Join us on a 3-Day Lake District Tour from Edinburgh. Stops at the Wall of Hadrian and the Cottage of Wordsworth. Small group service. On a 3-day small-group trip from Edinburgh, you’ll get to see the rugged beauty of England’s Lake District.
A coach ride from Scotland to England will take you through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the British Isles, including Moffat, a Victorian spa town. Once in Keswick, take three days to unwind and explore the area’s idyllic lakes such as Lake Windermere, Grasmere, and Ullswater.
3-Day Lake District Tour from Edinburgh
Highlights
- Discover the natural beauty of the Lake District
- Two nights’ accommodation with private facilities in a charming B&B or hotel
- Travel in a top-of-the-range, 16-seat Mercedes mini-coach
- Small-group tour for a more personalized experience
- Scottish Borders
- Hadrian’s Wall
- Lake Windermere
- Wordsworth’s Cottage
- Derwent Water
- Honister Pass
- Moffat
Upon arrival in Edinburgh, you’ll meet your guide and board a Mercedes mini-coach for a three-day country tour. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city and head to the Lake District, which is located just south of the Scottish border and is known for its dramatic peaks and quaint villages.
Before you arrive in the Lake District National Park, visit some of the most popular towns on either side of the border. The Lake District town of Keswick serves as your base of operations for the next two days. Restaurants, cafes, and shopping can all be reached on foot from your lodging.
Explore the Lake District National Park from this location. Stop in Grasmere, a small town nestled in the rolling hills of Lake Windermere and Ullswater, for a cup of tea and a bite to eat.
Allow yourself plenty of time to roam around on your own during the trip. In the evening, you’ll arrive back in Edinburgh, where you began your journey.
Itinerary
Day 1 – Edinburgh – Lake District
Rabbie’s
Check in 15 mins prior to departure and meet with your driver-guide.
Aira Force Waterfall
A lovely stone bridge crosses the fabulously flowing waterfalls.
Aira Force is one of the most well-known waterfalls in the Lake District because it resembles a landscaped Victorian park complete with a dramatic waterfall, arboretum, and rocky landscape. The main force of the fall is located on National Trust property, 70 feet below a stone footbridge.
Lyulph’s Tower, located on the Howard family’s sporting estate, was originally a hunting lodge or Pele tower built near the Ullswater shore in the 1780s. They planted over half a million trees, both native and ornamental, and laid out a system of trails, walkways, and bridges to make the area around the force more aesthetically pleasing and conducive to recreational use.
The Howards planted over two hundred firs, pines, spruces, and cedars (including a Sitka Spruce that is now 118 feet tall) in an arboretum they established below Aira Force in 1846.
Castlerigg Stone Circle
You then travel towards Keswick, stopping outside the town to visit the mysterious Castlerigg standing stones, thought to have been built over 5,000 years ago and once a lively hub of ancient pagan rituals. It’s like a miniature Stonehenge. Although you can decide whether it’s more beautiful.
Day 2 – Lake Windermere – Hawkshead – Wordsworth Memorial Daffodil Garden
Lake Windermere
You can choose to wander the shores or put on your sailing hat and go on a cruise.
Windermere in England’s Lake District is the country’s longest lake at over 18 kilometers (11 miles). The depth reaches a maximum of 219 feet (66.7 m).
A small town named Windermere can be found a little more than a mile from the shores of Windermere Lake. Location: apart from Bowness-on-Windermere, one of the busiest places along the shore and the main jetties for cruise ships.
Windermere and its environs are among the most well-known and visited spots in the entire Lake District. Things to do, see, and explore both on and off the water can be found in abundance in and around the lake.
Ullswater Lake
The second-largest lake in the English Lake District is famous for its sublime, tranquil beauty. Inspirational views of the lake attracted painters and poets in the 18th century, and you can take in the same vistas today by hiking to the top of Hallin Fell on the eastern side of the lake or skirting its western edge to reach the breathtaking Aira Force waterfall.
Water sports such as sailing, boating, canoeing, and windsurfing, as well as the simple pleasure of cruising the lake aboard a Ullswater steamer, all center around the lake itself. Helvellyn fell offers climbers a variety of routes, including Striding Edge, St. Sunday Crag, and the Fairfield Horseshoe, all of which present a formidable challenge.
Hawkshead Grammar School
After lunch, you travel around the southern tip of Windermere and on towards Coniston Water. Your next stop is the picturesque conservation village of Hawkshead, where the poet William Wordsworth attended Grammar School.
Day 3 – Whinlatter Pass – Honister Pass – Edinburgh
Honister Slate Mine
Simply relax and enjoy the gorgeous views of the monumental mountains. Located in the middle of the Lake District, England, this is the country’s last active slate mine. Honister Pass is one of the steepest roads in the country, and we get our slate from the depths of Fleetwith Pike, a neighboring mountain.
The Honister Slate Mine has been extracting slate for centuries, from Roman occupiers to medieval monks and early 20th-century industrialists. Utilizing 11 miles of tunnels, we have maintained our knowledge of and respect for Honister Green Slate, and we use time-honored methods to create cutting-edge items that are truly one-of-a-kind.
Derwentwater
This gorgeous location was used in Star Wars – The Force Awakens. But the lasers and spaceships seem a million miles away from this peaceful area.
By returning to Edinburgh, we conclude our 3-Day Lake District Tour from Edinburgh.
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Itinerary
At 8:30 a.m. we leave Edinburgh and drive south through the Scottish Borders, with spectacular views of the Galloway Hills and the Southern Uplands, on our way to the first stop of the day: the Victorian spa town of Moffat. You proceed south across the border into England from Moffat and head to the ancient Cumbrian market town of Penrith. Here you will have the opportunity to have lunch and visit the ruins of Penrith Castle, which played a key role in preventing the Scots from invading the border. You drive to the Lake District National Park after lunch, along the northern shores of Ullswater, described as the most beautiful lake in England, where you can take a forest walk to see the mighty Aira Force waterfall.
We then drive to Keswick, stopping outside the city to visit the enigmatic standing stones of Castlerigg, the site of ancient rituals believed to have happened more than 5,000 years ago. Then you have a short drive to Keswick, a vibrant market town, where you will be dropped off at your accommodation.
You drive along the winding country lanes after breakfast to ride along Ullswater's southern shores, taking breaks to take in the magnificent views of this spectacular lake. You stop at Lake Windermere to continue south over the narrow and winding Kirkstone Pass, where you have the choice of taking a leisurely cruise on the lake or simply eating lunch while enjoying views of the mountains and lakes.
We will drive around the southern tip of Windermere after lunch and on to Coniston Water and shortly afterwards you arrive at the picturesque conservation village of Hawkeshead, where grammar school was attended by the poet William Wordsworth.
After free time, we'll take the narrow country lanes north towards Grasmere to explore the village. You'll have free time to visit Wordsworth's Dove Cottage, or enjoy the peace and quiet of the Rothy River's Wordsworth Daffodil Garden. We will return to Keswick late in the afternoon.
You will be picked up from your hotel and head to the Whinlatter Forest Park and the Whinlatter Pass and some of the most dramatic scenery the Lake District has to offer. Through the rural village of High Lorton, along the quiet winding lanes to the shores of Crummock Water and Buttermere and on to the Honister mountain pass, your journey takes us. You will visit the old slate works, where a small number of Cumbrians continue to make their living, stopping between the mountains. You proceed through the woods of Borrowdale, passing Derwent Water on your return to Keswick after refreshments, where there is free time for lunch and shopping.
You commence your return journey after lunch by heading towards Penrith and then north towards the border. You make a stop in the town of Biggar, a royal burgh since 1415, after crossing into Scotland. It is a leisurely drive from here back to Edinburgh through the rolling border hills. Arriving at 7:30pm or so.
