Windermere

Why base here

Windermere exists because of the railway. The station opened in 1847 as the terminus of the Kendal and Windermere Railway, and Wikipedia records that the town, until then a hamlet called Birthwaite, was established because of it. Windermere now forms one urban area with Bowness-on-Windermere on the lake shore, about 1.5 miles from the station, and the two share a civil parish renamed Windermere and Bowness in 2020. The case for sleeping here is the train and the water: the branch line from Oxenholme ends here, and Bowness, next door, has the lake cruises, since Wikipedia lists sailings from Bowness Bay to Ambleside at the north end and Fell Foot at the south. It is a weaker base for hill days, because most fells on this page start elsewhere. Ambleside, at the head of the lake, starts two climbs from its own streets.

On foot versus by car

Orrest Head is the one walk that starts at the door. The lane to it leaves the main road beside the lower entrance of the Windermere Hotel, three minutes from the station according to the National Park Authority, and the round trip is 3.5km. Everything else needs a bus or a car. Wansfell Pike and Stock Ghyll Force both begin in Ambleside, about 7km north in a straight line, and the Stagecoach 599 serves it. The Fairfield Horseshoe also starts in Ambleside, at Rydal Road car park, and is 16.4km with 1,080m of ascent. Helm Crag starts on Easedale Road in Grasmere, the 599’s terminus, and Loughrigg Fell from White Moss Common car park on the A591 between the two. Tarn Hows lies about 9km west across the lake, nearer Coniston than here, and wants a car. So does Gummer’s How, roughly 10km south, off the A592 near Newby Bridge.

Practicalities

Northern Trains runs generally hourly from the station to Kendal and Oxenholme, with some services continuing to Manchester Airport every two hours, according to Wikipedia. The station is a 25-minute walk from the lake or a short bus ride. Stagecoach lists the 599 as running daily all year between Kendal, Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside and Grasmere, calling at the station, every 20 minutes between Bowness and Grasmere; the 555 links Lancaster, Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere and Keswick. The A592 passes through Windermere and Bowness and meets the A591 in town.

With children

Orrest Head is the easy first outing: the National Park Authority adopted its Elleray Wood route for pushchairs and mobility scooters, with no steps, gates or stiles, though the first tarmac stretch climbs at up to 1:4. Gummer’s How is half a mile and about 25 minutes from its car park according to Wainwright Routes, but Wikipedia notes rock scrambling near the top. Tarn Hows has the National Trust’s accessible circuit of about one and three-quarter miles. Stock Ghyll Force is steps and wet stone, and no use for a pushchair. For a wet afternoon the cruises from Bowness Bay need no boots at all.