There is only one lake in the Lake District. Everything else is a mere, a water or a tarn — Windermere, Derwentwater, Buttermere, Grasmere — and Bassenthwaite Lake is the only body of water in the national park that carries the word in its name.
That is a pub fact and it points at something real: the region has sixteen major bodies of water and a great many hotels that describe themselves as lakeside without being on one. A hotel in Windermere town is not on the water. A hotel in Bowness is near it. The number of hotels with a lawn that actually runs down to a shore is small, and they are the ones worth identifying.
The lakes that matter, and what each is for
Windermere is the largest at 17 kilometres, the busiest, and has the ferries, the steamers and most of the accommodation. It is the accessible one and it is not the beautiful one.
Ullswater, northeast, is the one most people who know the district prefer: a curving glacial lake with the Helvellyn range above it and a steamer service.
Derwentwater and Borrowdale, around Keswick, are the northern lakes, with the most dramatic head of valley in England.
Grasmere and Rydal, in the middle, are small, wooded and where Wordsworth lived and wrote.
Coniston and the western lakes, Wasdale and Ennerdale, are quieter and harder to reach, and Wastwater is the deepest and bleakest.
The park gets about 15 million visitors a year on a road network built for far fewer. August and bank holidays are heavy; midweek in May or October is a different place entirely.
The nine below are grouped by lake.
Windermere
The largest and busiest.
Gilpin Hotel & Lake House occupies two properties near Windermere, one a country house with spa suites and a starred restaurant, the other a lake house with six rooms, a pool and its own tarn. It is the best hotel in the Lake District.
Gilpin Hotel & Lake House
Near Windermere · 5★ · $$$$
A starred kitchen and a six-room lake house with its own tarn
Check availabilityThe Samling Hotel sits above Windermere in a Georgian house on a wooded hillside with gardens, a hot tub over the water and a very small room count.
The Samling Hotel
Above Windermere · 5★ · $$$$
A Georgian house with a hot tub over the lake
Check availabilityLangdale Chase Hotel occupies a nineteenth-century house on the Windermere shore, restored recently, with a lawn to the water, a spa and a jetty.
Langdale Chase Hotel
Windermere shore · 5★ · $$$$
A restored lakeside house with a lawn and a jetty
Check availabilityLinthwaite House Hotel sits above Bowness in an Arts and Crafts house with terraced gardens, a spa and lake views through the trees.
Linthwaite House Hotel
Above Bowness · 5★ · $$$
An Arts and Crafts house with terraced gardens
Check availabilityUllswater
The curving lake with Helvellyn above it.
Ullswater occupies a Victorian house on the Ullswater shore with a swimming pool by the water, a boathouse and a sauna, and an unstuffy tone that is unusual here. It is the best-run hotel on the lake.
Ullswater
Ullswater shore · 4★ · $$$
A pool by the water, a boathouse and no stuffiness
Search hotels in The Lake DistrictAskham Hall sits at Askham near Ullswater in a mediaeval and Elizabethan hall on a working estate, with a walled garden, a kitchen garden and a small room count.
Grasmere and the central valleys
Wooded, small and literary.
Forest Side Hotel occupies a house on the edge of Grasmere with a starred kitchen, a kitchen garden and fell walks from the door.
Forest Side Hotel
Grasmere · 5★ · $$$
A starred kitchen with fell walks from the door
Search hotels in The Lake DistrictRothay Manor Hotel sits in Ambleside in a Regency house with gardens, a good restaurant and a family operation, a short walk from Windermere's northern tip.
Rothay Manor Hotel
Ambleside · 4★ · $$
A Regency house with gardens near Windermere's north tip
Check availabilityBorrowdale and the north
Around Derwentwater and Keswick.
Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa occupies a position in Borrowdale below the falls with a spa, a pool and Derwentwater a short walk away. It is the family answer in the northern lakes.
What we have left off
The self-catering cottages and the inns across the fells are excluded, and in the Lake District they are how most visitors stay, particularly walkers. They are houses and pubs rather than hotels.
What to do
Get on the water. The Windermere steamers, the Ullswater Steamers and the Derwentwater launch all run as scheduled services and are the best way to see the lakes.
Walk. Helvellyn via Striding Edge is a scramble and a serious one in bad weather; Catbells above Derwentwater is a straightforward hour; the Fairfield Horseshoe from Ambleside is a full day.
See Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount, where Wordsworth lived, and Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's farm, which she left to the National Trust along with 1,600 hectares.
Swim. Open water swimming is a substantial thing here and several hotels have their own access.
Go midweek and out of August. The single biggest improvement you can make to a Lake District trip.
Practical notes
Oxenholme on the west coast main line is about two hours forty from London, with a branch to Windermere. Manchester airport is ninety minutes by road.
May, June, September and October are ideal. July and August are heavy. Winter is short-dayed, wet and atmospheric, with fires and much lower rates.
It rains. Seathwaite in Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited place in England. Waterproofs, not umbrellas.
Explore 4 & 5 Star The Lake District Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Is only one of them a lake?
By name, yes. Bassenthwaite Lake is the only one; the rest are meres, waters and tarns.
Which lake should you pick?
Ullswater for beauty and boats, Windermere for accommodation and access, Borrowdale for drama, Grasmere for the literary side.
Is the hotel actually on the water?
Often not. Windermere town is inland and Bowness is near the shore. Confirm before booking.
How many nights?
Four. Two lakes, two walks and a boat.