“The lodge was spotless and very cosy! Two minutes' walk to the lake and our kids had a great time splashing and skimming stones. Five minutes into Bowness for all the local pubs and shops.”
Orrest Head
Twenty minutes uphill from Windermere town. This is the view that made Wainwright drop everything and move here. Kids manage it fine. Go at 7am and the whole lake is yours.
Stock Ghyll Force
A seventy-foot waterfall, ten minutes’ walk from the middle of Ambleside. Barely signposted. Nobody expects it to be that close to a car park.
Rydal Cave
A cavernous old slate quarry you walk straight into, with a shallow pool inside and stepping stones across it. Twenty-five minutes away, and the single best “where ARE we” moment for a seven-year-old in the whole south Lakes.
Claife Viewing Stations
Take the little car ferry across, then walk up to the ruined Georgian viewing station. Costs almost nothing and feels like an expedition.





























