Hi, I'm going on a walking/hiking group trip in late May, 2026 with Road Scholar. We'll be staying in HF Holidays country houses, spending 3 nights in Sedbergh, 4 nights in Keswick and 3 nights in Malham (in that order). I'll be flying in and out of Manchester, and I'm looking for a few home base suggestions for my free nights before and after the trip. I have 4 nights before, 5 nights after, and I'll be using public transportation. I'm interested in more solo walking and just poking around in nice towns. Any favorite places or lodging suggestions would be most welcome!
Posted by
Lake District, England
11182 posts
Well public transportation to Sedbergh on Thursday 21 May runs from Kendal- the Western Dales bus S1 at 1111 or 1326- https://www.westerndalesbus.co.uk/index.php?TIMETABLES:S1_T_Kendal_Shuttle_Tuesday_and_Thursday
Get off at Maryfell in Sedbergh for the HF House. I assume Road Scholar themselves take you to Keswick then Malham.
So Kendal is an obvious base for the 3 days- a fair sized town. All buses to the Lake District are based in Kendal, so services run to all points from Kendal Bus Station. Kendal is a lovely old town with lots of corners, a ruined castle and a couple of museums to explore.
From Manchester Airport trains run every 3 hours direct to Kendal, all other hours take a TransPennine train (for Glasgow or Edinburgh) to Oxenholme, change for the shuttle train to Kendal and Windermere, or take the 41/41A bus every 30 minutes into Kendal Town Station. On Sunday 17 May there is no scheduled rail engineering work on that line.
On a Sunday that bus is the hourly #40 at 46 minutes past each hour- 0946 to 1746.
It depends on your budget as Kendal has everything from budget hotels to luxury hotels like the Kendal Green Hotel (I wish).
My own 1st choice when I have to stay in Kendal (due to an evening event at Windermere) is the Lyndhurst Guest House, in a quiet side street overlooking the river- https://www.lyndhurst-kendal.co.uk/
I've looked and the Lyndhurst can fit you in for the Monday to Thursday (but not the Sunday night).
Across the river, at the former K village (the old Shoe factory) is a Travelodge- one of the budget options.
On the stagecoach app buy a North West Gold 7 Day Megarider Ticket for £37 (currently)- all Stagecoach buses (so not the Western Dales bus to Sedbergh) between Chester, Dumfries, Newcastle, Chorley and Skipton (via Preston). Amazing value.
As the trip ends at Malham on Tuesday 2 June there is a bus out to Skipton- https://northyorkstravel.info/timetable/210sep23.pdf
For 5 days using public transport I think Skipton (lots of buses and frequent trains) would be better than staying up a dale, such as at Grassington.
From Skipton take a train to Leeds, for connections direct to Manchester Airport.
Posted by
London, UK
524 posts
Just to add. If you are ending your HF trip at the Malham location, they run a bus to Skipton on departure days. There is a small charge. (I was there last March.)