Cartmel · just outside the village
Things to do near Aynsome Manor —
a local guide
From the people who drive these roads every day
Cartmel · just outside the village
From the people who drive these roads every day
Cartmel
A short walkdown the lane
The priory
Minuteson foot
Nearest pickup
40 minnorth
Private full day
£915per group, collected
Holker Hall
A short drivea tour destination of ours
Small groups
7guests at most
A private full day from Aynsome Manor
A full-day private tour, collected where you are staying, for your party alone — or a bespoke tour planned around your stay. Tell us you are staying at Aynsome Manor and we confirm the pickup and times.
Book a private full day Plan a bespoke tourPrivate full day £915 per group · bespoke from £459
Aynsome Manor sits in its own grounds just outside Cartmel, a short walk or shorter drive from the village square, and has recently been through a full refurbishment. It is dog-friendly, quiet, and positioned so that you can eat at one of the best restaurants in Britain and be back within a few minutes. This guide covers the village and the country round it.
This is the practical advantage of staying at the edge of a village with three Michelin stars in it. L'Enclume holds three, plus a Green Star; Rogan & Co holds one; and both are a walk rather than a drive from here. Book both well ahead — L'Enclume in particular goes months out — and plan the rest of the week around which evenings you have.
The village pubs are really good too, and considerably easier to get into.
Cartmel Priory, founded around 1190, escaped the Dissolution because part of it served as the parish church and the villagers successfully argued they could not lose it. The result is a church on a cathedral scale in a village of a few hundred people, still in use, free to enter, and holding a superb fifteenth-century east window. Twenty minutes, and among the most rewarding twenty minutes in the south of the county.
Cartmel Racecourse holds a few National Hunt meetings a year in the village fields — unlike racing anywhere else, and the village fills completely, so book ahead if your dates coincide. Holker Hall nearby has award-winning gardens and a very fine Victorian interior, and we run tours there. Grange-over-Sands, ten minutes east, has the promenade and Hampsfell behind it.
Our nearest small-group pickup is around forty minutes north; a private full day starts from where you are staying. From Cartmel a day planned around where you are staying is the easier arrangement.
From here, any of the full-day tours can run privately, collected where you are staying, and the morning and afternoon tours pair into one full day; or we plan a bespoke tour around your stay. If you have a car, our nearest small-group pickup is around forty minutes north.
From Cartmel a day of your own saves the drive north entirely — planned around where you are staying, no departure time, and the route shaped around your party. It also means nobody has to think about driving home after dinner. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard by prior arrangement, travelling safely in our vehicle crates.
Not sure which route suits your plans, or want a day built entirely from scratch — a family reunion, a wedding anniversary, scattering ashes somewhere that mattered? Tell us what you have in mind and we'll design a day around it — see our guide to celebrating a special occasion for ideas, or get in touch directly.
A short walk down the lane — a few minutes on foot to the square and the priory.
Yes — it is in the village, a walk rather than a drive. Book well ahead; it fills months in advance.
Yes. Well-behaved dogs are also welcome on our private tours by prior arrangement, travelling safely in our vehicle crates.
Our private tours collect in Kendal, Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere and Oxenholme, and Cartmel sits outside that. From here a private tour runs as a full day, from £915 for the group, collected where you are staying; or we plan a bespoke tour around your stay. Tell us where you are staying, and we confirm the pickup and times before anything is booked. For a small-group seat, our nearest pickup is around forty minutes north.
Our private tours collect in Kendal, Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere and Oxenholme, and Cartmel sits outside that, so from here a private tour runs as a full day, collected where you are staying, or we plan a bespoke tour around your stay.
A private full day is £915 for the group, your own guide and vehicle, with nobody aboard you did not bring. Tell us you are staying at Aynsome Manor and we confirm the pickup and times before anything is booked.
Arriving by train? We can collect your party at the station, go straight out on tour, and bring you to the hotel at the end of the day.
Book a private full dayTailor-made for each booking, half day from £459 or full day from £942 per group: the places and the people you most want to see.
Plan a bespoke tourSources: Cartmel Priory; Cartmel Racecourse; Holker Hall & Gardens.
Lake District Tours is an independent local tour company based in Kendal. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Aynsome Manor Hotel.
This page was checked by Gillian in .
Photographs are of the area rather than the hotel itself. Tour photographs are credited on each tour page.
