Windermere

Windermere town exists because of the railway. When the line arrived in 1847 there was a hamlet called Birthwaite; the station took the name of the lake and a Victorian town grew up around it. Today it is the Lake District's main rail gateway, a mile or so uphill from the lake itself and from Bowness, with which it has merged along the main road.

The best thing to do here costs nothing and takes about an hour. Across the road from the station a lane climbs through woods to Orrest Head, the small summit where Alfred Wainwright had his first view of the fells in 1930. On a clear day the panorama runs from the Coniston fells to the Langdale Pikes and the length of the lake.

The town itself is practical rather than pretty: banks, outdoor shops, cafes, guest houses and the large Lakeland homeware store beside the station. It is a sensible base if you are arriving by train and want buses in every direction. Brockhole, the national park's visitor centre, is a short bus ride north on the A591, with gardens running down to the lake, an adventure playground and boat hire. From the town it is a short walk or bus ride to the lake, the boats and the Windermere Jetty Museum in Bowness, so it combines easily with a day on the water.

Expect traffic on the A591 and around the station on summer weekends, and steep streets down to Bowness. In winter it is quieter than most of the Lakes and the buses still run, which makes it a good off season base.