Hello All, I have been reading through the lake district postings and am a little confused. You all seem to love it but speak with dread of the hoards of tourists and hours spent on the road. I plan to spend three nights in your Lake District but I also hate tourists!! Am I safe if I avoid windermere. We will be staying there Sept 1-3 which I assume is still high season. I am looking at a B and B called the Hollies near Castlerigg Circle. Am i right in concluding that Derwentwater / Keswick is where I want to be to avoid the "hoards". Allyson
PS My goal is to take long beautiful walks and possibly paddle if that is possible on your lakes. Canoes are a dime a dozen here.

The only times you need to worry about crowds, traffic jams really are late July-August and Bank Holidays. You'll be just fine in Sept.

I can tell you that we were in the Lake District at the end of May to the beginning of June and we had a most wonderful time. We stayed in Keswick and toured by car. We hit a little traffic in a few towns, but nothing to spoil our time. There was certainly enough space and scenery for us. We just avoided towns the areas jammed with shops, and we were fine.

>><i>we were in the Lake District at the end of May to the beginning of June . . . We hit a little traffic in a few towns, but nothing to spoil our time</i><< . . . And late May is one of the Bank Holidays to worry about. So traffic would be a fraction of that in Sept.

The Lakes are pretty much "honeypot" destinations. So you'll see lots of tourists in Windermere / Ambleside / Grasmere on weekends yet a few miles away it's you, some sheep and a few ramblers. Also some of the more popular walks - eg anything from Dungeon Ghyll - mean that there are cars parked everywhere

Sept 1-3 BTW is the end of the English school holidays and there's a public holiday at the start of the week so it's going to be busier than normal - but near Castlerigg (which is GLORIOUS on a summer's evening) you won't know they are there.

We found few crowds or traffic in early Sept. but plenty of rain! Be sure you have the proper kit for long walks as rain can come tipping down at any moment.

What's wrong with it IMO is it's nearly always raining.

We visited The Lake District in mid-June for 6 days. We didn't have a problem and agree with Tuscanlifeedit.

Had four days in Keswick area last Sept and not a drop of rain !

Time is not flexible so we will take the weather we get but it must be bad if someone from Edinburgh complains about the rain!! Been all over the outer Hebrides so we are used to walking in the rain. M

I just wanted to add that we stayed not far from Castlerigg and other than in the middle of day, we had the place nearly to ourselves in the morning and later afternoon. It was lovely.