At somewhat loose ends between house sitting jobs, I hopped onto Get Your Guide to see what some of the tour options in my area were. I was hoping to find somewhere peaceful with natural beauty and the Lake District seemed like just the thing. They offer several tours in the area but because I was booking at the last minute, things were, as usual, a bit complicated. After a bit of back and forth, I was finally able to reserve the Ten Lakes Spectacular tour. The tour promised to give a great overview of the district, provide a boat ride on the second largest lake in the area and allow me to visit a mini-stonehenge. What else could a girl want?
The tour departed at 9:45 (a refreshingly late start time) from in front of the Visitor Center and we immediately started winding our way up hills and through narrow village streets. The driver was friendly and knowledgeable with a good sense of humor though he probably could have provided a few more stories and a bit more history of the area. As it was, he gave us a good basic understanding of the things we were seeing and I learned a few facts which is always nice on a tour.
The tour promises to show you 10 of the many lakes in the district and it fulfills that promise. I’d hoped this meant we could get up close and personal with the water, but in most cases, the lakes were seen from the distance of a hilltop pullout or from close-up as the tour van drove by. We did, however, take a 50 minute cruise on the lake in Keswick which was beautiful, if a bit wet. Lunch was also in Keswick which was a cute small city with a small square surrounded by shops and restaurants.
After lunch we started making our way back to Windermere via Castlerigg Stone Circle (the mini-stonehenge) and Grasmere a very cute little village home to famous gingerbread and the grave of Wordsworth. We also stopped at what is supposed to be the most photographed bridge in the District.
We returned to Windermere at around 5:30 at which point some of my fellow group members and I headed to the local pub for a pint and to discuss the tour. We all agreed that while the scenery was lovely and the tour gave a good overview of the area we’d all have enjoyed a few more stops and more time to wander a bit in the countryside. The photo stops we had were generally of short duration and didn’t give much time to explore.
I recommend the tour for anyone who is short on time, who wants to get the big picture of the area or who wants to get some ideas of where to visit during their time in the Lake District, but if you are hoping to be able to do a little walking during the tour, you’ll be disappointed. In my opinion, and that of the others at the pub, they probably could have made it a couple hours longer and added in the chance for a bit more walking and it would have been great with us, though perhaps not with others.
I took about 1001 photos during the tour. Below is just a small selection. Hope you enjoy them!
Looks like a really neat tour. Beautiful pictures!
It’s incredibly beautiful up there even if the weather does change every 5 minutes. 🙂