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26 hours in Ambleside, starting tomorrow

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Hi All,

I miscalculated transportation while planning our trip to Ambleside and am trying to figure out the best itinerary now available. We have a party of six (2 adults, 4 kids) arriving at 3 pm to Windermere Railway. We have reservations at Ambleside YHA. We leave from the Windermere Railway at 4:06pm on Thursday, back to London.

Original plan was to include Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's house, but it turns out that the best transportation option for that doesn't start for two more days (bus + boat). Zero car companies rent a car that seats 6, only 5, so that's also not an option.

Current thought: get a cab for 6 to Ambleside, drop off bags at hostel. Before leaving: walk to Arnitt Museum (25 minutes) and walk another 15 minutes over to the waterfall, Stock Ghyll Force. Back to Ambleside, find somewhere to eat.

The next day, we had thought to do Hilltop, which is only a 30 minute tour. It is a 20 minute drive one way, and looks like it would be $30lbs with an Uber XL. Local cab companies do not seem to have a clean booking site where you can get an estimate, so those could be higher or lower. Unless someone knows of some clever way to get 6 people from Ambleside to Hill Top, we will have to drop that.

So what to do on that next day, when we can leave our bags at YHA, and pick them up before taking a cab back to Windermere station? Or do we take the first evening in a leisurely fashion--walks, dinner at the hostel, and do the Arnitt/falls/something else in the day, walk back to Ambleside, and take the cab?

Posted by
9762 posts

Why take a cab from Windermere to Ambleside when there are 4 buses an hour that stop right outside the YHA.
The Armitt is last entry at 4.30 to close at 5. All the buses from the YHA stop right outside the Armitt.
For Hilltop there are 3 routes -
Bus 505 to Hawkshead then 30 minute walk or so either side of the lake. The printed timetable is wrong as extra journeys have been added.
Bus to the end of the route just past Bowness Pier, Windermere Car Ferry over, 30 minute walk up the hill.
Walkers Special boat Ambleside (next to the YHA) to Wray Castle, 4 mile walk along the lake shore to the car ferry, then the same hill
Any of those a!low you to appreciate the beauty of the area way more than taking taxis everywhere or (total yuck) Ubers.

Posted by
2 posts

I started looking at cabs because we can't walk from Windermere to Ambleside with our bags and when I looked at bus fares, they appeared to be 3 pounds a person, so that's 18 pounds for our group one way. To date, cabs have been 8-15 pounds for similar journeys in York and London. Ages of our group are 9, 12, 13, 16, and two adults. Am I wrong about the fare? Is there a family fare option? We will have four carry-ons, 1 hiking backpack, and 2 small backpacks in our group. Walking miles with bags is not an option with a group like mine + types of bags.

However, if we can fit in Hill Top in a way where our bags are at the hostel and we are bussing/walking to and from Ambleside, we can do a 30 minute walk with this group. 4 miles would be lovely for the adults and be too much for one of our kids. If there's a place to leave bags before the walk up the hill and then grab them and go straight to the train station afterward, we are amenable to that too. Open to any ideas to make this little leg of the trip a happy one.

Also, I was wrong about when we leave--it's 18:06 on Thursday, not 16:06.

Posted by
9762 posts

There is a Central Lakes Group Dayrider for 5 people for £25, plus a further £8 for the other child. As many bus rides as you want in the day.
Unlike Uber taxi fares are fixed. A two mile ride is £7.20, so a 4 mile ride should be around £15.
I'm struggling to find the full chart.
But I think you'd be lucky to find a taxi for 6 just waiting around.
If you did the simple version of car ferry out, bus from Hawkshead back for Hilltop, that should allow you time to fit in a side trip up to Grasmere.
You absolutely need to pre book Hilltop.

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