Windermere without a car...

[KindergartenKop]

I'm musing holidays and it would be great if someone could advise me!

The thing I hate about holidays is trying to go to all these crowded places and find somewhere to park. Is there enough to do around Windermere for a week or so without a car? Are the buses and trains good and can you get into the countryside easily? Kids will be 8 and 11 and need lots of activity like puppies!

Thanks :)

You can get the train straight to windermere train station.

Windermere is the countryside. I mean in that you have the stunning views and walks of course. It’s nice to do boat trips up and down the water and explore. Bowness on Windermere doesn’t have the train station but not far to walk and full of touristy things to do.

Train to windermere then taxi or bus to where you are staying.

The buses cover decent routes, though tend to be hourly. If your staying in Bowness or Ambleside there are the ferries which will get you to other parts of the lake.

We tend to drive to Ambleside but then our car stays in the hotel car park for our entire stay.

Yes..I live up here. There's a Windermere line train from Oxenholme (which is on the west coast mainline). There's the 555 Lakes bus which is a good way to get about; they do day tickets. Lots and lots of bike hire places. Windermere and Bowness themselves aren't that big so on foot exploration is possible. Just make sure you've got a good cagoule 😆

We've done round Windermere and further afield a few times using public transport. We use a mixture of train, day bus tickets, ferries and foot. There's plenty to do and if you've time to kill waiting on a connection, there's no end of tea rooms to visit. Go for it.

We catch the bus out to Grasmere, and walk around there. Ambleside is also lovely for walking around. Another good walk is to Staveley, either the easy route or via Troutbeck to the Hawkshead brewery to eat, with the bus back. We always used to train it up there but Arriva have made that more difficult.