Lake District
Hi Members.
I am going to book some sites for 7 nights in the Lake District for March / April.
I have never been before and been looking at Lake Windermere, Coniston and Keswick.
Any advise on route or sites or other places to visit would be very much apricated.
Normally I park the van and find my own with walking and public transport, is this a option or is it best to go out and about in the motorhome?.
Any advice, tips, routes, best campsite / other places to stop at would be more than welcome.
Thanks Paul
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Park your motorhome on a site and get a bus timetable
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Hi Paul
We visit the Lake District regularly. We usually stay at Troutbeck Head Club site which is about 10 miles from Keswick and just off the A66 it’s a nice site with great views but as far as I know I don’t think there is any town nearby within walking distance being caravanners we have our car with us so can get around ok I wouldn’t really recommend driving around the lakes in a motorhome as some of the roads are narrow and parking may be an issue. With that in mind a good site for you may be the C&CC site at Keswick which is a 5 minute walk from the town and near the bus route so would be handy for you to get around the area. If you are looking for somewhere for a nice meal at a good price try the Kirkstone aim which is a great little pub at the top of the Kirkstone inn and has a large car park across the road so you could park your motorhome there no bother and the views are great. The sites I have mentioned are both easy to get to from the M6 and A66.
Hope this helps
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The Lakes is a big area! Plan your stay when there’s no half term or bank holidays (all the world and his wife also descend on the Lakes!)
The popular and more ‘touristy’ areas are Windermere, Coniston and Keswick. Do you cycle? Walk or Fell walk? If you want quieter sites, head to the west coast but wherever you travel be mindful that most A roads are generally ok but some have narrow spots, particularly when near villages. All the CAMC Sites are good and then there’s the CC&C sites, which are equally as good. The more remote areas offer CL’s, some of which are great but care will be needed navigating to some of them. Always a good idea to follow the site information and not rely on sat nav. Wherever you go, just enjoy it and don’t forget your wet weather gear 👍
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If you don't want to use your motorhome to get about then the site at Coniston is a walk away from the town along the lakeside with public transport.
Personally out of the 3 places you mention I would head for Keswick. The club site at Borrowdale is the one we use but it does require you to use your own facilities and is a bit of a knuckle ride into it if you are inexperienced. Once in there though you could quite easily spend the whole 7 days getting about on public transport or Shank's Pony. There is a ferry service that you can walk down to from site and catch either clockwise to Keswick or anti clockwise and hop off on the other side of the lake to access the hills there. You can also catch a bus that passes right outside the club site and this will take you into Keswick or as far as Buttermere. You can also just walk straight out of the site and up Cat Bells and onwards to the hills around that area. The opportunities for walking won't be exhausted in a week.
If you don't fancy that site then join the C&CC club as they have a site in Keswick town itself right on the lakeside, which does flood from time to time but allows you to walk straight into town and catch any bus you want from there plus the ferry terminals.
One other possibility is an independent site that I'll post a link to. This is about a mile walk into Keswick but does allow you instant access to the hills on the east side of Derwentwater Lake.
Even if you are not a serious hillwalker the scenery around this area is some of the best I've seen anywhere.
I'll leave others to extol the virtues of Windermere (accessible by bus from Keswick😂) and Coniston but for me I would head for Keswick if given just 1 choice.
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The three places mentioned by the OP are well connected by very good local bus services. Keswick, for first timers probably offers the best access to a variety of places including the lake launches. Best to book early, the sites in Keswick are very popular!
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+1 for the C&CC site at Keswick. If you enjoy tranquility, take care with larger sites in popular locations - some can be a bit like ‘party central’ at the weekends. Hillcroft Park at Pooley Bridge on Ullswater would be a good example.
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Another fan here of TH. Yes you're right the nearest town is 16 miles away either left or right at the A66 turn off for the site. There are buses there to either but it a 20 minutes walk. In summer there, or was, a bus service from outside the site to Ullswater and Glenridding.
There is a 'new walk' past the top of the dog walk through the forest to Dockray now which is on good forest roads.
And in Ambleside the new car park next to the church has long spaces for MHs.
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Years ago we stayed at Braithwaite Fold in Bowness/Windermere when it was a CMC site, now run by the C&CC. There is access to transport and of course lake steamers.
David
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Paul, Long ago we lived near Penrith so Ullswater was our local lake. At Patterdale /Glenridding at the head of the lake there is a CL and two independent sites. I will let you choose, The lake steamer at 9.45 am.will take you across to Howtown and then it’s a pleasant lakeside footpath walk to get back again. No mountain climbing involved, but it’s a 7 mile walk and that might be too far for some.
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If you are C&CC members, how about their newly upgraded site at Braithwaite north of Keswick. Probably the easiest access of any site you could wish for,. A quiet village out of peak times with two good pubs, a well stocked village shop, a bus service from right outside the site and a short drive over to the quieter areas near Buttermere. Plenty of walking direct from the site or a short drive away.
Edit - forget the bit about driving over to Buttermere, just spotted you're in a MH!
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Apart from being a bit narrow, is it that arduous?
WN referred to Castlerigg. Stayed there fifty years ago in my camping days. The walk into Keswick is hard work coming back!
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WN referred to Castlerigg. Stayed there fifty years ago in my camping days.
My goodness, that brought back memories for us too CY. We used to go there quite a few times in our tenting days. Living in Lancashire it was an easy run up there after work on a Friday, that was in the late 70's and 80's. Never booked, just turned up at about 7pm on a Friday evening, plenty of space.
Sorry for going OT; it's a lovely area around Keswick.
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The Club’s Borrowdale site is ideal for walking. It’s not a full facility site but there are buses (77 and 77A) from the gate or from the road through Borrodale. Alternatively you can use the Ferry which goes around the lake and stops at various jettys. Unfortunately the ferry is running a limited service during the pandemic but hopefully it will be back to normal by April. Using your motorhome to explore on a day by day basis is not ideal in the Lakedistrict.
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Yes I've missed the get on get off boats, they were (last December) just all the way around apart from one trip to Hawes End for walkers in the morning.
Can I ask how easy it is to get across the bridge at Grange?
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Pretty straightforward CS. Once on it's owners rights. All other traffic has to wait until you've passed over it.
I find the worst bit just around the corner in Grange village itself as there are normally some parked cars to manoeuvre past and if traffic coming the other way then it can be awkward. I've been on buses that have scraped windows passing parked vehicles but I've never scraped a caravan window there (yet). The rest of the run to the site is fine. It gets a bit tight in one or two places but at least you can see traffic.If you've not been before then watch out for the turn into the site as you're going uphill and the road bends left but the entrance is immediately right.
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Thanks WN
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We were in Borrowdale in October. Bad news - The Keswick launches are no longer doing drop offs or pickups from any of the landing stages, just round the lake tours :-(. Maybe it will come back after Covid (whenever that is).
Good news - there are now double yellow lines right through Grange from the cafe all the way to the corner. That has made the issue of getting past parked cars a thing of the past :-)
Grange bridge is not too bad to tow across. Just wait on the road until it’s clear. The stone gate just before the site is narrower, and the turn into the site is probably more challenging.
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It is not a CAMC or CCC site however take a look at Threlkeld Hall Caravan park. Situated at the foot of Blencathra giving it an amazing backdrop.
A small (16 pitch) site all hardstanding fully serviced plus they have toilet & showers if prefered.
It is easily accesible just off the A66 towards Keswick which is accessible either by bus from Threlkeld or an off road cycle footpath into Kewick which takes about 25 min walk along an old railway route (maintained). The site is quiet being set down below the road.
Threlkeld has 2 pubs each serving good food.
We have used the site often and always enjoy returning.
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That looks an interesting little site. If you walk into the village is there an off road path?
David
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I've booked Melthrop Fell club site and Coniston Coppice club site for a long weekend in April in our new motorhome, both sites look lovely and I can't wait to give them a try.
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The Lakes are our all season playground for a bit of walking/climbing/cycling! Agree with others advice if your MH is bigger than a VW/Transit van it’s a pain parking and negotiating some of the narrow roads on a daily basis but not impossible.
CAMC Coniston or Borrowdale are great for parking up and walking out of the site or using public transport to travel a bit further. Borrowdale Rambler bus goes from outside the gate (can be quite full by the time it arrives) great for a lift up the valley! CCC at Keswick or Braithwaite are prime spots and have great bus links.
Sykeside is a long term favourite for 20+ years, the facilities need a bit of investment but the location is first class for walking, the bus links the valley and up & over Kirkstone to Ambleside, loads of options and can easily entertain for a week….and there is an onsite pub!1 -
Been to both and they are quite different in their layout. Coniston is much larger and spreads out in a number of twists and turns as shown on the site plan. However what the plan doesn't show is that the pitches on the bottom half of it does slope down almost to the lake although the pitches are usually level. Also the only part of the site not covered by trees are pitches 54 to 63. These are not negatives in any way btw just a help to picking a pitch, with a MH you'll find it easier anyway. I enjoy staying there and there is a lakeside walk into the village. The other site is just as good but more open.
Enjoy them both.
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The walk to the village is genreally off road except for crossing the A66 whuch is not as difficult as it sounds as it on a long straight stretch with excellent view bothways with a crossing island in the middle.
The A66 doesnt run through Threlkeld however the local buses do from both directions.
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Thanks for the info. Looking at Google Earth it looked as if there was a farm track opposite the site to what appeared to be a large parking area almost opposite the village. I can see bus stops in the village that the Keswick to Penrith stops there. Google seemed to have changed the way they give transport information on Google Earth so its better to look at Google Maps as clicking on the bus stop brings up details of the service..
If they have space I am thinking of including in an early summer trip.
David
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I will put in a word for the coastal part of Cumbria. The C&CC site at Ravenglass is a small attractive site with access to some lovely walks including the Muncaster Castle Estate and the little Eskdale Railway which takes you up into the hills with views of Scafell Pike to enjoy. Good local pub too, alongside the railway. If you like history there are Roman remains to explore, just a stroll away from the site.
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Yes David there is a path (gated) which runs across a field to the cricket club and then to the A66. Crossing to another gate that runs to the centre of the village passed the rear of the Salutation Inn (excellant burgers) or thro to the village centre.
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Yes, I support all that - it’s an area we knew well - and that coast is Cumbria without the crowds.
And for those who can travel around from Ravenglass there’s also the nature reserve in the dunes at Eskmeals, the 13 th century church at Hall Waberthwaite, food at the Brown Cow Inn nearby on the main road, and the best local ham, sausages and bacon to take home from Woodalls shop at Lane End.0 -
I walked past the back gate of the Borrowdale site ( lake path gateway) on Friday. The gate was locked but I could see onto the site. I think there might be a fair bit of work to do clearing fallen trees before the site re-opens in March......
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