There are six of us heading off to Keswick at the end of March for a long weekend. 3 of us are keen bikers, so I've got stuff planned every day for us (Skiddaw, Borrowdale bash, Whinlatter etc).

However, the other three aren't so keen/fit/confident (delete as appropriate) so are looking at hiring a bike for a blast on Whinlatter Blue or Red and then doing something else for the other day(s). They are looking at hiking to summit of Skiddaw from Latrigg, but I was wondering whether they can do any Kayaking or similar while they're there? Presuambly Derwent Water would be a good place to start for beginners – any recommendations?

Finally, and most importantly, which are the recommended ale-houses in Keswick? We are less than a mile out of the town so are there any pubs that we should definitely be visiting on a Friday or Saturday night?

Cheers!

Derwentwater marina and Nichol End marina hire kayaks and windsurfers and that sort of thing.

Regarding pubs the Dog and Gun (on Lake Road just off the marketplace) would be a good place to start 🙂

+1 for dog and gun. Their food is pretty good too.
Oddfellows is alright ish next to the moot hall.

Great stuff, thanks for that.

Last time I was there I was with the family, so didn't have to consider places to go in the evenings!

There's also the climbing wall up past the Stone Circle.

If you're desperate for a drink after 11, ask for directions to the Queen's back bar or Rumours (known locally as Tumors); but only if you're desperate !

Sign them up for the Via Ferreta at Honister Quarries

Great fun.

Brilliant stuff. We walked up to the stone circle from the house we're staying in last time I was there, so the climbing wall is literally on the doorstep. I quite fancy a crack on the Via Ferreta too….

May give "Tumors" a miss though 😉

The Oddfellows Arms is a good pub. It usually has entertainment on Fri & Sat nights as well. The Dog and Gun is a nice bar with real ales. Both of these do pub food. The George is very good. We were up there at christmas and the menu at the George is excellent. It won't take you long to 'crawl' round all the pubs in the town centre though!

Cheers Mickster.

We'll be having a social few rather than monster binge sessions as we will need to be (relatively) alert for riding the next morning. The 2-3 pubs you and the others have recommended sound ideal.

When we have a bike/social we allways seem to end up in Tumors 😐

Guess we must be desperate by then 😉

I`m sure a couple of us locals would like to show you Skiddaw etc!

We usually go to the Bank Tavern after a ride, as there is a covered beer garden to stash our bikes. Food is good as well. 😛

Thanks Stoney – I might take you up on the offer for a guided tour. I've done a couple of the more traditional routes around Skiddaw (Lonscale etc) on my own a couple of years back and have a bunch more loaded on the eTrex ready to go, but you can't beat local knowledge!

So Tumors isn't all bad then….hmmmmmmm 😉

😆 The only 'appeal' of Tumors is the fact that it's the last place to close ! (Well….let's not mention The Loft eh).

Watch yourself with the Stoney character Tim. Likely to rip your legs off. 😆

He'd be fine on the way up Skiddaw – it's coming down the other side you have to worry about 😉

The chippy in the square does a mean chips and curry sauce. OK so not an activity but good nosh after a walk around the lake.

They could get the round lake ferry to the bottom end of the lake and then walk back along the low level path/bridalway below Cat Bells and back in to Keswick. Not too strenuous or technical.

Pubs – Dog & Gun, The George Hotel and the Bank Tavern are ok too. The Oddfellows is reasonable and the Lake Road Tavern is good too.

I'd recommend eating one night in the Dog & Gun and one in the George Hotel. Very big pies in the George.

I can't believe no-one's mentioned the Pencil Museum yet. 😉

Go and visit Millican Dalton's cave. Easily reached from Grange. Just off the Bash route too. Wonder how anyone could spend several years living there, and scrounging all his hardware needs from (the long gone) Grange tip!

can't believe no-one's mentioned the Pencil Museum yet

Nearly did, but thought better of it… 🙂

Also, Cars of the Stars!

+1 for Dog & Gun, always our favourite when in Keswick. No chips, only veg & potatoes. Food is brill, especially the Hungarian goulash, nomnomnomnom 🙂

Now now Lowey! there`ll be no ripping of legs ❗

<Rant>
re: the George – I wouldn't give them the steam off my pish

(Proabably okay if you don't have a child ,but VERY unfriendly when we tried to go in on a wet but empty lunch time with a baby…in fact I've never known a place have so many 'no pushchair' signs as Keswick…and this was off-season and places were empty…their loss
</Rant>)

Quick update to say thanks for all the recommendations. We were up there this weekend and everyone had a great time. Enough biking and beer for all, with the thumbs up for Oddfellows, the Dog & Gun and a few others that are less easy to recollect…

We managed to avoid Tumors though!

Sorry we mised you! Glad to here all went well.

Cheers Stoney. Figured you would be busy race "preparing" for the Whinlatter Challenge to join us on the rides or beer.

We actually rode up to do Whinlatter on Saturday to have a crack on the Red loops. The ride from Keswick to the visitors centre was a bit of a drag with the constant rain and the slight(!) road incline those last couple of miles but I was pretty happy with the trails. We did the North loop first which was pretty slippy in the rain and resulted in a comedy OTB incident for me on the rocky chute/berm just before the last descent.

It dried up for the South loop which was a blast.

We did the bogtrotters Skiddaw route Sunday morning which was a great ride in beautiful conditions. I said to the lads that you lot had picked a good day for your race….