Far Sawrey sits between Hill Top and the Windermere car ferry, which makes it one of the shrewder addresses on this side of the water: Beatrix Potter's village is up the road, and the crossing to Bowness is minutes away when you want the bright lights. The Cuckoo Brow is the village inn, and this guide covers what a base here actually gets you.
Quick Facts
The two villages are half a mile apart and named relative to Hawkshead rather than to anything a visitor would guess — Near Sawrey is nearer Hawkshead, Far Sawrey further from it. Near Sawrey has Hill Top and the Tower Bank Arms; Far Sawrey has the ferry road and rather more room to park. If you are staying here, Hill Top is a ten-minute walk, which is a better arrangement than most day visitors manage.
Book Hill Top ahead — timed entry, and it sells out through the season.
The Windermere car ferry runs from just below the village to Bowness and it is the great convenience of this shore: minutes across, against the better part of an hour round by Newby Bridge. In August it queues, sometimes considerably. Cross early, cross late, or let a tour day take the strain entirely.
The woods rising behind the shore are threaded with paths, and the old Claife viewing station up there was built specifically so that eighteenth-century tourists could admire the lake through coloured glass — arguably the first purpose-built viewpoint in England. Further north along the shore, Wray Castle is the Victorian mock-Gothic pile where a sixteen-year-old Beatrix Potter first stayed in the Lake District on a family holiday. The grounds are free and the lake frontage is lovely.
You are on the quiet side of Windermere, which is lovely and slightly awkward — the roads are narrow and the ferry queues in August. Our tours carry seven guests at most; private days collect at the door and save the crossing entirely.
The grand sweep: ten lakes, the high passes between them, and an Ullswater Steamers cruise exclusive to this tour. If a celebration stay deserves one great day out, this is it.
See dates & bookCollected at the door, your party only, the day shaped to you — literary landscapes, hidden valleys, or simply the most beautiful roads we know. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard in our vehicle crates.
Enquire about a private dayDove Cottage at Grasmere — entry included as standard — and the valleys that made the poems, with Dora's Field carpeted gold in daffodil season. The right literary day for this most Georgian of addresses.
See dates & bookAcross the lake to Hill Top and Near Sawrey, with our illustration-matching walk through the village lanes — back for a long lakeside lunch.
See dates & bookThe afternoon version crosses the lake by boat rather than by road — worth choosing if you'd like the crossing itself to be part of the day.
See dates & bookA slow hall morning, then eight lakes and their valleys at a seven-seat pace — the most civilised way to spend a Lakeland afternoon.
See dates & bookThe same eight lakes as the afternoon tour, run the opposite way round in the morning — ideal if you'd rather keep your afternoon free for the lawns.
See dates & bookA full literary day east to Haworth — the Parsonage, the cobbled village, and the moors that gave Wuthering Heights its weather, newly magnetic with the recent film. Oxenholme pickup available.
See dates & bookInto the Dales for Grassington's "Darrowby", the Wensleydale Creamery, Kilnsey Crag and Bolton Abbey — filming locations brought to life around you with live scene technology.
See dates & bookFrom this side of the water a private day removes both irritations — the ferry queue and the narrow roads. We collect at the door and shape the route around your party. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard, 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.
About half a mile — a ten-minute walk up the road to Near Sawrey.
It runs from below Far Sawrey across to Bowness, taking minutes rather than the long way round by Newby Bridge. It queues in high season, so cross early or late.
Ambleside library, Windermere station and Bowness Pier 1 — the ferry shortens the trip to the last two considerably. Private tours can usually collect at the inn.
Grizedale Forest's trails take the worst of the weather under the canopy, and the Beatrix Potter Gallery at Hawkshead is indoors and good.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Cuckoo Brow Inn.