There is so much to do in the Lakes, the place is just one big playground. However, we've whittled down the list with something for everybody: Hire motor or rowing boat on any lakes Get out on the lakes and take command of your own ship in a style that you...
20 Things To Do in the Lake District
There is so much to do in the Lakes, the place is just one big playground. However, we’ve whittled down the list with something for everybody:
Hire motor or rowing boat on any lakes
Get out on the lakes and take command of your own ship in a style that you fancy. Hone those rowing skills you might never know you had with a rowing boat hire, or relax in the shelter of a motor boat. All the main lakes (Derwentwater, Ullswater, Windermere and Coniston) offer rowing and motorboat hire. There are quite a few companies, so we’ve created a whole new list you can reach by clicking here.
Treetop Adventures and GoApe
Fancy a bit of a challenge through the trees? There are numerous tree adventure companies, including GoApe in Grizedale forest and Zip World beside Windermere.
Honister
From the ruins of an old slate mine emerged an adrenaline fuelled experience like nowhere else in the lakes. Climb the face of a cliff via the Via Ferrata or cross a gorge with the invisible bridge. Or simply enjoy a mine tour and learn about the history of this beautiful valley. Check out their website here.
Windermere Jetty Museum
Boats have been bobbing around the lakes for centuries. The Jetty Museum has a beautiful collection of finely restored classic boats, ranging from steam launches where landed gentry lunched, to speed machines setting records on the lake. The museum is very well laid out and the building itself even word an architectural award.
World of Beatrix Potter
For fans of the book, Beatrix Potter World offers an insight into not just the stories, but the inspiration behind them. Far from a kids museum, this is very much one for the young and old at heart.
Hill Top House
Beatrix Potters house, Hill Top House, has been meticulously kept as it was when Beatrix lived there nearly a century ago.
Walk tarn hows
This vast man made tarn (lake), was once the preserve of a private estate, but now one of the grandest tarns in the lakes. If you’re in the area Tarn Hows makes a nice hour or twos walk and a lovely picnic spot.
Blea Tarn
If you’re over Langdales way then Blea Tarn is a lovely way to spend an hour. No circular walk, but a lovely out and back in one of the most spectacular parts of the lakes (The scenery was used in an opening sequence to Countryfile)
Grasmere town
Grasmere is wonderful quaint lakeland village. park up, walk around the town, enjoy a tearoom or two and maybe head down to the lake.
Wordsworth Cottage and Museum
Visit “The loveliest spot that man hath ever known” and learn more about one of the worlds literary greats; Wordsworth at his old house of Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere. Come in early Spring to enjoy the famous daffodils.
Spa day
Everyone loves a spa session and the lakes is full of spa hotels. But save the £400 a night accommodation and head over for the day. We recommend Lodore Falls Hotel, Low Wood Bay Hotel and Langdale Hotel just for three to name.
Aira force
A beautiful round walk to see a spectacular waterfall, Aira Force. You can park at the lower car park for a longer circular walk or the upper one for a slightly shorter walk, although the upper car park is smaller. You can also extend a walk from the upper car park to Garbarrow fell.
Cruise on a lake
Each of the larger lakes (Derwentwater, Ullswater, Windermere and Coniston) have their own unique cruise boats from which you can relax and enjoy a nautical trip out. Derwentwater has traditional wooden launches, while Ullswater has some of the oldest ferries in the UK. Windermere has an armada of larger launches taking your the full 10 miles of Englands largest lake while Coniston has the only steam powered launch in the lakes.
Why not make it an active voyage? Most of the launches and ferries stop off along the lakes and allow you to enjoy one way walks along the lake shores.
Round Buttermere walk
Buttermere is one of the most unspoilt and beautiful valleys in the lake district and this flat 5 mile walk around the lake is a grand day out, which can be mixed in with a trip to Honister Slate Mines and activities. Our recommendation is to park at Gatesgarth, just after Honister pass and walk down one side of the lake to Buttermere village for a a refreshing tea and cake or a delicious lunch before coming back up the other side.
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
The La’al Ratty, as the locals call it, is an old slate railway that turned to tourism over 100 years ago. Rattling from the sandy coastal town of Ravenglass, where you can play in the sand or watch the gulls diving in the sea the steam trains take you deep into the picturesque Eskdale valley. We recommend considering a pub lunch in Boot.
Threlkeld quarry
Another railway, but a bit closer to home and shorter, the Threlkeld Quarry offers a wonderful insight into the industrial heritage of the local area. It’s not a whole day out, but great if you have a couple of hours to spare, maybe if you have time to kill when you arrive or leave?
Lowther castle
On the edge of the lakes is what is, but can’t truly be described as, the ruins of Lowther castle. An old lord left it to ruin barely a century ago, but over recent years it’s flowered into a beautiful destination with a famous garden and estate to walk around.
