Lake District Explorer

Local departure by coach or Home Connect service, then to the Shap Wells or Damson Dene Hotel, Cumbria for four nights.

Enjoy our first included tour of the Lake District. We head to Patterdale on Lake Ullswater and then cross the spectacular Kirkstone Pass to reach Ambleside at the head of Lake Windermere, where a short walk takes you to the lakeside at Waterhead.

Continue to Grasmere on the lake of the same name and long a favourite of Wordsworth. We finish the day with a visit to the market town of Keswick.

Today we visit Holker Hall and Gardens. These immaculately kept gardens are essentially Victorian in character and are set in exceptionally beautiful countryside with gardens merging into parkland, with hills on one side and the expanse of Morecambe Bay on the other.

Later, we head to Levens Hall and Gardens. Levens Hall is a magnificent Elizabethan mansion built around a 13th century pele tower, which was expanded and rebuilt towards the end of the 16th century.

We’ll start the day with a nostalgic steam ride through breathtaking scenery, aboard the heritage railway from Haverthwaite to Lakeside, travelling through the Lakeland Fells, the perfect scenic backdrop with its picturesque valleys, stunning lakes and rolling green hillside.

Next, sit back and enjoy our cruise on picturesque Lake Windermere, soaking up the awe-inspiring scenery of the Cumbrian countryside, as we sail to the popular resort of Bowness. Spend some free time in Bowness, with its shops, cafés, restaurants, pubs and attractions such as the Beatrix Potter Exhibition.

Our day continues with a visit to Wordsworth’s Hawkshead, with its charming whitewashed houses, alleyways and courtyards and squares. We end the day with a visit to Coniston Water.

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