Step into spring in the Lake District
16 March 2020
Corporate supporters Lakelovers shares their love for spring time in the Lake District and the fun to be had!
There’s no better place than the Lake District for welcoming the arrival of spring. As the days get longer and warmer, there are signs of spring everywhere in the Lakes. Bird chatter can be heard in the peaceful countryside villages, red squirrels dance around the treetops, ducklings patter about lakeshores that are lined with golden daffodils and Herdwick lambs hop, skip and jump at the foot of the iconic mountains. Spring blossom fills the fields and local pub menus are brimming with tempting spring treats, like Afternoon Tea and Easter egg hunts. Here’s our favourite ways to experience spring in the much-loved Lake District National Park.
Wordsworth’s Daffodils
Ullswater in the North Lake District is the place to head to take in spring’s most famous bloom, the wild daffodil. Dip in and out of the new 20-mile Ullswater Way walk around the lake, following the daffodil waymarked signs. Choose the ‘Aira Force to Glenridding’ loop to see the Lake District’s bright, cheery emblem in its most famous place – Glencoyne Bay. This is where William Wordsworth and his sister saw daffodils on the lakeshore that inspired Wordsworth’s most famous poem, ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, describing a ‘host of golden daffodils dancing on the breeze’.
Bluebell Walk
The Lake District is home to some of the oldest woodland in the UK and they are truly magical places, especially when carpeted in a sea of fragrant spring blooms. Skelghyll Woods can be walked to from the popular Lake District town of Ambleside and is perfect for a spring walk. Here you’ll find the tallest Grand Fir tree in England, as well as a beautiful display of spring bluebells.
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea features highly on spring menus in the Lake District, as we greet al fresco dining and long, leisurely, light lunches. Created to fill that gap between lunch and dinner, we love a spot of Afternoon Tea here in the Lake District. It is a laid-back affair, where it is as much about drinking in the spectacular mountain and lake scenery as it is the Assam or Darjeeling. There’s lots of different choices, from High Tea and traditional Afternoon Tea to a Michelin-star Champagne Afternoon Tea.
Full Steam Ahead
The Lake District is home to 16 bodies of water – more than any other National Park in the UK. As we enter spring and the waters are calm and tranquil there’s no batter place for soaking up the spectacular scenery than from on the water itself. Visit Lake Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater or Derwentwater to head out onto the water on a traditional steam cruiser or unique Steam Yacht Gondola on Coniston. These boats are iconic Lake District features and have been taking passengers on leisurely cruises up and down the Lakes for decades.
Mountain High
The Lake District mountains take on a new look and feel over the spring months when they shrug off the darkness of winter. Get your head up above the clouds to the top of a mountain – of which the Lake District is home to England’s tallest mountain as well as over 200 fell tops – to get that unique mountain high. Your soul will be stirred also, as the colours are as vibrant as they will ever be, with brilliant blue skies, dazzling greens and sparkling rivers and lakes. Intermittent fresh spring breeze and warm sun on your face, the sound of bleating lambs in the valley below and there’s no other place you would rather be on a spring day.
Lakelovers.co.uk are one of the Lake District’s leading holiday cottage letting agents. They support Campaign for National Parks as a corporate partner.