Windermere

About Windermere

Windermere is the largest natural lake in England and a must visit during your holiday at Park Cliffe. This popular tourist destinations is situated within easy reach of our camping, caravan and glamping park and has plenty to offer the whole family.

Every year visitors flock to the lake to enjoy a range of activities, including watersports, bike rides, scenic walks and wildlife watching. There’s so much to see and do you’ll be spoilt for choice when deciding how to spend your holiday.

Photo credit: Nigel Thomas | Flickr

Things to do on and around Windermere

Watersports

No trip to Windermere is complete without getting out on the water to enjoy some watersports. For a truly exhilarating experience, Low Wood Bay Watersports offer waterskiing and wakeboarding tuition as well as sailing, dinghy sailing and power boat courses. If you’d prefer something a bit slower paced, Low Wood Bay also offer boat hire. This is a great way to explore the area under your own steam.

We highly recommend visiting Windermere Canoe and Kayak at their lakeside boathouse near Bowness. Take in the scenery from a unique perspective during a guided island tour by canoe, kayak or SUP. This is a great way to improve your abilities or learn a new skill. Windermere Canoe and Kayak also offer bike hire for those who prefer their thrills to be on-land.

Stand up paddleboarding (SUP) has become hugely popular across the UK. There are many brilliant places to hire or take your paddleboard across the Lake District.

Walking

Miles of luscious terrain surround Windermere, offering an extensive range of opportunities to explore the area by foot. Our favourite route is the West Shore Walk. Depending on your fitness and how much time you have, you can choose to walk the 4-mile short trail or the 8 mile full route. On the circular walk you can enjoy panoramic views of the islands of Windermere.

View the Windermere West Shore Walk route

Photo credit: Ashlyn G | Flickr

Wildlife Watching in Windermere

You can expect to see a range of wildlife when exploring Windermere. Bird species such as Canada Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Cormorant, Pochardand Great-crested Grebe all frequent the area, making it a haven for birders. If you’re lucky, you might even see an Otter, Red Deer or Red Squirrel.

Family friendly activities in Windermere

Grizedale Visitor Centre

Head deep in the forest between Coniston Water and Windermere and you’ll find endless woodland fun for all the family. Activities on offer include Segway treks, Trees Top Junior, Ziptrekking and Tree Top Adventure. You can bring your own mountain bikes or hire them in the centre and explore the 7 cross country downhill bike trails! After an exhilarating experience at the visitor centre, enjoy a bite to eat and drink in the tea room or sit outside on the picnic tables. If you’d prefer to enjoy the forest at a slower pace, why not explore the forest on one of many woodland trails.

Find out more on the Visit Lake District website.

Windermere Lake Cruises

Windermere Lake Cruises are widely considered one of the best attractions in Cumbria. Sit back and relax as you take in the spectacular views from one of the historic boats. Cruises operate along the whole length of Windermere. Travelling to the other end of the lake, from Bowness and Lakeside, take around 90 minutes, whilst a return trip will take about 3 hours.

If large boats aren’t really your thing, you can also hire an electric motorboat or a rowing boat.

Getting to Windermere Lake

Windermere is just a five minute drink from Park Cliffe, so you can enjoy a full day of fun exploring the iconic area before heading just up the road to relax in your cosy accommodation.

This is just one of many beautiful lakes in the area. We highly recommend visiting as many as you can whilst staying at award-winning Park Cliffe Holiday Park.