The Waterhead Inn sits directly opposite the piers at the head of Windermere, which makes it about as well-placed as anywhere on this lake for using the boats as transport. Ambleside proper is a flat mile up the road, the fells rise behind, and the water is across the street. This guide covers what that position is genuinely good for.
Quick Facts
Windermere Lake Cruises run from the piers across the road, and treating them as transport rather than a sightseeing trip transforms a stay here. Sail south to Bowness for the afternoon and come back by water; cross to the western shore for Wray Castle and the quiet woods of Claife; or simply ride down and back for the length of the lake. From this address you genuinely need not drive.
The last sailings are earlier than people expect — check before planning an evening the far end of the lake.
In the flat ground between the inn and the shore lie the remains of Galava, a Roman fort built to hold the route between Ravenglass on the coast and Brougham near Penrith. There is not much above ground — low banks, outlines in the grass — but standing in it and realising the Romans chose the same spot at the head of the lake that everyone since has chosen is a genuinely good ten minutes, and it is free.
A flat mile brings you into a proper working town: outdoor shops, an excellent small cinema for a wet evening, good bakeries. Behind the main street, Stock Ghyll Force drops seventy feet through woodland twenty minutes from the centre, and it is at its best the day after rain. Most day visitors miss it entirely.
Ambleside library is your nearest pickup — our other two are Windermere station and Bowness Pier 1. Private days collect at the door.
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 & bookCollected at the door, no departure time to walk 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.
At Waterhead on the shore at the head of Windermere, directly opposite the cruise piers and about a mile from Ambleside centre.
Very easily — boats from the piers opposite, a flat walk into Ambleside, buses along the A591, and tour days for everything else.
Ambleside library, a short distance up the road. Windermere station and Bowness Pier 1 are our other two, and private tours can collect at the inn.
Galava, a fort built to guard the route across the Lakes. The earthworks lie in the field between the inn and the lake, and are free and open.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Waterhead Inn or the Inn Collection Group.