I’m from Leeds, but other than going for a reason (Go Ape in Grizedale) I’ve never been to the Lake District. I’d booked a couple of days holiday with my best friend so off we went. We were there for two days but could definitely have fit more in than we did. I’ve merged everything into one post as that made the most sense. Here’s what we got up to spending a day in the Lake District.
Ambleside
Ambleside is a pretty little town a mile away from Lake Windermere. I’ll be honest, we mostly went so we could go to the Rock Shop. We’d seen their gem pit on Tiktok, you can climb into a pit of gems and fill a bag. We also had a walk around the town, looked in the shops and had lunch. I’d recommend Ambleside as a pretty town to visit. It’s a good one to do before or after seeing Lake Windemere.
If you’re in Ambleside, you could stop off and see the famous Bridge House. It was built in the 17th century and has stayed the same whilst the rest of Ambleside has been built around it. This is such an iconic photo spot and, conveniently, close to the car park too!
Lake Windermere
Lake Windermere for me is the most obvious place to go when spending a day in the Lake District. It’s the setting of the book Swallows and Amazons which I remember reading as a child. We didn’t spend long there because it was rainy and cold but some time on the little pebble beach would be a great way to spend some of your day in dry weather.
Another local attraction you could see is Beatrix Potter World. I would’ve been tempted by this if we’d had more time. If you need to cross the water you can get the car ferry across Windermere. We didn’t on this trip but I have done before and it was pretty cool.
Ullswater
Ullswater was another lake on my list, mostly because I’m reading Rachel Lynch’s Detective Kelly Porter series and Ullswater is mentioned a lot. (I’m beginning to suspect everything I know of the Lake District is from a book…) Ullswater was, again, rainy, but beautiful. It looked like there were some stunning walks around here for a dryer day, or people braver with rain than I am.
Derwent Water
The last lake we visited was Derwent Water, although this was the second day for us. We could’ve fit it in on our first day, we were just cold, wet and tired-it’s about 3 hours from home to the Lakes for us and we got stuck in traffic on the way up too. Travelling with fibromyalgia means I often have to stop for the day when others would have carried on and so I’m very careful to only do trips with people who get that. Claire, luckily, really does get that. Another gorgeous lake, this one seemed to have more boats and things on it-maybe just the time of day, maybe it’s more of the lake you’d choose if you wanted to do that sort of thing, I’m not sure.
We didn’t do anything majorly active due to the weather and my health. If you’re an active person you could easily fill your day. Have a look at a couple of the lakes and consider hiring a boat. Book Go Ape or walk one of the many walking routes. Make sure you stop for a pub tea on your way home.
Have you spent time in the Lake District?
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