Things to Do in Windermere: A Local’s Guide
Things to Do in Windermere, From Someone Who Lives Here.
I live in Windermere. Not Bowness-on-Windermere, not “on the lake”, but up in Windermere village itself, where the train pulls in and the queue for brunch starts before the café has even opened its doors.
I walk the dogs around here and the surrounding areas every day. I write my thriller novels here, my new series based in the Lake District. And I have lost count of the friends I’ve shown around.
So this is the guide I’d give you if you were staying with us. Where to have breakfast, which walk to do first, where the locals actually drink, and the one thing nobody tells you about the weather.
(Spoiler: bring a waterproof.)
The short answer: if you have one day in Windermere, have breakfast at Homeground, walk up Orrest Head for the view that started Wainwright off, potter round the independent shops and galleries in the afternoon, then finish with a drink at the Crafty Baa and dinner at Tapios or Cafe Italia. Save Bowness and the lakeshore for day two.
And yes, Lake Windermere is not to be found in Windermere village.
How to Spend Your First Day in Windermere
It depends a little on whether you’ve got kids with you (and a lot on the weather, which you can never rely on here). But if someone I loved arrived on the morning train, this is the day I’d give them.
Breakfast at Homeground
Go early. I mean it. Homeground Coffee + Kitchen on Main Road is the café everyone wants, and in the summer holidays the queue outside can run until one in the afternoon. Get there as the doors open, walk straight in, and indulge.
The pancakes and waffles are the reason people queue. The eggs Benedict is just as good. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, and the coffee is gorgeous. When I take my daughter, she has the hot chocolate, which arrives with so much piled on top it’s practically a pudding.
It’s a few minutes’ walk from Windermere train station, so if you’ve come by rail you can be eating within ten minutes of stepping off.
Walk up Orrest Head
This is the walk I’d do first, every time. In 1930, a 23-year-old Alfred Wainwright got off the train from Blackburn and climbed straight up Orrest Head on his very first visit to the Lakes. He later said those few hours on the top “cast a spell that changed my life”. Everything that came after (the guidebooks, the fells, the whole Wainwright industry) started on this hill.
It’s right on the edge of the village. Walk out towards the station, cross the main road, and you can’t miss the signs pointing the way. The path climbs through woodland and is well made, with a few steeper stretches, so take it steady and wear proper shoes.
On a clear day, the view from the top is spectacular: the whole length of Windermere laid out below you, and the fells stacked up behind. There’s a slate panel up there in Wainwright’s handwriting naming the peaks you can see. Sit for a while. That’s the point.
Potter round the village
Afternoons are for pottering. Windermere village has some lovely independent shops, quite a few art galleries, and a good handful of gift and souvenir shops that are brilliant for little trinkets to take home. My favourite is Windermere Fine Art.
This is a pic I took of the village in the rain one late wintery afternoon, see how lovely it is even in the mist and dark? Also this next one was taken in the snow, so you get the idea, it’s the prettiest of places whatever the weather!
A drink at the Crafty Baa
By now, everyone’s tired. So we’d head to the Crafty Baa on Victoria Street, which is the quirkiest pub you’ll ever sit in. The whole place is built from recycled and upcycled bits, and there is always something to look at (you’ll find yourself saying “oh my gosh, look at that on the ceiling” at least twice). It’s kid friendly and dog friendly, though small children may get bored before you do.
Next door is its little sister, Pie & Pint, which is billed as the smallest pub in the Lake District. Bring a card: they don’t take cash.
Cocktails, or wine outside
For cocktails, I’d go to The Tilly on Crescent Road, a bar and kitchen right in the middle of the village. They don’t take bookings, so just pop in (there are more tables in the back bar than it looks from outside), and dogs are welcome on a lead.
On a sunny evening, though, I’d rather be at Windermere Wine Stores, just a little further down. When the weather’s good they put tables outside, and you can buy wine by the glass to drink out on the side street and watch the world go by. Excellent wine, and the best people-watching in the village.
Dinner
Two favourites, depending on your mood. Tapios on Crescent Road is a tapas restaurant we love going to. Book ahead if you can. Cafe Italia on Main Road is the other, right opposite Homeground, with its pavement tables and that proper European café feel.
Got kids with you?
Swap the cocktails for an hour at the Rec (the recreation ground, to give it its full name). There’s a big park, a skate park and lots of open space. More on that below, because it’s one of the best things in Windermere that visitors miss.
What I’d Skip on Day One
Bowness. Not forever, just for today.
I watch so many visitors step off the train and head straight down the hill to find the lake, and I understand why. But Bowness and the lakeshore are a completely different day, with a different pace and a different plan. If you’re seeing Windermere, see Windermere first. The village has more than enough to fill a day, and you’ll enjoy the lake far more when you give it a day of its own.
Where Locals Go (That Aren’t on the Usual Lists)
Every guide sends you to the same handful of places. These are the ones I’d send a friend to instead.
The Elleray
The Crafty Baa makes every list because it’s so quirky. The Elleray, on Cross Street, almost never does, and that’s exactly why I love it. It’s a proper locals’ pub: friendly, unfussy, with great food and a beer garden that catches the sun in summer. It’s dog friendly, and it has rooms upstairs if you’re still looking for somewhere to stay.
The Mission Café
Most visitors walk straight past this one, because it sits just outside the centre on Park Road, where the village turns residential. It’s a beautiful little café, really good for lunch, and the coffee is excellent.
The Rec
Right by the Mission Café is the recreation ground, which everyone here just calls the Rec. If you’ve got a dog or little ones, it’s perfect: a big park, a skate park and acres of open grass.
In summer, there’s local cricket and football, and a bar. There’s nothing better than sitting out on the Rec with a cold pint, watching the cricket, with School Knott rising up behind you.
School Knott
Which brings me to my favourite walk, and the one hardly anyone knows about. Orrest Head is the famous one. School Knott is the quiet one, a lovely climb up a hill on the edge of the village with brilliant views over Windermere, and far fewer people.
There is a tarn there, different routes, a lovely view and you can get lost around here for a few good hours.
Where to Find Ten Quiet Minutes by the Water
Honestly? Bowness. Which I’ve just told you to avoid.
But if you want the lake without the crowds, walk down to Millerground. It sits between Windermere and Bowness, and you can walk there from the village, down past some really lovely houses on Birthwaite Road until you come out on Rayrigg Road. Cross over and the path takes you down to the shore. It’s quieter than the piers, and on a still morning it’s just you, the water and the fells.
The other spot I love is the café at Windermere Jetty Museum, also on Rayrigg Road, just outside Bowness. Sit with a coffee and look out over the water. It’s dog friendly inside and out, too.
Windermere or Bowness: What’s the Difference?
Windermere is the calm, cosy village up the hill. Bowness is the busy, lively town on the lakeshore. They’re about a twenty-minute walk apart, mostly downhill on the way there (and very much uphill on the way back).
Bowness is jam-packed most of the time, full of visitors, with lots of places to eat, plenty of bars and loads to do. It’s where the water is, where the jetties and the lake cruises are, and where you’ll find the World of Beatrix Potter.
Windermere has a real village feel. It’s calmer, cosier, and just a lovely place to wander around. If you want the buzz, stay in Bowness. If you want somewhere to come home to at the end of the day, stay up here.
The One Thing to Know: It Will Rain
If I could tell every visitor one thing, it would be this. Expect rain. It rains here a lot, and it can change in minutes.
There’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. It’s true. Pack good boots, a proper waterproof and plenty of layers, and you’ll have the best time whatever the sky does. Don’t plan around sunshine. If you get it, it’s a bonus.
Windermere FAQs
Is Windermere worth visiting?
Yes. Windermere village is calmer and cosier than Bowness, with great cafés, independent shops, a famous viewpoint walk right on its doorstep, and a train station that makes it easy to visit without a car.
Is Windermere the lake or the village?
Both. Windermere is England’s largest natural lake, and it’s also the name of the village up the hill from it. Bowness-on-Windermere is the town on the lakeshore.
Can you walk from Windermere to Bowness?
Yes. It takes about twenty minutes, mostly downhill. The walk back up is steeper than you’d think.
How do I get to Orrest Head from Windermere station?
Cross the main road opposite the station and follow the signs up the lane. The path climbs through woodland to the viewpoint, with a few steeper sections.
Do you need a car in Windermere?
Not for the village. The train station is a few minutes’ walk from the centre, and Orrest Head, the cafés, pubs and shops are all on foot.
Is Windermere dog friendly?
Very. The Crafty Baa, the Elleray and the café at Windermere Jetty Museum all welcome dogs, and School Knott and the Rec are perfect for a run.
What should I pack for Windermere?
Good boots, a waterproof jacket and layers, whatever the forecast says.
Before You Go
I’ve lived here long enough to know that this landscape has two faces. There’s the one in the postcards: the lake at sunset, the fells, the pancakes and waffles at Homeground. And there’s the other one, the one you notice on a wet November evening when the mist comes down over the water and the lanes go quiet.
That second one is the one I write about, because I love the thriller aspect whilst feeling completely safe and Windermere ticks that box. I’m a psychological thriller author, and the books I’m currently writing are set right here in the Lake District, in the villages and on the paths you’ll be walking this week.
If you like a story that makes you look twice at somewhere beautiful, the first chapter of In Her Pocket is yours, free. Pop your email in below and it’ll be in your inbox in a minute.
