8 Lakes Morning Tour — Spectacular Scenery, Back for Lunch

Ullswater and Patterdale in autumn colour from Boredale Hause — **Ullswater**Where Wordsworth saw his daffodils

Grasmere village centre in summer, before the crowds arrive — **Grasmere**Gingerbread since 1854 — and we get there first

Castlerigg Stone Circle under a rainbow with Blencathra beyond — **Castlerigg**Ancient stones, older than Stonehenge

Derwentwater from Surprise View above Borrowdale — **Surprise View**Derwentwater appears beneath you all at once

Ashness Bridge, the packhorse bridge above Derwentwater — **Ashness Bridge**The most photographed bridge in the Lakes

Looking down the Kirkstone Pass road towards Windermere — **Kirkstone Pass**The highest road pass in the Lakes — 1,489 feet

Thirlmere from the slopes of Helvellyn — **Thirlmere**The drowned valley

Rydal Water from Nab Scar — **Rydal Water**Small, still, and Wordsworth's

Brothers Water from the ridge north of Hartsop Dodd — **Brothers Water**The quiet lake below Kirkstone

Bassenthwaite Lake from Dodd — **Bassenthwaite Lake**Seen from Surprise View — the only one called a lake

Windermere from Brant Fell viewpoint — **Windermere**Where the morning starts and ends

Snow-capped Skiddaw seen from Borrowdale in winter — **Skiddaw in winter**White tops, black water — the 10am winter start

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The best of the Lake District, in one morning

By lunchtime you will have stood inside a ring of stones older than Stonehenge with mountains on every side, watched Derwentwater appear beneath you without warning, and bought gingerbread in Grasmere while the village was still quiet. And you will be back for lunch.

Highlights

Eight lakes, breathtaking mountain views and long sweeping valleys in one morning
A small group — seven guests at most, not sixteen or nineteen
Grasmere and its gingerbread first, before the crowds arrive
Castlerigg Stone Circle, older than Stonehenge
Surprise View and Ashness Bridge, above Derwentwater
The drive over Kirkstone Pass, with views down to Brothers Water
The Ullswater shore, where Wordsworth saw his daffodils
Back in Windermere in time for lunch

No driving. Just sit back and enjoy the morning.

“We’re so glad we weren’t driving.” Our guests often tell us so.

See the scenery, not the road

The mountain roads are narrow and steep. Your driver watches the road, so you can watch the views.

Feel safe all morning

Experienced, qualified drivers who know every pass and bend, in every kind of weather.

Sit back and relax

No route to plan, nowhere to stop to find. Just enjoy the morning.

Why it makes such a good morning out

Seven guests — not sixteen, not nineteen

Other lakes tours run sixteen- and nineteen-seat buses. Ours takes seven: a guide who can hear your question and answer it, room to move, and no queue for the door at every stop.

Gingerbread before the crowds

We go to Grasmere first, on purpose. By late morning the queue at the Gingerbread Shop reaches down the lane and the village is full. We are there and gone before it happens.

An experienced local guide

Someone who lives in Cumbria and knows these roads in rain, snow and low sun — and who will change the route on the day if that is what the weather asks. You get the Lakes, not a script.

Photo opportunities all morning

Surprise View, Ashness Bridge, Castlerigg with the mountains behind, the top of Kirkstone, the Ullswater shore. We stop where the pictures are, and your guide knows the angles and the light.

A UNESCO World Heritage landscape

The whole morning runs through the heart of the Lake District World Heritage Site — inscribed for its landscape, its farming and the writers and painters it inspired.

One price, nothing to add

Every stop, pickup and drop-off. The only thing you might pay for on the day is your gingerbread.

The best of the Lakes in a morning, with seven guests instead of sixteen or nineteen — and back in time for lunch.Why people choose the morning

What's included, pickup and practical details

Included

An experienced local driver-guide
Commentary in English
A comfortable licensed minibus, seven guests at most
Pickup and drop-off
Every stop, and all vehicle costs

Not included

Food and drink — there is no lunch stop on a morning tour, and you are back in time for lunch
Gingerbread, if you want some
Gratuities, at your discretion

Pickup points and times

We collect from three points at set times, and drop you back at the same point. Times are approximate — please be there ten minutes before your pickup time. After the clocks go back in late October, every pickup is an hour later.

Windermere Railway Station

Outside the railway station, Windermere LA23 1AH

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9:00amback around 1:00pm

Bowness Pier

At the Windermere Lake Cruises ticket office, Bowness Pier, Bowness-on-Windermere LA23 3HQ

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back around

Ambleside Library

Outside the library, Kelsick Road, Ambleside LA22 0BZ

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back around

Maps and directions for each pickup point

The morning on a map

Tap a lake or a stop to see it. The route can change with the weather and the roads on the day.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

1 The eight lakes
Stops along the way
Mountain passes
P Pickup points
The usual route

Good to know

Duration: Around four hours. We leave Windermere at 9:00am and are back at about 1:00pm. After the clocks go back in late October we leave at 10:00am, so the light is up and the passes have had a chance to clear.
Price: £79 per person.
Group: Seven guests at most.
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour, for a full refund.
Children: Aged seven and over on the scheduled tour. Younger children may be possible on a private tour, by arrangement.
Walking: Gentle — viewpoints, the lakeshore and short strolls from the minibus.
Comfort stops: Some comfort stops along the route, where possible.
Luggage: Hand luggage only, unless agreed with us in advance.
On board: For everyone's comfort and safety, no food, hot drinks or sticky drinks on the minibus.
Access: A step is available to help you in and out of the minibus. The minibus is not wheelchair accessible. If you have mobility needs, please contact us before booking.
Dogs: Not on scheduled tours. A well-behaved dog is welcome on a private tour by prior arrangement. Assistance dogs are always welcome.
The roads: Kirkstone is steep and winding. If you are prone to motion sickness, take your usual precautions.
What to wear: It is the Lake District. Wear sensible shoes, and bring a waterproof with a hood, whatever the forecast says. The morning runs in all weathers.
Season: All year — leaving at 9:00am in summer and 10:00am once the clocks go back.

Snow-capped Skiddaw seen from the Borrowdale valley in winter — Skiddaw in winter — the morning runs all year

Your morning in the Lakes

The route changes with the weather and the roads on the day, so the lakes don't always come in this order.

Windermere

England's largest lake

Rydal Water

Small and still

Grasmere

Gingerbread, before the crowds

Thirlmere

The drowned valley

Derwentwater

From Surprise View

Bassenthwaite Lake

Seen from Surprise View

Ullswater

Wordsworth's daffodils

Brothers Water

The quiet one

Gingerbread, while it's quiet

Sarah Nelson's gingerbread has been baked to the same secret recipe beside St Oswald's churchyard since 1854. By late morning the queue reaches down the lane. We go first — the door just open, the smell of it on the air, Wordsworth's grave a few yards away, and the village to yourselves. It is the first thing guests mention.

Castlerigg Stone Circle with the mountains behind

Stones and mountains

A ring of enigmatic stones on a plateau surrounded by mountains — Castlerigg is older than Stonehenge, with a better view: Skiddaw, Blencathra and the Helvellyn range in one turn of the head.

Water, from above

Surprise View, where Derwentwater appears beneath you without warning and Bassenthwaite lies beyond it, and Ashness Bridge with Skiddaw behind it. Photo opportunities at every one.

Mountain views and valleys

Breathtaking mountain scenery all morning, with long sweeping valleys between — over Kirkstone Pass, the highest road pass in the Lake District, and down past Brothers Water to the Ullswater valley. The view that stops every first-time visitor.

Wordsworth's valley

Rydal Water and Grasmere, the lakes he lived beside for most of his life, his grave in Grasmere churchyard — and on the Ullswater shore, the stretch where he and Dorothy saw the daffodils in April 1802. Your guide will show you where.

The stories

A drowned valley, a ring of stones nobody can fully explain, and the only one of the lakes actually called a lake. Your guide tells them on the day.

What our guests say

Rated Excellent by our guests on TripAdvisor, Viator and Google, where you can read every review, unedited.

★★★★★
"We have been to the Lake District three times before and thought we knew it reasonably well. This tour showed us a completely different Lakes — Castlerigg, Surprise View, Ashness Bridge, Brothers Water. Places we had no idea existed. And our guide explained what we were seeing as we saw it."
Richard & Jane T. · Bristol

★★★★★
"The gingerbread stop was delightful — but what I will remember most is Castlerigg. Standing in a stone circle older than Stonehenge with mountains on every side while our guide explained the theories about its purpose — that is not something you forget."
Helen M. · Edinburgh

★★★★★
"We did the 8 Lakes in the morning and the Beatrix Potter afternoon tour after lunch. Both were exceptional. The Kirkstone Pass, with the valley opening out below us, was one of the most dramatic drives I have ever had — and I was very glad not to be the one driving it."
Susan & Andrew K. · London

Private tour: the same eight lakes, just for you

The same tour, run privately: your own guide and minibus, collected from your accommodation in Kendal, Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere or Oxenholme, on the date that suits you, with nobody in the minibus you didn't bring. Well-behaved dogs, and children under seven, by arrangement.

With six or seven of you, a private morning costs less per person than the scheduled tour.

£459 per group up to 7 guests · half day

Enquire about a private 8 Lakes morning

Or make it part of a bespoke tour

This tour can be added to, or adapted as part of, a bespoke tour — tailor-made for each individual booking, around the places and the people you most want to see.

Find out about bespoke tours

Questions people ask before they book

What is the best way to see the Lake District in a morning?

Let someone else do the driving. Guests often tell us how glad they were not to be driving: instead of watching narrow, winding mountain roads, you can watch the scenery. In four hours this tour takes in eight lakes, breathtaking mountain views and long sweeping valleys, Castlerigg, Surprise View, Ashness Bridge and Grasmere, with an experienced, qualified driver-guide at the wheel — and you are back in time for lunch.

Can you really see eight lakes in four hours?

Yes. Windermere, Rydal Water, Grasmere, Thirlmere, Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite Lake, Ullswater and Brothers Water. The route runs in a loop through the central and northern Lakes rather than doubling back, so one lake leads to the next, with proper stops at the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, Castlerigg Stone Circle, Surprise View and Ashness Bridge. Bassenthwaite is seen from Surprise View, laid out beyond Derwentwater.

Why do you go to the Gingerbread Shop first?

Because by late morning the queue at the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop reaches down the lane, and a small village fills up fast. We get there before it does. You buy your gingerbread, walk into St Oswald's churchyard to see Wordsworth's grave if you want to, and are back in the minibus before the coaches arrive.

What is the difference between the morning and afternoon 8 Lakes tours?

Same eight lakes, same stops. The morning tour gets to Grasmere before the crowds and has the clearer, cooler light; the afternoon tour runs the loop the other way round, reaches Grasmere in the shop's quiet last hour, and finishes with the late light along Windermere. Choose whichever fits the rest of your day.

How does this compare with the 10 Lakes Tour?

The 8 Lakes is a four-hour half day at £79 per person. The 10 Lakes Tour is a full day of around eight hours at £169, adding a lake cruise, the Borrowdale loop to Buttermere and Crummock Water, and an hour for lunch in Keswick. It runs from late March to late October; through the winter the 10 Lakes Winter Tour runs instead. If you have a morning, take the 8 Lakes. If you have a day, take the 10.

Can I combine this with an afternoon tour the same day?

Yes, and many guests do. The morning tour is back in Windermere in time for lunch, and our afternoon tours leave at 2pm. The most popular pairings are Beatrix Potter's Hill Top and a Windermere Cruise, or the Wordsworth Afternoon Tour. Contact us if you would like to book both.

Is Kirkstone Pass all right if I am nervous of mountain roads?

Kirkstone is steep and dramatic — the highest road pass in the Lake District — but it is a proper road, driven every week by an experienced, qualified driver who knows it in all weathers. Guests who were anxious beforehand very often tell us afterwards how glad they were not to be driving it themselves. If steep roads worry you seriously, contact us before booking and we will tell you honestly what to expect.

Is the tour suitable for children?

Children aged seven and over are welcome on the scheduled tour. Four hours is a good length for them, the stone circle and the gingerbread go down well, and the walking is short and gentle. We don't take children under seven on any scheduled tour; on a private tour it may be possible by arrangement.

Does the tour run in winter, and what time does it start?

Yes, all year. In summer we leave Windermere at 9:00am; after the clocks go back in late October we leave at 10:00am, so the light is up and the passes have had a chance to clear. Winter mornings in the northern Lakes — frost in the valleys, snow on the tops, the lakes like glass — are among the best this tour gets.

Through the year

We run this tour all year, and the morning light is the best of the day in every season.

Spring March – May

Daffodils at Rydal and on the Ullswater shore where Wordsworth saw them, lambs in every field, and the hillsides greening from the bottom up. The lakes are full and the waterfalls are loud.

Summer June – August

The 9:00am start is the whole point: the passes clear, the viewpoints empty, the gingerbread queue not yet formed. By the time the crowds arrive you are back in Windermere choosing where to have lunch.

Autumn September – November

October along Thirlmere and Rydal is as good as autumn gets: bronze bracken, gold birch, mist lifting off the water as you pass. Fewer people, softer light, and the mountains clearer than they are all summer.

Winter December – February

A 10:00am start once the clocks go back, so the light is up and the passes have had a chance to clear. Frost in the valleys, snow on Skiddaw and Helvellyn, the lakes like glass. Seven of you, a warm minibus, and the Lakes almost to yourselves.

Local guides, based in Kendal

Every tour is led by one of a small team of local guides — Tim, Gillian, Sandra and Steve — who live in Cumbria and drive these roads in every season. The team rotates, so we can't promise a particular guide, but whoever you get will know these eight lakes in rain, snow and low sun. We are based in Kendal, our minibuses are licensed for private hire, and we are fully insured.

This page was checked by Phil in October 2026.

Read before you go

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