A weekend in the Lake District: a realistic two-day itinerary

The most common mistake with a Lake District weekend is trying to see all of it. Kirkby Lonsdale, Borrowdale, Ullswater and Cartmel are each worth a trip, but they are hours apart on slow, busy roads, and a weekend spent in the car is a weekend wasted. This plan stays in the central Lakes, around Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere, where the walks, boats, food and buses are all close together. It works by car, and it works just as well without one.

We have built it around a Saturday and Sunday, because that suits the opening days of the places in it. Base yourself in Ambleside if you can: it sits between the two days and has the best choice of places to eat.

Getting there

By car, the A591 runs from the M6 past Kendal and Windermere to Ambleside and Grasmere. Weekend traffic around Bowness and Ambleside can be slow, so aim to arrive on Friday evening rather than Saturday morning.

By train, the Lakes Line is a short branch run by Northern from Oxenholme Lake District, on the West Coast Main Line, to Windermere, calling at Kendal, Burneside and Staveley. Most journeys from the south mean changing at Oxenholme, and some Northern trains run through from Manchester. Windermere station is the start of everything car-free in this plan.

Day one: Rydal Water and Grasmere

Morning: the Rydal Water circuit

Start with the best low-level walk in the central Lakes. Our Rydal Water and Rydal Cave route leaves Pelter Bridge, climbs past Rydal Mount onto the old Coffin Route above the lake, drops to the River Rothay at White Moss, then comes back along Loughrigg Terrace, with the classic view up the length of Grasmere, and past the vast slate mouth of Rydal Cave. It is easy walking on good paths, and there are public toilets at White Moss roughly halfway round.

The Pelter Bridge car park has only 25 spaces and fills quickly in peak season, so arrive early or come by bus: the Stagecoach 555 and 599 both stop at Rydal, a short walk from the start.

If you want a proper fell instead, Loughrigg Fell from Ambleside covers the same terrace and cave from the other direction, over the knobbly summit.

Afternoon: Wordsworth Grasmere

Carry on into Grasmere village for lunch, then visit Wordsworth Grasmere: Dove Cottage, where William and Dorothy Wordsworth lived, with a museum alongside. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, with last entry to the cottage at 3.20pm, which is why this is a Saturday plan. Entry to the cottage runs every 40 minutes; you can buy on the day, subject to availability, but booking ahead is safer. Only assistance dogs are allowed inside.

For the evening, Tweedies Bar on Red Bank Road is Grasmere's most relaxed pub, with craft beers and ales, a garden with fell views and live bands, especially at weekends.

Evening: Ambleside

Back in Ambleside, Zeffirellis on Compston Road combines a meat-free restaurant, a five-screen independent cinema and a jazz bar, and dinner and a film is a fine end to a walking day. For a serious dinner, Ambleside has two Michelin-starred restaurants: Lake Road Kitchen and the Old Stamp House; both are small, so book well ahead. Finish with a pint at the Golden Rule on Smithy Brow, a Grade II listed pub with no music, no screens and no food, where dogs are welcome in every room.

Day two: Windermere from the water

Morning: Orrest Head

Start the day with the ideal short climb. Our Orrest Head route leaves from opposite Windermere station, climbs a lane and an old carriageway through the woods, and reaches a summit with compass benches and a 360 degree view over the lake and the central fells. It is an out-and-back, and the National Park Authority allows about an hour. Drivers can use Broad Street car park, which has public toilets.

Midday: the Red Cruise

Head down to Bowness and take the Windermere Lake Cruises Red Cruise to Ambleside (Waterhead). The operator gives 35 minutes each way, and your ticket lets you hop off at Ambleside, Brockhole or the Windermere Jetty Museum and catch a later boat back. These sailings are normally run by the company's larger boats, which it calls its 'steamers', Swan, Teal and Tern, though a smaller vessel is sometimes substituted. Timetables change through the year, with reduced winter timetables from November, so check on the day. Our boat trips guide covers the other routes.

If you would rather have another walk, Brant Fell is a short loop straight from Bowness with one of the best views over the middle of the lake.

Afternoon, by car: Langdale or Coniston

With a car, swap the cruise for one of the valleys west of Ambleside.

• Langdale. The level path from Elterwater to Skelwith Force is our Elterwater walk, with no stiles. Park at the National Trust's Elterwater car park, but bring coins: there is no mobile signal for paying by phone. Afterwards, the Britannia Inn in the village has an open fire, real ale and pub food (dinner bookings by phone). Walkers wanting more can follow the valley up to Great Langdale and the Old Dungeon Ghyll.
• Coniston. The A593 runs from Ambleside through Skelwith Bridge to Coniston. On the way, the easy loop around Tarn Hows is one of the most rewarding short walks in the Lakes, from the National Trust car park. In Coniston, the Black Bull is a coaching inn of around 400 years that has brewed its own beer since 1995, including Bluebird Bitter; children and dogs are welcome.

The car-free version

Everything above except the Langdale and Coniston options can be done without a car.

• Arrive by train at Windermere.
• Buses. The Lake District National Park Authority says there are up to four buses an hour between Bowness, Windermere, Brockhole, Ambleside and Grasmere, including the open-top 599. The 555 runs on through Ambleside and Grasmere to Keswick in one direction and to Kendal in the other. Timetables change by season, and the 599's route is shorter in winter, so check Stagecoach's current timetable before you travel rather than relying on a frequency.
• Day one is a bus to Rydal for the walk, and a bus home from Grasmere.
• Day two starts on foot from Windermere station, then the bus or a walk down to Bowness for the boat.
• Langdale is reachable car-free too: the Stagecoach 516 runs from Ambleside to Elterwater all year.

Our car-free Cumbria page has more routes.

Extending it: a day in Cartmel

If you have a third day, or are heading home south down the A590, Cartmel is worth the detour. It sits just outside the national park, and car-free visitors can reach the area by train to Grange-over-Sands on the Furness line.

• Sticky toffee pudding. The Cartmel Village Shop on The Square has sold its sticky toffee pudding since 1984. The shop is candid that it did not invent the dish, only championed it.
• Cartmel Priory. Founded around 1190 for Augustinian canons, the priory church survived the Dissolution because the villagers successfully petitioned to keep it as their place of worship, and it has been Cartmel's parish church ever since. It opens to visitors Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. The gatehouse is owned by the National Trust.
• Dinner. Simon Rogan's L'Enclume holds three Michelin stars and a Green Star, and Rogan & Co, a few minutes away, holds one star. Book both far ahead.
• A pint and a bed. The Cavendish Arms is a coaching inn of around 450 years, with an 1837 mounting block by the door, cask ales, food and 13 en-suite rooms, according to CAMRA.
• Racing. Cartmel Racecourse holds nine days of jump racing between the late May and August bank holidays. The 2027 fixtures are on its website.
• A walk. From Grange-over-Sands, our Hampsfell walk climbs through Eggerslack Wood to the 1846 Hospice, with a rooftop view indicator over Morecambe Bay.

For a weekend on the other side of Helvellyn, see our Ullswater long weekend.

Before you go

• Weather. Have a wet-weather plan ready; our rainy day guide is grouped by area so it slots into this plan. For the fells, check the MWIS mountain forecast rather than the town one.
• Parking. Small car parks such as Pelter Bridge fill early on weekends. Tariffs change, so check the operator's current prices; our parking guide lists the main car parks.
• Book ahead. Weekend dinners at the starred restaurants, and rooms anywhere central, go weeks in advance. See where to stay and eat and drink.
• Opening days. Wordsworth Grasmere is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and boat and bus timetables change in November and again in spring.
• Dogs. Most of the walks and pubs here welcome dogs; see dog-friendly Cumbria.