Ambleside is a uniquely special place, with a welcoming, friendly atmosphere and a host of things to enjoy all year round. For a small town, we’ve got a great deal to offer visitors, a multitude of unique and specialist shops, lively restaurants and pubs and a wide range of accommodation available. Ambleside’s spectacular scenery offers a wide choice of walking in all seasons, from gentle level strolls to challenging days out on the high fells.

Forget the car – many activities start from the door, and the town is less than a mile from Lake Windermere at Waterhead, where cruises run throughout the year. Ambleside is a very convenient starting point for excursions, walking, cycling or driving, into all areas of the Lake District, situated as it is at the hub of the area's road system.

…less than two hours drive from Manchester or Liverpool, one hour from the Scottish border, three from Edinburgh, only six hours drive or five hours rail from London, the town is easily reached by road, being 20 miles from the M6 motorway, and is served by several bus services, including National Express. Rail travel is to Windermere, four miles away with easy bus and taxi access. There is a direct Manchester Airport/Windermere rail link.

So, speed to unique, relaxing Ambleside, where you will find fine food, wine and ale to complement the glorious lakeside mountain setting of this historic.. er.. sorry, prehistoric community. It was here before the Roman occupation, which lasted 400 years, it survived and prospered under the Viking invasion and it will be here after the tourist invasion, which so far has lasted only 200 years. (Blame Wordsworth for this latter invasion please, not the Tourist Board. As the French revolution cut off the English gentry from their European Grand Tour, their writers and artists began to extol the glory of Lakeland, creating as they did so the necessary myths which are their stock in trade and which survive to this day to persuade the discerning visitor of the rare quality of this landscape.)