The Lyth Valley sits between Kendal and Windermere, and almost everybody drives through it without stopping. That is their loss: this is damson country, and for two or three weeks each spring the whole valley turns white with blossom in a display that would draw crowds anywhere else in England. The Punch Bowl at Crosthwaite is the valley's best-known inn with rooms, and if you have booked here you have picked the quiet middle ground between the two towns.
Quick Facts
The Lyth and Winster valleys have grown damsons for centuries — the fruit was carried out by cart to the mill towns of Lancashire, where it was used for dyeing as well as eating. The orchards that remain are the reason the valley looks the way it does: small fields, hedgerows and fruit trees rather than open fell. Come in the second half of April and the blossom is genuinely extraordinary, and largely unvisited. Come in September and the fruit is on sale at farm gates and in every pub kitchen in the valley.
The Lyth and the neighbouring Winster Valley are the quietest inhabited country within easy reach of Windermere. Narrow lanes, small farms, a handful of very good pubs, and hardly a coach in sight. Scout Scar, the limestone edge above the valley on the Kendal side, gives an enormous westward view for a short walk — and Whitbarrow, at the southern end, is a national nature reserve of limestone pavement and rare flowers that most Lake District visitors have never heard of.
Sizergh Castle and Levens Hall are both a short drive from the valley — a seven-hundred-year family house and the oldest topiary garden in the world respectively. We run tours to both, and from a Lyth Valley base they are the obvious half-day.
The genuine advantage here is the position. Fifteen to twenty minutes west and you are at Windermere with the boats and the crowds; the same distance east and you are in Kendal with the shops, the station and the motorway. You are near everything and in the middle of nothing, which for a lot of people is exactly the right arrangement.
All three of our main pickups are fifteen to twenty minutes away, and Oxenholme — for the full-day tours — is a similar run. Private days collect at the inn.
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 a quiet valley base a private day suits the mood — collected at the inn, no timetable to drive to, and a route shaped around your party. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard, travelling safely in the crates our vehicles carry.
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 helps. Bus service through the valley is limited; most guests drive, then leave the car for tour days.
The lanes: narrow, high-hedged and lovely, but not quick. Allow more time than the mileage suggests.
Timing a visit: if the blossom appeals, aim for the second half of April — it is brief and weather-dependent.
Ages: our tours suit adults and older children, about seven and up.
At Crosthwaite in the Lyth Valley — roughly five miles from Kendal and five miles from Windermere, which puts it almost exactly between the two.
Windermere station, Bowness Pier 1 and Ambleside library are all around fifteen to twenty minutes away; Oxenholme, for our full-day tours, is a similar distance. On private tours we can usually collect you at the inn.
Damsons. The valley's orchards have produced them for centuries, the blossom in late March and April is one of the great sights of Cumbria, and the fruit turns up in everything from jam to gin come autumn.
Less so than the towns — the Lyth Valley is quiet country with limited bus service. Most guests drive, or use private touring for the days out.
We are an independent local tour operator, based in Kendal. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Punch Bowl Inn.