Go Green in the Lake District: Our Top Tips

This new year, we want to help all our visitors to go green in the Lake District. We have long believed that it’s possible to run a luxury hotel on sustainable lines. And we have won many awards for our efforts to be sustainable. From the little things, like energy-saving lightbulbs and less plastic, to the electric vehicle charging point, and encouraging visitors to come here by train if at all possible, we have been leading the way to go green.

And now we want to help visitors to the Lakes to join us in a more sustainable holiday lifestyle. So here’s our top tips.

Public Transport

We have a bus stop right outside our gate, with routes that take you into the heart of the Lakes, north to Keswick and from there to Borrowdale. Or west into Langdale and Coniston. And now, for a few months, bus travel will be much cheaper for everyone. Bus journeys across Cumbria will be capped at £2 until the end of October 2023 as part of a government scheme. Stagecoach, who run the services past our door, have signed up to the scheme. So too have Cumbria Classic Coaches who operate heritage routes to the east and north of the Lakes.

It’s a bonus for you as visitors, with much lower costs, and it’s also helping us all to do our bit to reduce carbon emissions by driving less. And it’s so much less stressful than driving!

Boat Trips

Here’s another way of getting about that really is sustainable and environmentally-friendly. We have the largest lake in England, Windermere, on our doorstep, and taking a cruise on the lake can be a stunning new way to see the countryside and surrounding fells and mountains. But it’s also a method of transport that will help you to go green in the Lake District. Our fantastic local but internationally acclaimed Windermere Lake Cruises can provide you with the perfect hop on, hop off service. Their cruise ships travel up and down the lake, from Bowness north to Waterhead, and south to Lakeside. Here you can find a number of tourist attractions including the Lakes Aquarium and the Lakeland Motor Museum. The cruises’ website has planned itineraries and lots of brilliant ideas for days out while you’re on holiday here.

Go for a Walk

You can take a bus into the heart of the mountains, and we have guests who have tackled Helvellyn this way, for example. Helvellyn in England’s third highest mountain, and a worthy target for anyone who wants to reach the heights. And you can get a bus from our gate, all the way to Swirls, north of Thirlmere, where there’s a great path all the way to the summit of the mountain. And then you can walk down another good route to Wythburn, to catch the bus back. Or you can carry on over the other summits of Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike, before making your descent from the dramatic Grisedale Tarn, and another good path down to the main road – and a bus stop.

But you can also walk right from our garden gate. We have wonderful little hills around Windermere, including our favourite, Orrest Head, along with Brantfell and School Knot. These feature in the Outlying Fells guidebook written by A. Wainwright. Ask us for advice; we have lots of maps and guidebooks, for whatever kind of walk you want to try.

Get on Your Bike

Here in Windermere it’s possible to hire a bike from the experts. You could try Total Adventure who have a range of road, trail, mountain and electric bikes available. Or for the pure mountain bike experience, try Lake District Bike Hire. For many people this is the best way to see the area and to go green in the Lake District. And the staff at places like this are experts in recommending the best routes, to suit your ability and experience.

Dine Locally in the Evening

There’s literally dozens of good restaurants within walking distance of the Cedar Manor and we have tried a lot of them ourselves. So if you want a good recommendation, all you need to do is ask. It’s much easier, and less stressful, than driving out for dinner. (and of course, you can have drink or two!)

Eat Local Produce Here

When you have breakfast here, or afternoon tea, you can be sure that you’re doing your bit to go green in the Lake District. We have some wonderful local food providers and suppliers, and we make a point of using these almost exclusively.

All of our breakfast meats and fish come from Cartmel Valley Game. So that’s Cumberland sausage, bacon, black pudding, smoked salmon, smoked haddock. They also provide the smoked salmon for our very popular afternoon tea. Cartmel Valley also supply the Morecambe Bay potted shrimps and smoked mackerel for our supper platters. Our jams and relishes are all produced locally, and we get our cheeses from the Appleby Creamery. They supply a fantastic selection of cheese including Eden Ivory (ewes milk cheese) and their award winning Eden Valley Brie (distributed to us by the Cheese Larder in Staveley).

So you know that when you stay here, you’re helping to go green in the Lake District.