Lake District Short Breaks

Click the routes on the maps to view tour details

The Lake District is England's only true mountain region and contains some of the most beautiful scenery in the land. It is an enchanting mix of rugged mountains, deep valleys, shimmering lakes, waterfalls and attractive stone-built villages.

We have devised four short circular trails exploring the Lake District National Park. They follow old packhorse, drovers', and ‘coffin' tracks along valleys and over passes, giving spectacular mountain views without actually visiting any of the summits. Each trail is about 31 miles (50km) in length, giving three days of unhurried walking with plenty of time for enjoying the views and exploring the villages along the way.

 

North Lakes Short Break

During the nineteenth century, adventurous tourists travelled by horse-drawn carriage through Borrowdale and onto Buttermere via the Honister Pass, before returning to Keswick through the Newlands Valley. This short trail through some of the finest mountain scenery in the Lake District is based on their route.

From the bustling little town of Keswick, the trail heads along the shores of Derwentwater to the famous beauty spots of Surprise View and the picturesque hamlet of Watendlath. From Watendlath, the trail meanders past lily-covered Dock Tarn to the idyllic hamlet of Stonethwaite, where riverside paths lead to Rosthwaite, a lovely old village of whitewashed cottages and farms in the upper reaches of Borrowdale. Then the trail follows the old coach ‘road' to the top of Honister Pass, before following an old miner's track that descends beside Warnscale Beck, with breathtaking views over Buttermere and Crummock Water, to the village of Buttermere. The final stage of this delightful trail begins by following a superb footpath that climbs gently between imposing fells to emerge into the tranquil beauty of the Newlands Valley, where woodland, field and lakeside paths lead back through the village of Portinscale to Keswick.

Skiddaw and Derwentwater © CWH

Highlights along the trail include the island hermitage of a Celtic saint, the Royal Oak's strange bedfellows, Johnny Wood and its red squirrels, an infamous Border Reivers last stand, Bathar's Mere, the tale of Fanny Mercer, Lakeland's highest waterfall, the charms of the ‘Maid of Buttermere' and the lands of Mrs Tiggywinkle and Squirrel Nutkin.

 

North Lakes Short Break - Itinerary, Prices and Dates
Tour Code	Itinerary	Tour Price
NLSB	4 nights,3 days walking More Information>>	£265 per person
Our prices are based upon two people sharing a room.  If you are walking on your own there is a single supplement of £20 per night. You can add rest days at any of the overnight stops.   For each extra night add £40 per person All of our prices are in British pounds (£). Use our currency converter to convert British pounds (£) to your country’s currency
Total Distance	31 miles (50km)
Start and Finish	Keswick to Keswick
Availability	All year
Travel to and from the holiday	It is very easy to travel to the start (and return home from the end) of the holiday using public transport.  Please click here for more information
Climate	Click here for a summary of monthly average temperatures and rainfall for the North Lakes Short Break

 

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South Lakes Short Break

As well as beautiful scenery, the Lake District is also famous for its associations with a large number of poets, novelists and essayists. This lovely walk through some of the Lake District's best-loved areas visits many of the places associated with some of its most famous writers.

Beginning at Windermere on the shores of England's largest lake, the route heads for Troutbeck via Orrest Head, which provides breathtaking views of the hills of the Yorkshire Dales, Morecombe Bay and many of Lakeland's best known mountains. After exploring Troutbeck with its fine 17th century ‘Statesman' farmhouses grouped around a series of wells the route heads for Ambleside. It passes the famous viewpoint of Jenkin Crag and Rydal Mount, where Wordsworth spent the last years of his life, before following the route of the medieval coffin ‘road' high above Rydal Water to Grasmere. Wordsworth regarded Grasmere as the “loveliest spot that man hath ever found” and spent nine happy and creative years in Dove Cottage on the outskirts of the village. Other places of interest include the little school where he once taught, now the home of a famous Gingerbread Shop; and St Oswald's Church, the last resting place of the Wordsworth family. Then the trail visits the spectacular Langdale valley, idyllic Blea Tarn and Little Langdale Tarn before continuing to Coniston. Arthur Ransome spent his childhood holidays here which later surfaced in “Swallows and Amazons” and the village's most famous resident, John Ruskin, lies buried in the village churchyard, preferring this quiet corner of Lakeland to Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey. From Coniston the trail passes through the famous beauty spot of Tarn Hows and Hawkeshead, a charming village of whitewashed cottages, cobbled streets, arches and alleys, to Near Sawry. After visiting the tiny 17th century farmhouse of Hill Top, the former home of Beatrix Potter, the trail descends to the shores of Windermere to catch a ferry across the lake to the town.

Langdale Pikes © CWH

 

South Lakes Short Break - Itinerary, Prices and Dates
Tour Code	Itinerary	Tour Price
SLSB1	4 nights,3 days walking More Information>>	£265 per person
SLSB2	7 nights,6 days walking More Information>>	£465 per person
Our prices are based upon two people sharing a room.  If you are walking on your own there is a single supplement of £20 per night. You can add rest days at any of the overnight stops.   For each extra night add £40 per person All of our prices are in British pounds (£). Use our currency converter to convert British pounds (£) to your country’s currency
Total Distance	32 miles (51km)
Start and Finish	Windermere to Windermere
Availability	All year
Travel to and from the holiday	It is very easy to travel to the start (and return home from the end) of the holiday using public transport.  Please click here for more information
Climate	Click here for a summary of monthly average temperatures and rainfall for the South Lakes Short Break

 

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West Lakes Short Break

 

The western Lake District contains some of the National Park's most diverse landscapes – the rugged mountain scenery of Wasdale, the lush pastures, swathes of woodland and deeply rural hamlets of Eskdale and the glittering Irish Sea. Beginning at the village of Ravenglass on the Irish Sea, this delightful short walk crosses a gentle landscape of farmland dotted with small woods and isolated farmhouses, to the sleepy village of Nether Wasdale, past the ruin of a Roman bathhouse, a splendid 13th century castle and an 18th century corn mill. From Nether Wasdale the trail heads for the shores of Wastwater and then continues beside the lake to the tiny settlement of Wasdale Head amidst breathtaking mountain scenery: across the lake the awesome Screes plunge 2000 feet into the crystal waters, whilst ahead some of the highest peaks in England crowd around the end of the valley. England's smallest church lies a few hundred yards from the hamlet, in a patchwork of fields criss-crossed by drystone walls several feet thick that served as stone dumps when the pastures were first cleared.

Wastwater © CWH

From the church, the trail follows the old ‘corpse road' over Eskdale Moor, past Burnmoor Tarn to Boot, a pretty little village of whitewashed cottages, pink granite walls, three inns, a sixteenth century corn mill and a quaint riverside church. From Boot, the trail returns to the coast beside the fast-flowing waters of the River Esk, past Stanley Ghyll Force, reputed to be the most beautiful waterfall in the Lake District.
Points of interest along the trail include smugglers tales, an ancient Anglian cross, ghostly galloping horses, traces of Bronze Age man, packhorse bridges and La'al Ratty.

 

West Lakes Short Break - Itinerary, Prices and Dates
Tour Code	Itinerary	Tour Price
WLSB	4 nights,3 days walking More Information>>	£265 per person
Our prices are based upon two people sharing a room.  If you are walking on your own there is a single supplement of £20 per night. You can add rest days at any of the overnight stops.   For each extra night add £40 per person All of our prices are in British pounds (£). Use our currency converter to convert British pounds (£) to your country’s currency
Total Distance	31 miles (50km)
Start and Finish	Ravenglass to Ravenglass
Availability	All year
Travel to and from the holiday	It is very easy to travel to the start (and return home from the end) of the holiday using public transport.  Please click here for more information
Climate	Click here for a summary of monthly average temperatures and rainfall for the West Lakes Short Break

 

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East Lakes Short Break

Wordsworth declared Ullswater, “the happiest combination of beauty and grandeur, which any of the Lakes afford”, a view that still holds true today. Much of its appeal comes from its sinuous shape, wooded shores and the magnificent fells that surround it. To the west stands Helvellyn with its awe-inspiring rocky ridges, to the east the windswept grassy ridges of the High Street fells. Beyond them lies Haweswater, the quietest and most remote of all the lakes. This scenic walk explores the shores of both lakes and the fells and valleys surrounding them.Beginning at the attractive village of Pooley Bridge at the foot of Ullswater, the trail follows lakeside paths through meadows and ancient oak, birch and hazel woods to the hamlet of Patterdale at the head of the lake.

Walkers near Ullswater © CWH

 

East Lakes Short Break - Itinerary, Prices and Dates
Tour Code	Itinerary	Tour Price
ELSB	4 nights,3 days walking More Information>>	£265 per person
Our prices are based upon two people sharing a room.  If you are walking on your own there is a single supplement of £20 per night. You can add rest days at any of the overnight stops.   For each extra night add £40 per person All of our prices are in British pounds (£). Use our currency converter to convert British pounds (£) to your country’s currency
Total Distance	32 miles (51km)
Start and Finish	Pooley Bridge to Pooley Bridge
Availability	All year
Travel to and from the holiday	It is very easy to travel to the start (and return home from the end) of the holiday using public transport.  Please click here for more information
Climate	Click here for a summary of monthly average temperatures and rainfall for the East Lakes Short Break

 

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