Lake District, England

The Lake District: Which Fell, Which Lake, and Where the Crowds Actually Go

Wainwright’s seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, written by Alfred Wainwright between 1955 and 1966, catalogued 214 summits in meticulous hand-lettered illustrations and became the defining document for fell-walking in northern England. Wainwright was a Blackburn accountant who discovered the fells in his 30s and spent every available weekend for over a decade walking and drawing. The guides are still in print and still used for navigation by thousands of walkers annually. “Bagging Wainwrights”, completing all 214, has become a widespread challenge, with some people taking decades. What the guides did was make the Lake District’s higher, quieter ground accessible to non-climbers who might otherwise have stuck to the lakeshore paths. The crowds at Windermere and the solitude on the fells exist partly because Wainwright separated them so clearly.

The Lake District National Park covers 2,362 square kilometres of northwest England, containing England’s highest mountains, its largest natural lake, and some of the most consistently wet weather in Europe. The region receives over 15 million visitors per year, the majority concentrated in the south around Windermere and Ambleside. This concentration means the rest of the park, which is equally beautiful and more dramatic, is considerably less congested.

Windermere and the South

Windermere town is the rail terminus; a branch line from Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line drops visitors 400 metres from the lake. The lake itself is beautiful in low mist and less interesting in summer crowds. Bowness-on-Windermere has the ferry terminal, gift shops, and the Beatrix Potter attraction at the World of Beatrix Potter (GBP 9 adult entry). The area around Coniston Water, 10km west, is quieter and has the Coniston Old Man (803 metres) above it, achievable on a 3-4 hour walk from the village.

Langdale and the Western Fells

Great Langdale valley, 10km west of Ambleside, is where the climbing and fell-walking crowd goes. The Langdale Pikes (Harrison Stickle, 736 metres; Pavey Ark, 700 metres) are accessible from the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel car park in 2-3 hours. The valley has a different scale from the southern lake area; the farms in the valley floor and the high crags above them give the classic Lake District proportion that photographs use.

Scafell Pike, England’s highest point at 978 metres, is reached most directly from Wasdale Head in the western valleys. The ascent from Wasdale takes 3-4 hours return. Wasdale is deliberately remote; access by narrow road is the only option and the valley has one pub (the Wasdale Head Inn, built 1830s) and a small campsite. The ascent from Borrowdale via the Corridor Route is longer but more scenic.

Ullswater

Ullswater in the northeast corner of the park is 12km long and consistently rated England’s most beautiful lake. The Ullswater Steamers service (GBP 13.50 return, Pooley Bridge to Howtown) is a boat service that has been running since the Victorian era and provides the easiest way to walk from Howtown back to Glenridding along the lake shore path (6km, 2 hours). The path at the lake’s south end passes the Aira Force waterfall (18 metres, free access from the National Trust car park).

Helvellyn (950 metres), the Lake District’s second-highest peak, is most commonly approached via Striding Edge: a narrow rock ridge requiring sure-footedness but not technical equipment in dry conditions. The round trip from Glenridding takes 4-6 hours.

Where to Eat

The Drunken Duck Inn at Barngates, 4km from Ambleside, brews its own beer and serves good food from a locally sourced menu; a main course costs GBP 18-26. The pub is a genuine Lakeland institution rather than a tourist operation. Book ahead.

In Ambleside, the Old Stamp House serves modern British food in the cellar where Wordsworth worked as a tax collector; a two-course lunch costs around GBP 30 per person.

Getting There

Direct trains from London Euston to Oxenholme Lake District take 2 hours 20 minutes. A branch line connects to Windermere in 20 minutes. For the western valleys (Langdale, Wasdale, Coniston), a car is essential; bus services exist but are infrequent. Stagecoach operates a summer open-top bus service connecting the main valley towns, useful for luggage-free walking days.