the park down to the lake, play crazy golf, feed the ducks, get the launch over the lake and walk/play in the water on the other side. My 18 month old old loved it

I was going to say Aira force. You could also get the old paddle steamer out across one of the lakes. Ullswater has one. It drops you at Aira Force too, so you could park somewhere less busy.

Aira force is a defo no no with a pushchair.

Tarn Howes near Hawkshead via the little car ferry is fabulous though with a bloody lovely for a push chair.
Kids can paddle, it’s gorgeous.

Everywhere will be absolutely heaving. Just to warn you - you may be spending a lot of your time sat in traffic jams and struggling to find somewhere to park

Aira Force is beautiful but there is no way you will get parking at 11am on a Friday in school holidays. Similarly you will struggle to find a parking spot in Keswick (or indeed anywhere popular) - is it at all possible to leave earlier?

I'm in the western lakes which are generally quieter - last weekend emergency services couldn't get to an accident because the roads were so badly blocked. There was traffic everywhere and the roads were horrendous.

I don't mean to sound negative but you do need to be prepared for lots of traffic and people. It will be very busy.