A short visitor's guide to Windermere, Cumbria: things to do, places to eat and drink, and what's on through the year.
Windermere sits in the heart of the Lake District National Park, tucked into the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria. The town lies roughly half a mile east of its namesake, the lake Windermere, on the gentle hills that lift away from the water. It's a small place (just under five thousand residents), but it punches well above its weight as a base for the wider Lakes.
Most visitors come for the lake itself: cruises and rowing boats from nearby Bowness, the fells rising to the west, and the Victorian-era streets that grew up around the railway. Windermere is walking, boating and pottering territory, with the rest of the National Park, Ambleside, Grasmere and Coniston, all comfortably within reach for day trips.
If you only do one thing on your first morning, walk up to Orrest Head Viewpoint. It's a short, well-graded climb from the edge of town and pops out at the spot Wainwright credited with starting his lifelong love of the fells: Windermere, the Langdales and the Coniston hills, all spread out at once. Down by the lake, Windermere Jetty Museum tells the story of steam and sail on these waters, with restored heritage boats, hands-on family displays and short steam-launch tours when conditions allow.
For something more active, Lake District Adventuring runs guided mountain walks, gorge scrambling and rock climbing trips suited to beginners and old hands alike. In town itself, Cook House Gallery has been showing Lake District paintings and prints since 1981, St. Mary's Church is a quiet stop on Ambleside Road, and the small National Trust - Windermere and Troutbeck office at St Catherines Cottage is a useful first port of call if you're planning to walk the surrounding fells and woodlands.
The lake itself is the obvious draw. From the steamer pier at neighbouring Bowness-on-Windermere you can pick up a Windermere Lake Cruise to Lakeside or Ambleside, hire a rowing boat by the half hour, or join one of the kayak and paddleboard outfits operating from the foreshore. England's largest lake is on your doorstep here, and most cottages in the town are a ten to fifteen minute downhill walk to the water.
Walking is the other reason most people come. The classic short ascent is up to Orrest Head behind the railway station (about an hour return for the full Wainwright vista of the lake and the high fells). Longer days head west on the Bowness ferry to Claife Heights or pick up the A591 northbound for the Rydal and Grasmere round. Closer to home, Queen's Park and Windermere Park are useful when you want a flat, dog-friendly stretch of the legs without a fell on the agenda.
When the cloud comes down on the fells (which, honestly, it does often enough that you should plan for it), Windermere has a surprisingly dense little gallery quarter for a town this size. National Park Print Shop on Crescent Road is the one most people remember: a working risograph studio selling indie prints, enamel pins and woven patches by Lake District artists. A few doors along, Windermere Fine Art carries contemporary, modern and urban-art originals at a more serious price point.
On Main Road, Thuline Studio - Gallery Windermere is known for its animal-themed originals and runs occasional half-day art workshops; Craig Long Gallery is a family-run gallery and gift shop nearby. Lakeland Reflections, tucked behind the high street on Birch Street, is a working kiln-formed glass studio (you can see pieces being made) with paintings, ceramics and jewellery by other local makers. For something free and quiet, Groves Public Library on Broad Street is a useful rainy-afternoon refuge with comfortable chairs and a small local-interest section. A hot tub holiday cottage in Windermere helps too.
For a small town, Windermere has a strong line-up. The pick of the bunch is The Crafty Baa Windermere on Victoria Street, a snug craft-beer and wine bar with a heated patio and a short menu of charcuterie, cheese boards and grilled sandwiches: think hearty rather than fussy, with the longest beer list in town. Three doors along you'll find The Pie and Pint (officially The Smallest Pub in The Lake District), which lives up to its name; you can fit perhaps a dozen people in if everyone breathes in.
For something more traditional, The Elleray on Cross Street does proper pub food in country-style rooms and stays open late, while The Queens opposite the railway station is a former coaching inn with a sports bar tucked at the back. Brookside Inn on Lake Road is a useful midway stop on the walk down to Bowness, with real ales, cocktails and an outdoor patio that catches the afternoon sun. If you've got a car, The Sun Inn at Troutbeck Bridge is a wood-beamed coaching inn worth the short drive, and Beresford's Restaurant & Pub on Beresford Road sits a touch more upmarket with seasonal local produce.
For a town this size, Windermere eats well. The two seafood spots are the obvious headliners: Francine's on Main Road is a small bistro with proper plates of fish, plus coffee and cakes earlier in the day; Hooked Seafood in Ellerthwaite Square is the more adventurous of the two, with locally landed fish given a global spin (think hake with miso, or Cumbrian crab tacos). Booking ahead is sensible at both, especially in summer.
Italian is well served by Cafe Italia, a cheerful corner cafe on Main Road with patio seating and a short menu of pasta, salads and proper Italian sandwiches, and San Pietro Windermere Restaurant on Birch Street, a darker, dimlier spot for pasta and pizza after a day on the fells. The Tilly Bar and Kitchen on Crescent Road handles the British end with pork-led mains and pub classics, and The Lamplighter Dining Rooms on the High Street does the same in an 1865 stone building that feels straight out of a Wainwright illustration. Treasure Mountain (formerly Golden Mountain, reopened by the original owners) holds down the Chinese corner, and Prince Of India on Crescent Road is the safe bet for biryani and tandoori takeaway.
Homeground Coffee + Kitchen on Main Road is the speciality-coffee benchmark for the town: a small roaster's cafe with a serious brunch menu, no bookings (so go early on a Saturday) and a kitchen that closes mid-afternoon. Toast, a few doors down, runs a cleverer line in elevated toasties built on home-baked Japanese shokupan, with the same coffee obsession. For a full sit-down, Brew Room Cafe on Crescent Road styles itself somewhere between an artisan bakery and a Peaky Blinders set, and bakes most of what's on the counter.
If you've got the dog with you (and plenty of guests do, which is why a dog-friendly holiday cottage in Windermere is the most-booked option in town), Slate - Coffee . Bar . Kitchen has a dog-friendly area indoors, and The Little Ice Cream Shop on Crescent Road serves 22 flavours of gelato made daily at their Hawkshead kitchen, with vegan and gluten-free options and water bowls outside. Down by the lake, the Windermere Jetty Museum Lakeshore Cafe at the museum is the only proper waterfront cafe in walking distance.
By car, Windermere sits just off the A591, the main road that runs the length of the Lake District from Kendal in the south up to Keswick in the north. From the M6, you'll come off at Junction 36 and follow the A590/A591 in; allow longer than the satnav suggests on summer Saturdays, when the road through Bowness can crawl.
The train is genuinely useful here, which is unusual for a Lakes town. Windermere railway station sits in the middle of town (the station, opened in 1847, is the reason Windermere exists in its current form). Northern run a regular branch-line service down to Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line, where you connect with London Euston, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester services; some Northern trains continue through to Manchester Airport without a change.
Once you arrive, Stagecoach Cumbria runs the local bus network, with routes out to Keswick, Kendal, Lancaster, Grasmere, Ambleside, Bowness-on-Windermere, Barrow-in-Furness, Penrith and Coniston. The 555 between Lancaster and Keswick and the 599 along the lake are the two most useful for visitors, and an Explorer day ticket usually pays for itself by lunchtime if you're using more than a single hop. If you're heading even further into the valleys, Troutbeck and Kirkstone Pass are a short drive or a longer Stagecoach connection away.