Lake District Touring: Passes, Parking and Picking a Valley

The geography that shapes every itinerary

The Lake District is a radial pattern of valleys running out from a central mass of fells. That means very few roads cross the middle, and getting from one valley to the next often involves either a long loop round the outside or a steep pass over the top. Distances that look tiny on a map can take an hour.

The practical response is to pick a sector for the day rather than an itinerary of famous names. The central corridor from Windermere through Ambleside and Grasmere to Keswick is the busiest. Ullswater to the east, Coniston and Duddon to the south west, and Buttermere and Borrowdale to the north west each make a coherent day.

Passes worth driving and passes to leave alone

Kirkstone Pass, between Ambleside and Ullswater, is the highest road pass open to traffic in the district and entirely manageable in a normal vehicle, though the direct climb out of Ambleside known as The Struggle is exactly what its name suggests. Honister and Newlands, linking Borrowdale to Buttermere, are narrow but rewarding.

Hardknott and Wrynose are a different proposition. The gradients are among the steepest public roads in England, the hairpins are tight, and the surface suffers in winter. They are unsuitable for many vehicles and should never appear in a schedule that has a timed booking at the far end.

• Kirkstone Pass for a scenic crossing that suits most vehicles
• Honister and Newlands for the Buttermere circuit
• Whinlatter for a wooded, gentler route to the north west
• Hardknott and Wrynose only with the right vehicle and no time pressure

Parking is the real constraint

Car parks at the popular points fill early and stay full. Tarn Hows, Buttermere, Wasdale Head and the Langdale valley head are effectively at capacity by mid-morning on fine days from Easter onwards. Verge parking causes real problems on single-track roads and is increasingly enforced. Being driven changes this completely. You can be set down at a trailhead and collected from a different one at the end of a linear walk, which is otherwise almost impossible without two cars.

Houses, gardens and wet-weather options

Cumbria has a strong indoor offer for the days when the fells disappear. Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount cover Wordsworth, Hill Top at Near Sawrey covers Beatrix Potter and uses timed entry because the rooms are tiny, and Blackwell above Windermere is one of the best Arts and Crafts interiors anywhere. Levens Hall to the south has extraordinary topiary, and Holker Hall sits on the Cartmel peninsula with gardens that peak in spring. All of them are more pleasant in rain than a fell car park.

Weather, seasons and the honest picture

This is the wettest part of England and the weather changes fast. A morning of low cloud frequently clears by afternoon, so a flexible order of stops is worth more than a fixed one. October gives bracken colour and quieter roads, and midwinter gives snow on the tops with short daylight. School holidays, bank holidays and any fine summer weekend concentrate traffic on the A591 corridor. Starting early, or working the eastern and western edges instead of the middle, avoids most of it.

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