Liverpool to Lake District : Home base and transportion

The end of July will be in the middle of the Summer school holidays, so the Lake District will be busy.

A car at that time of the year will be an impediment not a help and there are very good bus services in the central Lake District.

If you were staying in Windermere, Ambleside or Grasmere it would be train to Windermere changing at Preston and Oxenholme on two hours out of 3, or at Preston only every 3rd hour.
There are also 2 or 3 through trains every day from Liverpool to Oxenholme and Penrith without changing.

For Keswick train to Penrith, then bus every half hour to Keswick.

Those towns will be very busy, but you could try staying in Kendal (either first stop on the Windermere branch line) or half hourly bus from Oxenholme Station. All the Central Lakes buses start and end their day at Kendal so it has very good bus service into the Lakes.

Another way to escape the crowds at night is to stay in Cockermouth. That is 30 minutes beyond Keswick on the bus route from Penrith. So a very good bus service from 5am to 10pm. And it was the childhood home of Wordsworth- a place which is open to the public.

This year Cockermouth also has a new direct weekend route to Keswick via Buttermere which gives good access to less well frequented parts of the area, as well as the main road service above.

There are other options with good transport links in South Cumbria like Grange over Sands and Ulverston- again little discussed on here.

Penrith itself is another great option to stay at, away from the crowds. It has a new weekend bus this year to the South side of Ullswater for great walking and new steamer/bus trips- the equally good (if not better) side of Ullswater but much less frequented due to the poor roads.

Hi bk -

If you are not planning to go hiking - it’s kind of the Lake District’s raison d’etre, although not entirely - then if I were you I head for Grasmere. It’s the smallest of the towns you mention, but it is north of Windermere and Ambleside and south of Keswick and is served by a frequent through bus route to those other towns. In Grasmere you’ll find the Wordsworth family graves in the churchyard and several Wordsworth residences within walking distance, the most prominent of these being Dove Cottage with its attendant museum. Being small, accommodation may be at something of a premium here.

If that’s the case, as an alternative I’d opt for Keswick. Larger and very busy, in my view it’s the sensible option. I would avoid Windermere and Ambleside if humanly possible - as the ‘gateway to the Lakes’ they are insanely busy. There’s a ton of stuff to do in and around Keswick, not exclusively involving hiking into the fells, but there are walks to the Castlerigg stone circle, walks and boat trips around or on Derwentwater and, as featured by Rick, you can take your first steps into the fells with the ascent of Catbells. (As a starter walk I’d take the anti clockwise Keswick Launch to Hawes End, climb Catbells, descend back to Hawes End, then walk back to Keswick via Lingholm, Nicholl End and Portinscale. This may be a bit lengthy - or not - dependent on how far you are used to walking. Research before undertaking!).

Stuart above has given you good info as to how to get to each location. I’d add that from Oxenholme you take the branch line through Kendal to Windermere (end of line) then take the 555/559 bus to Grasmere, or if not going via Penrith, and with time to kill, continue the very scenic bus ride all the way to Keswick.

I’m sure you’ll love the Lakes, wherever you end up. If you need more specific info re things to do in each location, feel free to ask once you’ve firmed up on your accommodation.

Ian

Thank you both very much for the thorough and thoughtful information/tips. It helped us greatly make our decision. We found and booked a place in Keswick. Checks all the boxes of what we're looking for.
Walking (both in town and surround trails/sights) and public transport were key.
Much appreciated!