Things to do in Ambleside with the kids

Heading to Ambleside with the kids for 3 days over half term. Looking for ideas of things to do. We’ll be taking the bikes and trailer for the youngest.

Are there any trails suitable for the trailer in the area? Grizedale/Whinlatter etc?

We’re also planning to do the Cathedral cave in Langdale – http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/cathedral-cave/

I knows there’s all the tourist type stuff to do in the area. Really looking for any hidden gems. Walks, rides, adventures etc. The more outdoor the better.

Kids are 5 & 2.

Ta

Really looking for any hidden gems.

http://www.rockshop.co.uk

😆

Perfect eldest loves Dinosaurs (but I get what you did there 😆 )

Copper mines tour at Honister pass. Might be a bit cold for the zipwire and via ferrata though. Also the zipwire and Go Ape at Grizedale and the cafe isn’t bad, plus there’s a playground.

Oh, hire an ex-MOD Land Rover 90 with satnav from Kankku in Windermere and go on a green-laning safari round the south Lakes.

Avoid the Beatrix Potter experience thing, it’s garbage.

Boat trips from Bowness are always good, either in a cruiser or hire a rowing skiff.

You can get around Whinlatter blue with a trailer. It’s pretty smooth. At Grizedale there are riding routes that don’t leave the fire roads too.

Bloody rock shop, you would have thought it was the only shop there according to my 8 year old!. there’s loads of good walking right out of the village, ( my kids can spend hours in rothay park climbing on the rocks!). have a walk along the rothay and maybe loughrigg? great views.
If the weather is good then a mooch around coniston and if not then wray castle, some things will cost and some wont!. oh and the apple pie shop.

You can spend hours getting lost on Loughrigg. Walk to the summit and then take indistinct path off in the direction of Ill Bell and Yoke. you can find some lovely hidden paths down to the caves. Depending on how brave/foolhardy you are, its fun to scramble up into smaller cave with torches and find hidden tunnel half way back on LHS. Its about 50m and opens up into inner cave. Fun and exciting for kids but scramble in is a bit wet and tricky. I took a short rope a few years ago with some little ones.

Walk/ride around Hodge Close. Find back path down so that you can go right down to the water side. Impressive.

Holme Fell is also fun for little ones.

Zefferelis for pizza and cinema ticket – see if they notice that its veggie!

The flat cycle route up Langdale is much improved. Best between Skelwith Bridge and Elterwater but my dad thought that you could get all the way to the Old Dungeon Ghyl on it now. Or walk you can walk from Skelwith Bridge to Elterwater/. There ducks at he one point where the path is next to Elterwater. Get a bus timetable so some of you can do the walk one way

I think the first section up the Langadel valley is on road so not ideal as its narrow and busy

Good cafes in Skelwith Bridge (huge cake and posh) or Chapel Style (above the Co-op community run)

Boat trips on most lakes. Maybe get the boat from Ambelside to Bowness. Wander round their and see the swans and boat back

Rowing boat rental on Grasmere, Coniston and Derwentwater

Sculpture trail and Play ground at Grizedale. Plus great bike rides on smooth wide trails. Do at least one leg of the car journey on the chain ferry from Bowness

Far end of the lake for the Aquarium of the lakes and steam train. Could travel there by boat

The back road to Rydal water is mainly traffic free (no through traffic). It starts behind Rothay park. The Park is great, the “beach” at Rydal water is great for sticks and stones in the lake type play

The West shore of Windermere has a great family friendly Bridleway

In general I advise not spending all week driving to the other end of the lakes. The exception being driving to do Catbells which ss a good family peak, if one of you can carry the 2 year old

Your succes criteria is staying out of The Beatrix Potter Experience

PS water fall at Colwith Force. Weird fallen tree covered in coins hammered in

Cathedral cave is fantastic. You can explore the slate quarries from there, or head the other direction over to Elterwater (& the Brit Inn). From Elterwater you can easily cycle with trailer down to the New Dungeon Ghyll Inn, I believe it’s NT now, but still a good place to call it a day.

Any ideas here?

Everything said above.

Tilberthwaite (inc. visiting Hodge Close) would be OK with a trailer. We’ve even had ours right out on the Grizedale Parkamoor Bridleways which were rather adventurous 🙂

The drive over Wrynose and Hardknott is fun but avoid at peak times like Sunday mid-day. My kids would then happily spend all day on the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway (far far better than the Haverthwaite steam train).

Copper mines tour at Honister pass. Might be a bit cold for the zipwire and via ferrata though. Also the zipwire and Go Ape at Grizedale and the cafe isn’t bad, plus there’s a playground.

Oh, hire an ex-MOD Land Rover 90 with satnav from Kankku in Windermere and go on a green-laning safari round the south Lakes.

Avoid the Beatrix Potter experience thing, it’s garbage.

You don’t have young kids do you….

The Langdale route ampthill suggests is best with trailer.

Good play park and often free activities at Brockhole Centre.

Wray Castle has nice gardens down to the lake and geocaches etc.

Great cafe and gardens etc in Rydal Hall – nice walk to Grasmere along Rydal Mount

Day in Keswick – the new King Kong climbing centre is brill – more hard play than soft play, but excellent.

Bowness-Hawkshead ferry by bike (drive to bowness, or boat if they take bikes?) then up the west shore path to wray castle, returning same way.

Hodge close quarry.

+1 for King Kong at keswick.

IMO both kids too young for whinlatter trails, my 6.5 year old has only just started getting round the blue, it’s quite hilly for little legs.

The picnic box for lunches. Seemed to be the cheapest place we found to feed a family on the hoof…..

Low Wray national Trust place has a series of Peter Rabbit rooms set up from the CBeebies show and a big build a castle block set up in another room. Hoppy Jr would have stopped there forever, he’s 3.

Adventure playground – better than average firm favourite before ours had electronics embedded – not sure if boats run at this time of year

http://www.brockhole.co.uk/

If its raining Keswick Museum by Fitz Park is good. The playground in the park is ace for little ‘uns. The Aquarium of the lakes is good, South end of windemere. Rydal water has some nice flat walks.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys 😀

It’ll be bound to be heaving down = indoor soft play centre near the big car park.

all of the above plus there’s the climbing wall at Adventure Peaks