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How to get there: by train via Oxenholme to Windermere
Train to Windermere
Change at Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line; the branch line to Windermere takes about half an hour according to the National Park Authority. There is a direct train from Manchester to Windermere.
The Red Cruise between Bowness and Ambleside costs £19.20 return for adults, £11.60 for children and £55 for families (28 March to 1 November 2026). Windermere Lake Cruises is a private company.
Windermere Lake Cruises calls at Lakeside, Bowness, Brockhole and Ambleside. The Red Cruise takes 35 minutes from Bowness to Ambleside; the non-stop round trip takes 75 minutes.
Visiting the Lake District: lakes, fells and valleys
Contact: four information centres
The National Park Authority runs information centres in Bowness-on-Windermere, Glenridding by Ullswater, Hawkshead and Coniston, plus a pop-up in Keswick until the end of October 2026.
Trails · 3.3 km (2 mi) circular walk around a man-made tarn
Tarn Hows
About 1.5 hours, suitable for many wheelchairs. Bus 505 to Hawkshead Hill.
Things to do: lakes, fells and circular walks
Tarn Hows: 3.3 km
A circular walk of about 1.5 hours around a tarn dammed in Victorian times, with views of the Coniston fells and the Langdale Pikes. Firm surface, steep in places.
Mountains & rock · England’s highest mountain, 978 m (3,209 ft)
Scafell Pike
Above Wasdale and Wast Water; the road into the valley is narrow and single-track.
Things to do: lakes, fells and circular walks
Scafell Pike: 978 metres
England’s highest mountain looks down on Wast Water, England’s deepest lake at 74 m (243 ft). Wasdale can only be reached on narrow single-track roads; in summer the Wasdale Explorer bus runs.
In winter the National Park Authority reports summit conditions every day.
The fell where the National Park Authority records the weather every day in winter.
Helvellyn
950 m (3,117 ft)
Weatherline
December to April
Lake
Ullswater, 8.9 km²
Information centre
Glenridding
Best time to visit: March to October – with a waterproof
Winter on the fells
From December to April the National Park Authority’s Weatherline reports conditions on Helvellyn every day. In snow you need crampons, an ice axe and the experience to use them.
