The Lake District is about 30 miles long and 30 miles wide. The locals brag on their mountains being older than the Himalayas and once being as tall, but worn down by the ages. Beatrix Potter vacationed here as a young girl, and became inspired to write her children's books. The South Lake District is closer to London and easy to get to, but seen as very touristy while the North Lake District is more pristine and untouched. We spent time in both but enjoyed more time in the North.
We took a train from London Euston to Oxenholme. So glad we had reserved seats and the excuse of having a baby with us. It seems they over sold the train by ALOT! Poor people had to stand with not much room for hours...yikes! We got off at Oxenholem and caught another (little) train to Windermere. This was our stop for the night.
It was a beautiful day, so we had a picnic in the park and caught a boat ride to Ambleside. It was stunning! Love the clean fresh air and beautiful sights.
Ambleside was a cute little area to walk around. We even found a shop owner who had some Whippets. It was fun chatting with the locals.
We got reservations at a restaurant with the best view and location in the city center, The Lighthouse. We tried some of the local brew and enjoyed our dinner and Kendal mint cake.
The next morning we were served a fancy full English breakfast at the hotel. I felt so posh with the floral china set.
Our train was later in the afternoon so we took the morning to explore! We did our first Lake District hike up to Orrest Head. Orrest Head is a hill (fell is the local term) on the eastern shores of Windermere. It is the subject of a chapter in Wainwright's The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, and the first fell he climbed. He describes it as "our first ascent in Lakeland, our first sight of mountains in tumultuous array across glittering waters, our awakening to beauty" and also as "a fitting finale, too, to a life made happy by fell wandering".
It was a short hike, and a great one to start with. After Orrest Head, we had a sleeping baby, so it was a perfect time for lunch. It was starting to rain but we got a great covered porch spot at Cafe Italia.
After lunch we took a stroll through the city to Bowness-on-Windermemre to check out the local shops. Our train arrived, and took us from Windermere back to Oxenholme. Then we caught a train to Penrith. The Penrith Castle (ruins) was directly across form the station. Next was a short bus ride to Keswick. Keswick pronounced KEZ-ick means "cheese farm"- a legacy from the time when the town square was the spot to sell cheese. Interesting fact- graphite was first discovered here centuries ago, this is how they marked sheep in the 15 century, and in 1832 the first Keswick pencil factory opened.
The weather was cold and rainy, typical Spring in England- especially by the lakes. We ate dinner at a highly recommended Chinese restaurant, Golden Hills. Its a good thing we eat (arrived) early, because this place filled up fast! It was really good (for the English version of Chinese).
The next morning was Easter, we had a lovely full English breakfast and headed out for our big hike. There were so many dogs- the Lake District is very dog friendly. Our pups would have liked it for a bit, but they hate the cold and rain. We hiked around Derwentwater lake- fun fact: the lake is believed to be the last remaining native habitat of the Vendace fish (Coregonus vandesius).
Friars Crag is a promontory jutting into Derwentwater on a stretch of shore about half a mile from the boat landing stages. Ruskin described the view as one of the three most beautiful scenes in Europe. It achieved its name because it was believed to be the embarkment point for monks making a pilgrimage to St. Herbert’s Island, located south west of the crag.
Derwentwater is a place of considerable scenic value. It is surrounded by hills (fells), and many of the slopes facing Derwentwater are extensively wooded. We came across some obstacles due the the floods they had in December, but nothing too extreme. As hikers we endured hail, rain, and sun. It was such a fun adventure and we ended up making it 9 miles! And Josh was carrying about 22lbs of extra weight!
Since it was rainy weather we were told to check out the Lodor Falls- it is formed by the beck from Watendlath Tarn cascading over huge boulders for a distance of some 100 feet. Robert Southey’s famous onomatopeic poem 'How does the water come down at Lodore' is written about these falls.
As luck would have it, we stumbled upon a quaint little hotel and restaurant, Mary Mount Hotel right at lunch time. It was a filling lunch, topped off with an Easter cupcake for desert.
For dinner, Josh wanted to try an American style restaurant, Bar Metro (we can't resist!) in the city. It wasn't our favorite but Harvey did get some delicious mac and cheese, and I had my new favorite cider- with kiwi and lime!
The next morning it was back to London. We took a short bus to Penrith, then caught our train right to Euston. The train was much less crowded going home. We had a fabulous time in the Lake District! I'm so glad we traveled around and got to see different parts of the area, rather than just staying in one city. It was very family friendly, there were more highchairs and baby changing facilities out in the middle of no where than compared to London, crazy! We loved hiking and being out in nature- we hope to hike a lot more in the future. I even got some sweet hiking shoes!
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