Lodore Falls sits where Derwentwater meets Borrowdale — arguably the most photographed junction in the Lake District, and a genuinely different holiday from anything in the Windermere corridor. The hotel takes its name from the waterfall directly behind it, which Robert Southey made famous in a poem so relentlessly onomatopoeic that Victorian visitors came specifically to hear whether it lived up to the billing. This guide covers the valley, the lake, and how touring works from this end of the national park.
Quick Facts
Robert Southey — Poet Laureate, Keswick resident, and Wordsworth's neighbour — wrote "The Cataract of Lodore" for his children, a cascading list of verbs that tumbles down the page in imitation of the water. It became one of the best-known poems of the age and turned this particular fall into a fixture of the Victorian tour. Worth knowing before you walk up: after heavy rain it fully earns the poem, and in a dry August it emphatically does not. Go the morning after a wet night.
The Keswick launches call at Lodore, and using them properly is the single best thing you can do from this hotel. Ride to Hawes End for Catbells, or simply take the full circuit for one of the finest cheap hours in the north. The lake has islands, wooded shores and a scale that Windermere — longer but busier — never quite matches.
The valley narrows south of the hotel into what the Victorians called the Jaws of Borrowdale, and beyond it lie Grange, Rosthwaite, the Bowder Stone and eventually Honister Pass. It is, by a good margin, the most dramatic valley road in England that an ordinary car can manage. Even driven slowly and turned round at Seatoller it makes a spectacular hour.
An honest market town with roughly 750 years of trading behind its square, and a proper one — outdoor shops, a good theatre by the lake, the pencil museum for a wet afternoon, and pubs that serve walkers rather than tourists. It is the practical counterweight to Borrowdale's drama.
Our scheduled small-group tours depart from Windermere station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library — all a fair drive south of Borrowdale over or around the passes. For guests staying here, a private day collected at the hotel is almost always the better arrangement, and it can just as easily run north and west into the quieter fells as south to the famous names.
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 Borrowdale this is the practical option rather than an upsell — the scheduled pickups are a fair drive south, so a private day that collects at the hotel saves the journey and shapes the route around your party. The hotel is dog-friendly and so are our private tours, where well-behaved dogs travel 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 car or private touring helps. The 78 Borrowdale bus runs the valley to Keswick and is genuinely useful, but services thin out beyond.
Parking: the National Trust car parks in Borrowdale fill very early in season. Before nine, or take the launch instead.
The passes: Honister and Newlands are magnificent and steep. Fine in good weather, less fun in poor.
Ages: our tours suit adults and older children, about seven and up.
At the southern end of Derwentwater in the Borrowdale valley, a few miles south of Keswick and directly beside the Lodore Falls waterfall itself.
On private tours, usually yes — we collect at the hotel. Our scheduled small-group departures leave Windermere station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library, all a fair drive south, so private touring generally suits guests staying here better.
Yes — it is a dog-friendly hotel with its own dog lounge. Well-behaved dogs are also welcome on our private tours, travelling safely in the crates our vehicles carry.
Yes — Lodore Falls is immediately behind the hotel, a short walk into the wooded ravine. It is at its most dramatic after heavy rain, and comparatively modest in a dry spell.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa.