Full English Breakfasts included throughout.

Try out traditional English country pubs for lunch or enjoy a picnic in the countryside. Please note, if you order a picnic from the hotel, please do so the evening before.

On day 4, follow the Cumbria Way south beside the reed-fringed shores of Coniston Water, the setting that inspired Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. The path threads through woodland clearings alive with birdsong, opening to long views across the lake.

Turning inland, the hulking massif of the Old Man of Coniston presides over stone-walled fields on the way to Torver. Step into the low-beamed Church House Inn (dating to 1378) for a fireside break before returning to the village. Later, you might visit the Ruskin Museum to trace Coniston’s artistic and mountaineering lore, or sample regional ales at the Black Bull—both easy ways to deepen the village’s characterful story.

On day 5, begin with a lakeside visit to Brantwood, the hillside home of Victorian polymath John Ruskin. Overlooking Coniston Water, its rooms and gardens frame the very views that shaped Ruskin’s writing and art (house entry at your own expense). Continue into the quiet plantations and airy ridges of Grizedale Forest, listening for curlew and woodpecker.

Amid spruce and oak, discover the famed Grizedale sculpture trail, where contemporary works hide among moss and bracken. Crossing Monk Coniston Moor, you descend towards whitewashed Hawkshead: cobbles underfoot, slate roofs above, and the scent of peat smoke drifting from village inns—a fitting arrival after a day of woodland, art, and wide fell views.

On day 6, enjoy a free afternoon and morning in Hawkshead, a tangle of alleyways and whitewashed cottages clustered around a cobbled square. Step into Hawkshead Grammar School, where Wordsworth once studied, and climb gently to St Michael and All Angels Church for views across a patchwork of fields and hedgerows.

Between quiet lanes and slate flagstones, you’ll soak in the lakeside atmosphere that inspired both poets and painters. Linger over a ploughman’s or sample regional ales in a centuries-old inn, then wander back as the evening light brushes the fells—unhurried, authentic village life at your doorstep.

From the village square, visit the Beatrix Potter Gallery to see original illustrations and letters that brought Peter Rabbit and friends to life. Continue by lane and stile to Near Sawrey to step inside Hill Top, the author’s 17th-century farmhouse, where creaking floors, cottage gardens, and familiar props echo scenes from her books.

Along the way, you’ll pause for photos and reflection in hedgerowed fields and sheep-dotted pastures that shaped Potter’s conservation work with the National Trust. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; timed entries are recommended in peak season to preserve the intimate feel of the house and garden.

Set out from Hawkshead across meadows and the glinting mirror of Blelham Tarn towards the turrets of Wray Castle on Windermere’s wooded shore. The path threads through alder carr and lakeside oak, with glimpses of steamer wakes and distant fells.

At the castle, discover a whimsical, neo-Gothic interior and grounds once linked to Beatrix Potter’s early holidays. You’ll enjoy a free afternoon exploring the shoreline, watching light shift across England’s largest lake. Castle entry is at additional cost and bookable on tour; walking routes can be tailored for a leisurely ramble or a more extended circuit along the western shore.

Back in Grasmere, step inside Dove Cottage, where William and Dorothy Wordsworth crafted the textures of daily life into poetry and journals that reshaped the Romantic imagination. Low beams, stone floors, and the scent of peat hint at the domestic world behind the verse.

In the adjacent Wordsworth Museum, manuscripts, letters, and landscapes connect lines on the page to walks across the fells—from Roman roads to slate-quarried lanes. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; combine with a visit to the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop to complete a richly local, literary afternoon.

After your day’s walk in Coniston, settle into the snug bar of the Black Bull to sample regional ales from the village’s award-winning microbrewery. Try classics like Bluebird Bitter, brewed with Challenger hops for citrus and biscuit notes, as walkers and locals trade stories by the fire.

This is an easygoing way to soak in the lakeside atmosphere, linking today’s paths with the convivial pub culture that has long welcomed fell-goers. Tastings and drinks are at additional cost and bookable on tour; staff can suggest pairings with Lakeland cheeses or a hearty pie.

On day 7, add an extra night to follow green lanes from Hawkshead to the cairn on Latterbarrow Fell, a modest summit with broad panoramas over Windermere. Descend through oak woods to the tranquil western shore, where a waterside path skirts reedbeds and boathouses.

As afternoon softens, catch the Windermere ferry to Bowness-on-Windermere for lakeside promenades, galleries, and a harborside cafe. This extension, including additional accommodation, is at additional cost and bookable on tour; it’s a relaxed coda that ties together high fell views with the rhythm of England’s largest lake.

On day 3, ascend through Hammerscar Plantation or the hushed woods of High Close to descend into the dramatic Great Langdale Valley. Pick up the Cumbria Way and follow past Elterwater, its surface often dotted with waterfowl, with the serrated skyline of the Langdale Pikes drawing the eye. Track the lively River Brathay towards Skelwith Bridge for a restorative stop.

Detour to the foaming cascades of Skelwith Force and tree-framed Colwith Force, then continue by larch and oak to the postcard-perfect waters of Tarn Hows before reaching Coniston. Along the way, you’ll pause for photos and reflection at mirror-still tarns and mossy banks—an ever-changing gallery of Lakeland light shaped by glaciers, shepherds, and slate-quarrying traditions.

On day 2, join a self-guided lakeside walk from Grasmere, tracing the meandering River Rothay to the shores of Grasmere Lake. Pause at St Oswald’s Church, where William Wordsworth rests beneath yews he planted, then continue to the mirrored surface of Rydal Water. Stroll the grounds of Rydal Hall and Gardens before following the time-worn old coffin road back towards the village, with Nab Scar towering above and views to Silver Howe.

This gentle circuit reveals why the Lakes inspired the Romantics, from Wordsworth’s nature notes to Dorothy’s journals. Back in the village, you can enjoy a free afternoon browsing the Wordsworth Museum, peeking into the poet’s Dove Cottage, and sampling a warm slice from the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop.