Planning Your First Lake District Trip: Our Top 5 Tips
If you're planning your first trip to the Lake District, you’ll be bombarded with ideas and suggestions about what to do. But if you’re here for just a long weekend, how can you most efficiently spend your time, and experience the best that the Lakes have to offer? You’ll make the right decision by booking to stay at Cedar Manor, a perfect location to explore this beautiful corner of England. We’ve lived here for nearly 20 years and we know the Lake District pretty well by now. We’ve not just read the guide books, we’ve been out there and tested everything – and loved it all. So here’s our five best tips for your very first visit to the Lakes.
Sail on a Lake
We have plenty of lakes to choose from. (Though note, if this is your first trip to the Lake District, that only Bassenthwaite actually has Lake in its name. The others are all waters or meres.) The nearest to us here is Windermere, which is England’s largest lake, and well served by many different kinds of craft, from giant steamers to small rowing boats. You can take a short stroll down to the the pier at Bowness from our hotel. Windermere Lake Cruises offer sailings lasting from 45 minutes to three hours. Or you can even spend all day on and around the lake with the Freedom of the Lake ticket. If you head south, there’s the option of getting off to visit the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway, or the Lakes Aquarium. But sail north and you’ll be heading into the mountains, with the Langdale Pikes and the Fairfield Horseshoe range at the head of the lake.
Climb a Mountain
You’ll know that Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, and is often at the top of a visitor’s bucket list. But it’s a serious climb, needing navigational skills and serious kit, and not a good one to start with. Especially if you’re only here for a weekend, as the drive and the climb would take up a whole day. But there are plenty of other mountains. In fact our legendary guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright listed 214 of them, all over 1000 feet high. You can see a lot of them from a wonderful little hill called Orrest Head, just across the road from us. And that will only take you half an hour to reach the top. But if you want to climb an actual mountain, we must suggest Loughrigg. It’s outside Ambleside, just a few miles up the road from here (plenty of parking). It’s a modest height, just 1099ft (335m) but it feels like a proper mountain summit, and has everything you could want from a hike in the Lakes. There’s tarns (tiny lakes), waterfalls, native Herdwick sheep, a cave on one side, and a great view from the top. Details are in the Wainwright Guide to the Lakes, The Central Fells, and you can borrow a copy from us. For more information, take a look at Loughrigg: Tales of a Small Mountain available from Gritstone Publishing or from Fred’s Bookshop in Ambleside.
Ride the Top Deck of the Bus
If you want to see as much as possible on your first trip to the Lake District, ride the top deck of the bus from Windermere to Keswick. And you’re not driving, so you can see so much more. The 555 is operated by the Stagecoach bus company, with a stop right outside our front gate. The journey will take you along the shore of Windermere, through the busy town of Ambleside, and then via Grasmere (don’t get off here – yet!) to Keswick. This section of the journey is spectacular, the road heading up over a pass called Dunmail Raise (where a legendary king of Cumbria is said to have been defeated in battle). Then you’ll follow the shore of Thirlmere, with the towering heights of the Helvellyn range of mountains to your right. Dropping down into Keswick you’ll see the mountains known as Skiddaw and Blencathra ahead. Keswick is a bustling tourist town with a street market on Thursday and Saturday. For the journey back, be sure to sit at the front of the bus upstairs; it’s a better thrill than a roller coaster ride.
Eat Gingerbread in Grasmere Village
On the journey back from Keswick, get off the bus in Grasmere. It stops right outside a lovely art gallery and shop, the Heaton Cooper Studio which has an adjoining cafe, Mathildes. This is the place to go for coffee and cake. Nearby is the beautiful little lake with the same name as the village. While you're here, you can buy the ideal souvenir to take home as a gift for family and friends. Grasmere Gingerbread has been baked here for nearly 200 years. It’s a spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and a cake, made to a secret recipe, and its reputation has spread so that it’s now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world. The little shop, tucked into a corner between the churchyard and a hotel, also sells its own award-winning rum butter and a variety of ginger-themed foods, as well as toffee, fudges, chocolates, conserves, and the legendary Kendal Mint Cake.
Pop in on the Poet
You’re back on the bus from Grasmere heading south, but just for a few stops, because at Rydal you’re going to alight again on a pilgrimage of poetry. This is where you will find Rydal Mount, the home of the famous poet William Wordsworth who lived here for most of his life. In the spring you might see some of his famous Daffodils, and in the tea room or the house itself you might find one of the Wordsworth family. The poet’s descendants still own the house and gorgeous gardens, and can often be found pottering around.