Storrs Hall stands where Georgian money chose to stand: on its own reach of Windermere's quieter southern shore, lawns running to the water, with Bowness's bustle a few convenient minutes north and the wilder south lakes opening behind. Guests two centuries ago arrived here for regattas and house parties; guests today arrive for weddings, anniversaries and the particular pleasure of a lakeside base that feels private. This guide covers what those Georgian visitors knew and what they didn't: the corners within a stroll of the hall, and the spectacular days out that modern touring puts within easy reach.
Quick Facts
Begin with the hall's own curiosity. A short stroll along the shore stands the Storrs Temple — a little octagonal Georgian folly at the end of its causeway, built in the early 1800s and now one of the most quietly photographed spots on the whole lake. Follies were the Georgian gentry's way of furnishing a landscape, and this one has done its job for over two centuries: it turns an ordinary lakeside walk into a small pilgrimage, best taken at first light or in the last hour before dinner, when the water goes to glass and the fells double themselves in it. This stretch of shore knew grand days — the great Windermere regattas of the early nineteenth century drew the literary and the titled alike — and on a still summer evening it isn't hard to hear the echo.
The hall sits on a hinge between two different lakes. Turn north and Bowness delivers everything lively — the piers, the restaurants, the World of Beatrix Potter, the evening promenade. Turn south and Windermere becomes progressively wilder and emptier: the lake road runs down towards Newby Bridge past bays most visitors never see, and Gummer's How — the modest fell above the southern tip — offers perhaps the finest effort-to-view ratio in the entire national park, a spectacular full-length panorama of the lake for less than an hour's climb. Guests who only ever turn north miss half of what makes this address special.
You are staying practically on the cruise routes: Windermere Lake Cruises' sailings pass this shore constantly, and boarding at Bowness minutes away lets you make a slow, civilised loop of the lake — Ambleside for lunch, perhaps, returning mid-afternoon. For something more intimate, the boat hire jetties at Bowness put you at your own tiller. Either way, the lake is not scenery here; it's the front garden, and it rewards being used.
Storrs guests tend to book the way they dine — carefully, and for quality over quantity. One or two properly chosen touring days will show you more of the Lakes than a week of aimless driving. Scheduled departures leave Windermere railway station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library, ten minutes away; private days collect you at the hall and return you in time to dress for dinner.
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 & bookThis stretch of Windermere changes character more than people expect. Spring brings the lake at its clearest, before the summer haze settles on the water, and the woods above Gummer's How thick with bluebells. High summer is regatta season in spirit if not always in name — sails on the water, the temple at its most photographed, evenings that stretch past nine. Autumn turns the shore genuinely spectacular: the beech woods along this stretch colour early and richly, and the lake, stiller now the crowds have gone, doubles every shade of it. Winter is for the hall's own fires and short bright walks to the temple and back, the lake steel-grey and magnificent under low cloud. Whichever season brings you, there's a touring day shaped for it.
For a celebration stay, a private day is usually the better fit — collected from the hall, no fixed departure, and a route built entirely around your party. It's a genuinely popular choice for anniversaries and proposals at Storrs Hall, and well-behaved dogs are welcome to come along.
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.
Without a car: entirely comfortable — taxis handle the short hops, cruises pass your shoreline, and tour days cover the distances. Many celebration stays here never involve a car at all.
If you drive north: Bowness parking fills by mid-morning in season; Braithwaite Fold and Glebe Road are the sensible choices, with Broad Street up in Windermere town.
Timing: book your tour day when you book the room — seven seats, and summer and celebration-season dates fill two to three weeks out. Anniversary or proposal in the plan? Tell us; a private day can keep a secret beautifully.
Ages: our tours suit adults and older children, about seven and up — rarely a constraint for this particular address.
Bowness Pier 1, one of our three main pickup points, is a few minutes north along the lake road; Windermere station and Ambleside library are the other two. On private tours we can usually collect you at the hall itself. On private tours we can usually collect you at the hall itself.
That's the Storrs Temple, a little octagonal Georgian folly standing at the end of its own causeway on the lake — one of Windermere's most photographed corners and a lovely short stroll from the hall.
Couples staying here tend to choose the 10 Lakes Full-day Tour for the grand sweep, or a private day collected from the hall and shaped entirely to themselves — literary, scenic or a little of both.
Very comfortably. Taxis cover the short hops to Bowness and the station, lake cruises pass practically along your shoreline, and guided tour days handle the far valleys and high passes.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Storrs Hall.