Lake District for Beginners

[edel2]

Hi everyone

I'm from Ireland and going to go to Lake District in November.

All I know (literally) is that it's beautiful. I would be soooo grateful for advice....where to stay, what to do, what to bring....ANYTHING!!

I've three kids (8 and 6 years old, and 7 month old) - the older 2 are great walkers, so we plan on doing lots of it (weather permitting).

Will you have a car?
We stayed in Grasmere. There’s lots of walks from there suitable for children. I found it a good balance between having some shops and not being too busy.

In November it is likely to be rather wet, cold and blustery. My advice would be to stay somewhere within easy reach of lots of indoor attractions. There are good walks wherever you stay, so don’t worry too much about that side of things!
Keswick would be a good base as there are a few good indoor activities like Kong Adventure, Puzzling Place, the pencil museum and Honister slate mine tours. There’s also the super cute mouse trail thekeswickmousetrail.co.uk
Further afield, there’s World of Beatrix Potter, Lakes Aquarium and a couple of steam railways.

Will you have a car ?

South Lakes are lovey . Grizedale forest is good for children ( not so much the 7 month old but trails and zip wires etc )

Coniston / Windermere boat trips.

Tarn Hows is a lovely walk but you will have to carry / push 7 month old , but active older children would be able to do it ( no cafe so you would have to take snacks / drinks yourself. )

If you give me a budget my parents have a timeshare on a development South Lakes and many owners rent them out ( I am not a salesperson for this - they don't rent theirs out ) but small cottages - we went in May and it was really nice - PM me if interested.

I'd give it a wide berth!
I went once in my campervan, lovely site, fantastic scenery, set up and settled down with a brew.
No Internet signal, we actually had to talk to each other all weekend, horrendous 😂
I attempted to do Scafell Pike, bumped into an elderly gentleman, I'm scrambling up on my hands and knees, he took one look at me and said "she's not going to make it" so I turned round and went back down 😂
Good luck 🤞

Where are you staying?

Well wow, thank you allll soooo much!!! This is so helpful!!!!

We will have a car. We'll be coming over on the ferry.

Absolutely nothing booked, only starting to book this week.

When a puts in November? Towards the end of the month, there are Christmas markets in various towns.

If you're in the north Lakes and have a dry day, I recommend Whinlatter Forest. It has good walks, bike trails (and cycle hire), go ape, a really good kids play area and a lovely cafe. It's my favourite day out in the area.

*I'd give it a wide berth!
I went once in my campervan, lovely site, fantastic scenery, set up and settled down with a brew.
No Internet signal, we actually had to talk to each other all weekend, horrendous 😂
I attempted to do Scafell Pike, bumped into an elderly gentleman, I'm scrambling up on my hands and knees, he took one look at me and said "she's not going to make it" so I turned round and went back down

is this a joke post? One of those posts about why really nice places are horrible but it’s all light hearted.
if it’s not a joke it doesn’t make sense.
of course there’s Wi-Fi.
why would you do Scarfell Pike if you weren’t going to make it instead of doing Helm Crag or Catbells?

If you're lucky and it's a dry, bright november rather than wet and windy, Keswick makes a fine base. It's a lovely town all year but when it's quieter, crisp and cold it's stunning. There might be a sprinkling of snow on the fells too. It's perfectly located for all the main Lakes sights.

I've stayed in various places and my personal preference is to stay near Keswick. Lots to do there 😊 Cat Bells is seen as the 'beginner fell' I think if you want to head up a hill. And you get the Keswick launch all around Derwentwater for picnics on the shore.

Windermere is super touristy I find, and more day trippers than outdoorsy people, so I prefer to stay near Keswick for the atmosphere, but that's totally personal preference!

Yes keswick is my favourite as a base - larger less traffic and more to do. Both derwent water and ulswater are lovely and easy to get to.

North Lakes- Keswick or surrounding. It's nowhere near as congested as South Lakes.

We’ve fallen in love with the Lakes. We’ve been 3 times now (we’re down south) and will go back every year until we can move there!

We stay at the northern end of the lakes. Keswick is a great base. As someone has said there’s lots of indoor and outdoor options.

We love the Threlkeld bike trail with ice cream van half way down.

Whinlatter - Go ape and Zog trail.

Ullswater is breathtaking (much more than Windermere if you ask me) Aira force there is great to do by boat taxi.

Crazy Kong for indoor climbing in Keswick. Great shops & cafes, especially one with a chocolate fountain!

Windermere - boat to Wray castle or Brockhole.

To be honest, The Lakes is somewhere where you do just have to embrace the rain. The backdrop is gorgeous even when the weather is poor!

I much prefer the Northern half of the lakes. The scenery is far more spectacular than around Windermere. Ambleside, Keswick, Grasmere, Glenridding, all good bases, but if you have a car and don’t need to be within walking distance if a shop or pub you’ll be fine in lots of places.

Ullswater is indeed incredibly beautiful. The steamers run all year from Glenridding.

Other of my favourite places for scenery are Langdale, Borrowdale and over the Honister Pass for a beautiful view of Buttermere and Crummock Water.

Loughrigg is a do-able walk for staunch kids, with lovely views. Maybe from Rydal Water via the Rydal caves.

Rannerdale Crags is a lovely easy walk from Buttermere (there is a NT car park at the bottom of the path).

For rainy days Beatrix Potter world, maybe, The Pencil Museum is better than it sounds, but basically… good waterproofs!

The days will be short in November and the temperature dropping.

I agree with everything already said about staying in Keswick, and the area around there - Grizedale, Threlkeld, Cat Bells. During high season, driving to the base of Cat Bells is discouraged, but it's fun (albeit pricey) to get the ferry from Keswick launch .

If you do head to the South Lakes, Gummer's How is a great little mountain for little legs, but has a really "big mountain" feel with amazing views from the top. And you can drive halfway up!

Back in the central lakes , the Lancrigg Hotel on the edge of Grasmere is wonderfully quirky. Possibly not for staying in with young children, but for afternoon tea.

On a wet day, there are also plenty of tea rooms in Ambleside, and a crazy golf course and a cinema. And a nice park and swimming pool in Keswick. But the Pencil Museum is a must!!!! (Really not as rubbish as it sounds).

Check out what the National Trust are doing at Langdale too - they usually put on something familyish over half term - this year it seems to be split between w/c 23 Oct and w/c 30 Oct in different parts of England. Anyway, last autumn half term we went on a fantastic bay evening, where we went out with bat detectors and then came back and watched Hotel Transylvania and drank hot choc.

Where are you staying?

Don't drive if you can help it - parking is a nightmare, expensive & it's bad for the local environment, and you just don't see as much. Bus fares are cheap, and day tickets are very cheap!

You can buy a family day ticket and the Lake District is really well set up for using public transport. Look here at the possibilities:

https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/getting-to-the-lake-district

Look at the Stagecoach (buses) site for bus routes & time tables.

For rainy days (November can be very wet) you can take a train to Kendal, Lancaster or Manchester. Or even a day trip up to Edinburgh (2 hours on a train from Oxenholme).

And then Lake District introductory walks:

• From Grasmere up to Easedale Tarn - loads of buses to Grasmere from Windermere/Ambleside
• From Rosthwaite along Greenup Gill, and then instead of going up high over Greenup Edge walk the Langstrath valley, and enjoy the Langstrath beck
• Castle Crag in Borrowdale Valley
• Foot ferry from Bowness to the other side of Windermere and walk up to Beatrix Potter's house at Far Sawrey
• If they like steam trains, the Haverthwaite railway
• The Pencil Museum at Keswick (yes, really it's fun!) and the Keswick Museum with stuffed badger & xylophone made from slate

None of the walks I've suggested is difficult and you probably don't need much navigation experience, but I'd recommend a good OS map and all-weather boots for November.

November is going to be cold and wet, with short days. Indoor activities will be limited - and also not the reason to go to that part of the country. Lake District is beautiful but if you haven’t booked anything yet I would try and go at a different time of year.

November isn’t a busy tourist time at all, parking will be fine and the winter bus timetable sparse.

Agree With the Keswick suggestions. Big car parks so you won’t have a problem parking there in November. And lots of accommodation.

We visit the Lake District alot with our children. We love Keswick as a base as lots of walks from the door. Cat Bells is a good mountain walk and latrigg and Derwent water for children. Keswick also has a good park with good play equipment.

Rydal water has a cave our children love visiting and it is a nice lake to walk around. Depends how far your children will walk but we park in Grasmere and walk what is called the 'coffin trail' to visit Rydal water and walk back to Grasmere. Good play area at Grasmere and Gingerbread shop.

Ambleside also has a good children's play area, lots of choice of walks from here as well. Forget the name but their is a waterfall you can walk to signposted in the town centre.

Another vote for Keswick, although there's no longer a swimming pool. Go on the launch but don't sit at the front or you'll get wet! Pencil museum, Keswick museum, cinema (depending on what is on), theatre by the lake (again depending what is on) lots of lovely walks - you can find pushchair friendly ones on Google and probably at the Tourist Information Centre which is in the market square. The market is on twice a week and there are some good shops to look around. Go to Weatherspoons which is an old Courthouse and Police Station so interesting to look around. Book some meals out, wherever you decide to stay, so that you know that you've got a few guaranteed places but also look at the ones where you can't book but just get lucky with a seat. Whinlatter is fab - take waterproofs and the kids will be entertained for ages. I absolutely love the Lakes but you're right to plan ahead so you've got some days planned if the weather isn't the best.

For those bemoaning November weather in the lakes, the OP is from Ireland, they will be no stranger to rain 😂

I'd stay in Keswick, it's a good location regards walks and there's loads to do in the town itself, especially if the weather isn't great.

Have fun, we go to the lakes loads and always enjoy ourselves.

Also check out the honnister pass / slate mine. If you don't feel brave enough to drive there's a bus that does the full route to Buttermere and it's only and its only £2 each way.