The Lake District in northwest England is a very popular holiday destination, famous for lakes, forests, mountains and quaint villages. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017. We are staying in Bowness-on-Windermere for several days of fun excursions.
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Four of the top activities are exploring the towns, taking boat rides, do a little nature walking, and take a driving tour of the region to see the other nearby lakes and quaint villages. Most of our program takes place during a van tour of the lakes that visits 10 different lakes, including Brotherswater, Derwent Water, Grasmere, Ullswater and Windermere. On the van ride we also take a walk in the village of Grasmere, famous for William Wordsworth. You will be amazed by Castlerigg Stone Circle, 4500 years old, one of the area’s historic gems. Then we take a lunch stop in Keswick, whilst exploring the traditional Lakeland market town. We also do a Lake Cruise, enjoying uninterrupted views of the Lakeland fells from Derwent Water.
You can pick from a variety of kinds of excursion boats on Lake Windermere: you can have a one-hour cruise or go for an all-day expedition. You could enjoy a cruise with dinner, there are hydrofoils, rowboats or sailboats for rent -- all kinds of nautical activities exist here on the shores of Lake Windermere.
By the end of the 18th century the region was already becoming popular with visitors and this has steadily grown to the point where today nearly 20 million annual visitors enjoy the beauties of this special place. This huge amount of tourists can be a challenge to deal with in your visit, but you will find the beauties of the natural landscapes make your efforts quite worthwhile. In this show we have useful suggestions to help your planning.
Summer season is obviously most crowded and brings with it the best weather with least chances of rain, so take your chances, but we suggest the shoulder season, like the visit shown here which was during May, a perfect time to visit. We never felt inconvenienced by any crowds. After all, facilities like hotels and restaurants are able to handle the peak crowds of summer, so if you are here in May, with proper reservations at a decent hotel, you will have no problems. Of course the summer is when everybody wants to be here but we find that May is ideal.
You’ll need to spend at least several nights in the area this to really get a chance to see the charming countryside, explore some towns, go shopping, and perhaps enjoy some fine dining. This is actually two towns joined together as one: Windermere is a mile to the north and Bowness-on-Windermere lies along the shores of the lake. Each center has its cluster of shops and restaurants, but the main focus is down at Bowness, which has most of the hotels and that special setting along the water.
The town of Bowness is a good base of operations for heading out to see the other lakes in the district and enjoying some day tours as we will be doing.
Windermere is the largest and the longest lake in the British Isles, about 10 miles long with a 24-mile circumference, and there are several villages along the shores of the lake. We see Lake Windermere the easy way, on a boat ride.
We are travelling in mid-May and ran into some great weather. And actually it’s quite pleasant the temperature here is in the low 70s there is a slight breeze on the lake but not terribly windy. a most pleasant day.
The temperature is pleasant enough that it’s comfortable to sit outside, After all you want the view -- that’s why we’re enjoying this boat ride, to have a look at this charming rolling countryside along the shores of the lake of Windermere.
Some of us decided to get off the boat at Ambleside which is one of the main small towns here in the Lake Country. There's a level nature trail from the boat dock to Ambleside town passing first through an open meadow with some Roman ruins visible, and then along beautiful stream. We also get to see the sheep frolicking around. The walk only took about the walk only took about 30 minutes.
We came upon foundations of ancient Roman buildings. From such forts the Romans could control hundreds of square miles. the army was staffed in part by Roman soldiers and mercenaries, some of them from Yugoslavia. Roman rule began in Britain back in A.D. 43. A massive army of 40,000 soldiers quickly conquered most of the island and Romans remained in control for the next 300 years.
When the path follows along the stream it becomes so beautiful, lined with wildflowers, that you feel you stepped into some kind of movie or dream. Those few minutes became one of the top highlights of the three-week tour of the British Isles. A simple walk through the woods could provide a transcendental experience.