Viewing 38 posts - 1 through 38 (of 38 total)
  • 5 days in Ambleside – what do you recommend doing?
  • rob-jackson
    Free Member

    Me/MrsJ and little lady (nearly 4)

    All like the outdoors, me and the littlun like bikes/walking/scrambling etc

    Mrs likes walking/mooching round shops etc

    karnali
    Free Member

    Good riding routes avail in biketreks, jacks rake, daisys cafe and jintana thai

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Some of this http://www.windermere-way.co.uk/

    Not all of it obviously.

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    grum
    Free Member

    Jack’s Rake with a 4 year old? I’m not a parent but that sounds dodgy to me – I suppose if you had them on reigns or whatever…..

    piemonster
    Full Member

    To spend a day in Ambleside mooching around shops sounds expensive.

    When’s the last time you made a major bike purchase Rob, not long ago I’d wager. Some very shiny stuff in biketreks.

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    i would NEVER put my daughter on reigns, she is not a horse!

    sc-xc
    Full Member

    An hour in the park, a walk up the waterfall, up to the caves at Rydal, down to waterside, a film at Zeferellis….

    We go a couple of times a year, and never run out of things to do. Play it by ear, you can’t not enjoy any time spent up there.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    Jack’s Rake with a 4 year old, I’m not a parent but that sounds dodgy to me

    Jakes Rake is fined with a 4 year old. *heads off to find pics*

    piemonster
    Full Member
    crikey
    Free Member

    Get over to Ulverston, go to the zoo, go to the bike shop, go to the Buddhist café…

    http://www.wildanimalpark.co.uk/

    http://www.dc-cycles.co.uk/

    http://www.worldpeacecafe.org/

    ..although the café is a bit like being served by the Lake District equivalent of Cheech and Chong…

    jimmy
    Full Member

    The Royal Oak. That is all.

    samuri
    Free Member

    Waterfall
    Climbing wall
    You’ll like the little cinema

    speshspenner
    Free Member

    Park on the Glebe in Bowness and walk down to the ferry through the park, there’s a nice little ‘beach’ for a paddle and a picnic if it’s a nice day…..
    Foot passenger on the ferry is only 50p each each way and there’s a really nice ice cream van on the other side!.
    +1 for the Zoo in Dalton, great day out if not a little pricey.

    Coniston is a great little place for a mooch…..nice little park for the little un to play in on the way down to the Bluebird cafe Mmmmmmmm.

    Steam train at Haverthwaite is good, you can get the steamer from Ambleside(Waterhead) to Bowness then Lakeside and on to the train.

    +1 for a visit to Ulverston (my home town)…..Thursdays market day and is usually bustling, great pubs for a meal, The Farmers, The Mill, Rose and Crown, take a look in the Laurel and Hardy museum.
    Walk upto Ford Park from town(10mins) and play on the park, really good cafe there as well….nice coffee. Lots of really good Indy shops for you and your missus, DC Cycles, Gill Cycles, Working class heroes, two by two, Booths is worth a call for some good local produce if you self catering.

    Take a drive all the way down the A590 till you get to Walney Island, great beach if the tides out!. Avoid Barrow town centre! Dump.

    You should be able to get a bus to Keswick from Ambleside, nice scenic route…..also get the train to Kendal from Windermere via Staveley……Wilfs cafe, Wheelbase, Hawkshead brewery.

    Hope you’ve got deep pockets!…..you’re going to need them!…..enjoy.

    grum
    Free Member

    i would NEVER put my daughter on reigns, she is not a horse!

    When we went walking in the Alps when I was little I was on some sort of reigns to make sure I didn’t go over cliffs etc. Don’t see the problem personally.

    Jakes Rake is fined with a 4 year old. *heads off to find pics*

    What’s Jakes Rake? 🙂

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Yeh, come and see me in Ulverston. Actually, don’t bother, you’ll only feel let down.

    grum
    Free Member

    Do you keep up the troll persona IRL as well? 🙂

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    This is real life!

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Not it isnt

    grum
    Free Member

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    😀

    Some people do take it a bit to seriously though.

    mark90
    Free Member

    Cathedral quarry. Park at Hodge Close (careful with the little one near the edge, it’s a way down). Walk to Cathedral Quarry, explore the tunnels, and walk back. Our daughter managed this walk aged 3, and rather liked the tunnels. Last year aged 5 we visited Cathedral again but made a longer walk of it.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    Stay in the accommodation till 1 or 2 because it will probably rain every day. Take scrabble for the adults & jigsaws & books for the little one. Take some paperback fiction for when you get bored with the wife. Go to the pub for early dinner then watch terrestrial tv at the accommodation in the evening that you would never watch at home & remember the times before you had kids & could stay out till midnight.

    Pieface
    Full Member

    2 people died in Jacks rake last year.

    It is technically easy but there is a very exposed section near the top.

    Not to be taken lightly and only with a child that you know can be trusted. Also I wouldn’t recommend taking children they young in to territory you aren’t familiar with yourself

    karnali
    Free Member

    jakes rake does not need to be attempted by all family members, it s a nice walk up to the tarn for missus and daughter, then a quick nip up and back to tarn for op

    stufive
    Free Member

    We live in grasmere and have a 4yr old girl id love to take her up some of the peaks but theres no way she could walk up them i took her up Allcock tarn but had to carry her allot of it stick to the bottoms, langdales kentmere etc, cant belive anyone would sugest taking a 4yr old up jakes! 😕

    stufive
    Free Member

    Does the little en ride? we rode around kentmere the other day from langdale to chesters cafe at skelwith bridge had a brew and a bit of cake and she rode back loved it, there are also the stockgyll water falls in Ambleside, not that impresive to you or me but im sure your little girl would enjoy it, Biketreks deff worth a visit

    twiglet_monster
    Free Member

    Don’t miss Wray Castle – National Trust.
    The NT have made a brave move and are giving it over to kids(big and small) to play with. Think a room with 200 foam bricks in and encouragement to build your own castle 🙂
    Lots of outdoor stuff in the grounds and a stunning fell backdrop
    TM

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    keep the ideas coming this is ace

    themoodster
    Free Member

    From Ambleside: A pint in the golden rule, a meal in stampers, climb wansfell, visit rydal cave, walk the Fairfield horseshoe

    Further afield: try and find the ‘secret’ cave in borrodale, go to grasmere for gingerbread, go to Keswick for ‘the cars of the stars’

    And mountains, lots of mountains!

    davetrave
    Free Member

    A pint in the golden rule

    +1, the Oak comes second, albeit closely, to the Rule.

    Where/when you staying as that’ll also influence decisions…

    Indoor climbing wall, at Adventure Peaks on Lake Road, and kids’ soft play next to ambulance station, off Rothay Road, for if it’s wet. As far as bus to Keswick goes – be prepared for it to be very expensive…

    Beaches at Borrans Park (Waterhead), along with Galava Roman fort to have a look at. Walking wise, with a nipper, Todd Crag/Loughrigg, Wansfell, Helm Crag (Lion and Lamb) are all easily achieveable and offer some easy rocks for them to scramble over in safety. Alternatively, play areas in Rothay Park along with some big boulders.

    greenboy
    Free Member

    another day

    joemarshall
    Free Member

    Rydal Water is nice. Probably not for the 4 year old, but there is a swim to an island if any of you can swim 200m or so. Would be lovely in June/July/August/September, probably one for experienced cold water swimmers the rest of the year.

    Pieface
    Full Member

    Loughrigg Terrace has some nice short walks but a lot of Red Socks, as is Rydal. Fairfield horseshoe is nice for a big walk.

    Loughrigg Tarn is good for a swim.

    BristolPablo
    Free Member

    I find it nice to spend an evening or two in the Priests Hole…

    julesgee
    Free Member

    Purchase the Rocky Rambler “Wild Walks” book, 10 child friendly walks starting from easy to moderate. We started with a 5 year old and ticked off the walks over a 3 year period on the numerous visit to the Lake District. It’s an interactive guide book which will keep children entertained during the walks as they map read.

    teamhurtmore
    Free Member

    Wow – some ballsy suggestions for 4 year olds! V impressive (?) if your daughter could manage Fairfield Horseshoe and Jacks Rack. IMO – more that a tad optimistic and I have been guilty in the past of taking my kids on scary things!! Water is likely to be v cold for a 4 year old, the memorial at Loughrigg Tarn would testify to that.* Sorry to be a killjoy.

    Hours of fun can be had on Loughrigg – try finding hidden ways down to the Caves from the summit.

    Hodge Close Quarry and Cathedral Quarry linked in with Tilberthwaite – lunch at Three Shires?

    Tom Heights/Tarn Hows from the Coniston road (to avoid the grockles)

    Claife Heights

    Steamer up Ullswater to Howtown and then walk back – still a long one for a 4 year old.

    * boat out to the island on Grasmere (the lake is surprisingly shallow between Island and the road, so could be warmer to swim in. Alternative “safer” semi-wild swim is to take road to Hawkshead. Turn L about 1 mile out of Ambleside and over bridge past Brathay Hall. There is large pool (The Dub) with easy parking right there. 5 mins from Ambleside.

    joemarshall
    Free Member

    Water is likely to be v cold for a 4 year old, the memorial at Loughrigg Tarn would testify to that

    I wasn’t suggesting that the 4 year old would necessarily be up for swimming out to the island in Rydal Water (unless they are one of those super-hard wetsuit kids), but they are hardly going to die by paddling and swimming off the little beaches on the lakes in summer, and while you’re there with them, an island swim is a nice thing for an adult to do. Just make sure you’ve got a towel and warm clothes for afterwards (for you and for the kids splashing at the beach).

    All the memorial at Loughrigg Tarn would testify is that when taking large school groups of teenagers swimming in big lakes, a certain level of supervision is a good idea, and has nothing to do with what one does with a 4 year old really.

    Duggan
    Full Member

    crazy golf

Viewing 38 posts - 1 through 38 (of 38 total)

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