London to Keswick

By "the area" do you mean part of the Lake District?

I'd certainly not do it. Your first problem is that it's almost 300 miles from London to Keswick. The second problem is that Keswick doesn't have a train station, so you'd probably be taking the train to Penrith (about 3 hours), then taking a bus over to Keswick.

I don't know how much time you'd lose on the rail-to-bus transfer, but the next X4 bus departing from Penrith takes 45 minutes to reach Keswick. So it appears that the minimum one-way travel time would be 4 hours, and if the train and bus schedules don't align well, it could be quite a bit longer.

Once in Keswick you'd still need to travel around, which would mean using buses (or lake boats, even slower). I don't think you'd have time to see much at all, and I'd be nervous about missing the bus connection that would get me back to Penrith for the return train to London.

You can take a look at the train schedule on nationalrail.co.uk .

It’s too far for a day trip. Trains from London to Oxenhope take 2h 40 to 3h 40. Keswick is then 35 miles from Oxenhope Station. There are other parts of the Lake District closer than Keswick, but you will still be looking at half an hour plus to drive to Windermere by taxi from the station.

No.

Most connections to Windermere (can we substitute for Keswick? - or must you go to Keswick?) are about 4 hours from Euston Station. That's each way. You can get a taxi from Penrith or a taxi or bus from Windermere to Keswick, but Windermere is just an easy walk or quick bus to Bowness where you will be able to take a boat on the lake.

So Windermere for a very short duration on a very long day is possible (I wouldn't do it), but I really don't think that Keswick is.

Sort of like driving from Nashua New Hampshire to Brooklyn, then over the bridge to Staten Island to ride the ferry to Manhattan then turn around and do the same trip back.

No trains at Keswick. Nearest station is Penrith, then a bus.
London Euston to Penrith is 2h59, two departures per hour (times on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ ).

So the short answer is no. Plus, Keswick is a good base, but to really see the Lake District you need to get out of the town. So you need nights in Keswick.

Thank you for your insights. I appreciate it.

What do you plan to do while in Keswick?

Many people go on hikes.

We were there in October and it was chilly, so we did Rick Steves guid drive around the lake taking about 2.5 or more hours. The scenery was great.