Lake District Outings

Before we arrived at the Lake District, I had grand plans of all we would see. I'd accumulated various lists of top hikes, top views, top outings, etc. Once we got there though, I realized that with the twisty, tiny roads a 10 mile journey could take 30 to 45 minutes to drive. Unless you want to devote a good portion of your vacation to driving - which I did not - there is no way to see all the highlights of the Lake District in one trip.

We still managed a number of fun outings. One of our first days we took a boat trip on Lake Windermere from Bowness-on-Windermere to Ambleside. Luckily, it was a lovely day to be out on the lake. I kept saying that even though it was late August, it felt like a perfect crisp day in October. 

Oh, how Anya loves to have her grandparents around to cuddle with. 

Ambleside has a cute little dock area and then farther away, a town with many sporting shops and places to eat. We found such a nice place for lunch.

Another day we took a small outing to the town of Cartmel. I had read it is a big foodie town. As I really like to eat, it sounded right up my alley. We found the best bread and cheese shop and discovered the marvel that is Cartmel Village Shop's sticky toffee sauce. And I'm not even a big toffee person. Plus, the town is postcard perfect cute. 

On the other side of Lake Windermere from where we were staying is Hilltop, home of Beatrix Potter. I did a terrible job of taking pictures on this outing. I didn't even get a picture of the house!

A fun part of seeing Hilltop is that many scenes from her garden, views from her windows, and rooms in her home appear in her books. The house provides copies of her books so you can walk around finding matches. Her home is English country cottage adorable. When she got married she thought the house was too small for a married couple to live in, so they bought a new home in town, but kept Hilltop and used it as an office. What a lovely place to work!

Can you spot the shovel from A Tale of Peter Rabbit? Actually, Peter Rabbit was written before she bought Hilltop, but I still enjoyed seeing the same shovel. 

Nearby Hilltop is Tarn How, a little lake with a nice path around it and lots of picnic spots. It also has some pretty waterfalls on an offshoot path. It was a nice outdoor outing that everyone could enjoy.