Keswick Family Accommodation August 2019

How many people? Kids or no?

It would be for my wife and myself and our 2 boys ages, 15 and 12. We would be arriving via train and bus from NewCastle.

Hi Leif -

I've stayed in Keswick on multiple occasions.

If you are arriving by bus (I'm guessing you'll leave the Newcastle (upon Tyne) train at Penrith and take the bus from there to Keswick) you'll need to be able to walk to your accommodation from the bus station in the centre. The good news is that nowhere is all that far from the centre!

Dependent on length of stay it might be economic to rent a house or a cottage - have a look at Cumbrian Cottages who are based/have an office in Keswick to see what's available. We had one slap in the centre one New Years Eve a couple of years back - it was small but slept four comfortably.

As regards small hotels we've stayed at the Keswick Park Hotel a couple of times which again is centrally situated. My recollection is that it was very pleasant - it gets good reviews and a decent rating on Booking.com.

We also stayed at Dolly Waggon B&B - very comfortable, we were just on an overnight there - on Helvellyn Street just off the centre - the streets here are wall to wall B&Bs, but a quick look on Booking.com doesn't show them all by any stretch of the imagination and I suspect you might get better deals and more availability by going through the Keswick Tourist Information Centre.

I believe the Rick Steves tour hotels are situated nearer to the shores of Derwentwater on a street called The Heads, again not far from town, but on the other side of the centre. There are many hotels down in this part as well, but our one not entirely successful stay in Keswick was situated down here. I should stress that it wasn't unpleasant, quite the reverse, more that the owner wasn't the most customer friendly I've ever met and seemed put out that she had to put us up. One of those! I won't name the establishment as it was quite a few years back and things may now be very different!

Whatever you decide upon, I would act swiftly even now to secure your accommodation. Keswick is a Mecca for hikers, let alone other visitors and gets booked up very early and pretty much all year round. Very, very few 'last minute options' here!

Hope you find somewhere suitable and have a great trip!

Ian

PS. While I would normally suggest a car would be a good idea to see more of the Lakes while you are there, arriving without one is a good move as far as Keswick is concerned. On street parking is a nightmare and the car parks charge outrageously high amounts, probably because they know they can!

I'll second what Ian wrote in his P.S. about parking in Keswick. You may also want to know that, unlike many other towns, Keswick has chosen to locate its public toilets at the car park, not at the TI office. They are not very well signposted, at least they weren't when I was there.

The town of Penrith, nearest rail connection, is a nice "real" (non-touristy) town with a pretty town square and a very helpful TI. On the high street, Narrowbar is a good place for lunch.

Thank you. I've inquired into availability. How early would you recommend booking for August 2019?

Hi again Leif -

In my book you can't book too early for Keswick, so if you are already certain of all or most other travel arrangements, then I'd book your accommodation right away. The longer you leave it, the fewer your options as regards places and locations.

Hope you have a great trip - the Lake District is wonderful! If you hike or walk at all, it's full of endless possibilities!

Ian

BTW, I often wonder, is it prounced KES-wick, or something like "Kezzick" (along the lines of "Grennich" for Greenwich)?

"Kezzick" is the one.

And for the OPs info - there is a daily bus during the summer months from Newcastle to Keswick. It goes via Alston - one of the most scenic routes in England.

http://www.wrightscoaches.co.uk/timetables.html