Your Ultimate Itinerary for 5 days in the Lake District in winter
Here’s my ultimate itinerary for 5 days in the Lake District in winter. Just a note on this itinerary – I visited during a very cold, icy week. The temperatures were mostly below freezing – it was about -5 degrees celcius most mornings. This weather meant that I didn’t do many long mountain walks. This itinerary is perfect if you have a car and want to explore some fairly easily accessible places. A lot of these places are just off the main A roads in the Lake District, so they’re fairly easy to get to if the roads are icy. And most of these places can be seen in a couple of hours, so you won’t need to be out in the cold for too long.
If the weather on your winter trip is a bit easier (and less icy!) you might be able to explore some of the more remote areas or go for some longer hikes to enjoy more scenery. You can find my guide to the best walks in the Lake District here. But if your weather is a bit more tricky, this itinerary will allow you to see many of the main sights and views safely and enjoyably in the Lake District in winter.
Day 1: Derwentwater, Ashness Bridge and Surprise View
On day 1 of your winter trip to the Lake District, head to some of the most stunning viewpoints and areas in the whole Lake District. The area around Derwentwater, towards the North of the Lake District National Park, is perfect for some beautiful walks and views.
Derwentwater
Start your day with a walk around the lake of Derwentwater. The National Trust Kettlewell Car Park is a great place to start your walk. It’s right next to the lake, so as soon as you get out your car you’re rewarded with stunning views across the lake.
Spend some time on the pebbly beach to get some photos of the lake and mountains beyond. Then follow the footpath around the lake. It’s up to you how far you walk – it’s a flat and easy path, but if the weather is cold or wet you can still enjoy beautiful views with just a short walk.
Ashness Bridge
Just a few minutes’ drive from the Derwentwater car park is another stunning spot in the Lake District. Ashness Bridge is just beautiful. It’s a very popular spot for tourists, and in the summer it can get really crowded. But in the winter, it’s a lot less busy. This makes winter a perfect time to visit Ashness Bridge, when you can enjoy the beautiful views without the crowds.
The drive up to Ashness Bridge from Derwentwater is short, but it is fairly steep on a single track road. It was quite icy on my trip, including one patch of road that was really icy and the car struggled to get up the hill! But it’s a short drive and there’s a car park very close to Ashness Bridge. You need to drive over the bridge first, and then you’ll see the car park on the right. If you’d rather not drive, you can easily walk up the road and you’ll get to Ashness Bridge in less than 20 minutes.
Walk upstream up the river for the best views. And you can climb over a few rocks to get a great photo spot. From here, you’ll be able to take photos looking down the river towards the bridge, with the mountains in the background. It really is a beautiful area.
I was also lucky to see a really friendly robin here. That’s another advantage of visiting the Lake District in the winter – the white frosty ground is a beautiful background to photos of robins!
Surprise View – a view over Derwentwater
The last stop on your first day should be Surprise View. It’s just a bit further up the road from Ashness Bridge. You can drive there in about 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can stayed parked at Ashness Bridge and walk up – it takes about 30 minutes to walk. I decided to walk up, because it was an icy day and I wasn’t sure how icy the road would be. It seemed safer to walk than try to drive and risk getting stuck – and I’m glad I did, because there were some big patches of ice on the road so driving would have been very difficult. The walk was lovely, with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains between the trees.
Surprise view, as its name suggests, is a bit of a surprise in that the viewpoint suddenly appears through the trees. There’s a gap in the trees and a small rocky outcrop. And that gives one of the most beautiful views in the whole Lake District.
You can look down over Derwentwater, and see the mountains just beyond. If you’re lucky, you might also see some snow on the tops of the mountains. It’s an amazing place to just stand and look out over the incredible scenery. And a definite must-do thing when visiting the Lake District in winter.
Keep reading on the next page for days 2 to 5 of my ultimate itinerary for visiting the Lake District in winter.