Lake District?
 

Everything I've read here seems to indicate that the Lake District is wonderful except on bank holiday weekends, half term breaks and July/August. Well . . . I work here and have kids so it's essentially bank holiday weekends, half term breaks and July/August.

I was thinking about the early May 3-day weekend. Still worth going? What's a good base? We have kids (12 & 9) and will like walks/hikes and a nice meal at the end of the day. Will obviously have a car.

Thanks.

Any Beatrix Potter fans in your family? There are several sites in the LD associated with her.

http://www.grandparents.com/gp/conte...er-potter.html

yes, it's a shame that everyone wants to go at the same time, isn't it? the roads just weren't built for it.

i do remember hearing on the radio one Easter monday that they had closed Keswick! but on the whole, it's Windermere and Ambleside that seem to take the brunt of the traffic. if you drive up the motorway as far as Penrith and then drive towards Keswick, that ought to avoid the worst of the it. [famous last words]. we always liked that end of the lakes more anyway. the Pheasant Inn near Braithwatie used to be a god place to stay with lovely walking nearby and a good meal waiting for you, but there are loads of other places.

but definitely no going "on spec".

Hi Annhig,

'fraid I'm not quiet sure I follow the "on spec" comment. I'm interpreting it as to not do the usual [specification] that everyone else is going to be doing (e.g. Windermere, Ambleside, Keswick).

Thanks for the tips.

indy_dad -I think Ann means book some accommodation before you go - don't hope to find something once you get there.

Make sure you take some waterproofs with you, and don't go hiking unless you are properly equipped, and tell someone where you are going. A friend works for the Mountain Rescue in the Lakes, and I'd hate for you to spoil your holiday, and his weekend ;).

My nieces live in the Lakes, one has a shop in Ambleside in fact. We went a couple of years ago and it was busy but not packed on the early bank holiday.

The Lakes is beautiful all through the year, but obviously busier at certain times. If you pick where you go carefully, you can still find places that are off the beaten path in the height of season.

With pre-planning you can have a really nice time . . . a big thing is to carefully plan your route to/through the Lakes and know the alternates. Keep an eye on the road reports during the drive over. Even if you book a nice place in a less crowded village, getting stuck in a 20 mile tailback would not be a good start to things.

hi indy-dad,

sorry! you can add that one to your doubtless growing list of inscrutable english idioms!

hetismj is quite right about its meaning - i meant that you should have you accommodation booked in advance, rather than turning up and hoping you'll find somewhere. and do take a good map, as well as all the wet weather gear, water, and that local essential - kendal mint cake,

If you go to Grasmere, try the gingerbread. I liked it so much I bought a little cookbook for the recipe. It lied. The results were nothing like what I bought in the little schoolhouse.

Ooo, a 3-hr drive with possible traffic delays to walk in the rain. Sounds like fun! ;)

Actually, we avoid things when it's "chucking" but have slowly accumulated rain gear (jackets, over-trousers, wellies, etc.). Hopefully we won't need it but we'll have it.

Catching more of the idioms, but obviously not all. Thanks for the clarification.

english idioms for rain:

raining cats and dogs

raining stair rods

raining buckets or bucketing down

chucking it down.

hopefully you won't need your wellies in May; a downside of dry weather is that the waterfalls are not such magnificent affairs. but you can't have everything.

When the sun shines in the Lake District there is nowhere better to be. If you stay in Ambleside you would not need to get the car out as there are plenty of super walks around and the ferries can get you to the other side of Lake Windermere (Beatrix Potters House) or to Windermere or places at the south end of the Lake. If you can, avoid travelling on Friday/Saturday as they tend to be the busiest days (cottage change-over days).

May should be good - warm and sunny and not too crowded apart from the weeks containing 5th May and 26th May as they are UK Bank Holidays. Ambleside is the best base for access to great walking as well as restaurants, shops and even a cinema for the odd wet day.

Even 2 years later? May is warm and sunny?

Yawn!

Lake District overcrowding in summer rhetoric.

Yes, at the height of the boom, when petrol was 80p a litre then traffic on the M6 was bad. Queues were likely between Kendal and Preston on a summer Sunday evening. Since you now have to remortgage your house to fill up and since they finally sorted out the M6 southbound junction at Broughton, things are no where near as bad as they were.

There is a good chance that traffic may be heavy on the Kendal bypass going into Windermere, if you really want to avoid any traffic turn off the M6 to head for Grange over Sands and head north up the shores of Windermere. It will take twice as long but is beautiful.

There is absolutely no need to avoid certain days because of traffic.

Borrowdale, south is Keswick is beautiful and a good base for the northern fells. No view like the Red Pike ridge down Ennnerdale/Buttermere. You can see the even more stunning scenery of SW Scotland.

lynny2: Any reason you topped indy_dad's thread (BTW - their time in the UK is over and they have moved back to the States)

God help!

and survived the Bank Holiday too:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-district.cfm