P_Texas

We are planning on taking the train from Oxford to Edinburgh in the Fall and have decided to travel the Western part of England thru the Lake district. It is so hard for me to tell from the train maps what stops are in that area. Does anyone have a favorite village in the Lake District that would be along that route? Thank you

sofarsogood

There’s a train station in Windermere for the south Lakes. Alternatively, you could get off further north on the west coast mainline and take a bus to Keswick for the northern Lakes.

These maps might help https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stati...rail-maps.aspx

sofarsogood

Alternatively, you could get off further north on the west coast mainline at Penrith and take a bus to Keswick for the northern Lakes.

P_Texas

Thank you Sofarsogood, the rail map link was very helpful. the ones i looked at were not as clear. we have not been in that area of England at all so would you recommend Keswick over Windemere? and the Northern lakes over the more Southern ones?

sofarsogood

Personally, I prefer the area around Keswick and Borrowdale / Honister Pass /Buttermere which is more focused on walking on the fells than actual attractions to “see”.

Without a car, you’ll need to choose somewhere reasonably accessible with buses to visit smaller villages. If you’ve only got a day or so it doesn’t really matter if you stay in the southern or northern part.

https://www.visitlakedistrict.com/

P_Texas

pretty sure we are going with Keswick. it is so nice to be able to ask questions about an area one knows nothing about and receive a helpful informative answer.
Thank you so much for your time and input

ChgoGal

Hi, P_Texas . In 2017, I visited the Lakes and stayed in Keswick by public transport.
I had a few days in London, took the train to Penrith, and the X5 Bus to Keswick. I stayed at the Stonegarth Guest House, and found this a lovely inn and convenient to the village. https://stonegarth.com/

RE: HIKING; If you plan to do some hiking, I enjoyed the walk up to the Castlerigg Stone Circle and back. I also did the Keswick to Ashness bridge via Walla Crag. Note: I didn't love the hike past Walla Crag, and were I to do it again, I'd stop at Walla Crag. For me, Ashness Bridge was the juice that wasn't worth the squeeze. HOWEVER, the trail past Walla Crag wasn't well-marked that year, as they'd had terrible rains/flooding in Dec. 2016, which I understand disturbed many of the paths. However, once I got down to Derwentwater, that was a lovely hike back to town.

RE: WINDERMERE/RYDAL MOUNT; I took the bus to Grasmere and visited Dove Cottage/Wordsworth's House (not Rydal Mount). Not from any huge love/knowledge of Wordsworth, but I was curious about the mid-19th century village house. The village had several tourist buses--but that was 2017. I bought some of their famous gingerbread and enjoyed wandering about the village.

RE: KESWICK restaurant; I never made it to the Dog & Gun pub for their goulash, which is supposed to be good. I opted instead for Indian, which I love getting while in England. So delicious.
Have fun planning!

P_Texas

Thank you so much. Definitely checking out the Stonegarth