In July we visited the Lake District, a UK bucket list destination for us, and Windermere Lake was top of our to do list. On our second day in the Lake District we drove to Ambleside for brunch. In short it was a beautiful disappointment.
Firstly, everywhere around Windermere Lake was busy. I mean bus loads of tourists, blocked roads, queues outside every shop in Ambleside. Not only was this frustrating as we couldn’t see or do lots of things without waiting, the parking was a nightmare. All of the car parks were full and Ambleside operates a disc parking scheme (that we weren’t aware of and so got a ticket!). We didn’t get anymore luck in Bowness-on-Windermere, Grasmere & Rydal or Windermere Village.
Secondly, the dog-friendly evening lake cruise that we were so excited to do wasn’t running due to COVID. The responsible thing to do I suppose.
However, we did get a great lunch in Ambleside. You have to check out The Apple Pie Café & Bakery – it’s dog-friendly, allergy and intolerance friendly, and it was amazing. I ate a whole apple pie to myself and I don’t usually like pie!
We will go back and stay in Ambleside on Windermere Lake. Everyone said not to attempt visiting due peak hours and, well, we should have listened. We’ll be back!
Thirlmere
We decided to drive home after 2 hours of trying to find somewhere to stop and enjoy Windermere Lake. On the way back we stopped at little car park on the side of the road to let Sash out. When we stopped we discovered that we were at Thirlmere Lake. It was beautiful.
We walked down a little path towards a little waterfall and ended up on the edge of this little lake with stunning surroundings. Best bit, we were completely alone to enjoy it.
As disappointing as it must have been to have to deal with crowds of tourists, that unexpected side adventure looked like a nice consolation. And apple pie while waiting with your pup? Amazing!
It was really nice and so unexpected – highly recommended!