Expert: Iain Reynolds - 5/18/2009

Question
Our family of 4 are planning a 5-day trip to the Lake District.  We arrive in Manchester from the US July 6.  We hope to enjoy scenic walking and also site including a visit the B. Potter farm.  We would like to control cost when possible.  Is is feasible to manage without a car?  I saw your advise to Joy to stay in Keswick.  Is that the same advise if we didn't have a car?  Thank you for your advise.

Answer
It is possible to travel around The Lake District without a car and this would be by bus.  However the difficulty there is that the buses are slow and the Lake District is 900sq miles.  So you will be spending quite a bit of time traveling in the bus.  Perhaps not a bad thing as you will see a lot more!

The other thing to consider is that the bus has fixed stops and sometimes no where near where you want to be.  For example a trip to Winlatter Forest and visitor centre would be impossible without a car.  

Personally as you’re spending quite a bit of money getting here in the first place, I would rent a small car when in Cumbria.  Get a train from Manchester direct to Penrith and hire a car from there.  Keswick and the northern lakes are about 15 minutes from Penrith.

Hope this helps and I’m sorry for the delay in the answer as I’ve been away on business for a couple of days.   I hope you enjoy your visit to Cumbria and if I can help with anything else…just ask.

Regards

Iain