Moving to the Lake District

Farming in the Lake District National Park

Background

The beautiful Lake District National Park is within the county of Cumbria. Villages and towns in the National Park include:

Ambleside
Broughton-in-Furness
Coniston
Grasmere
Hawkshead
Keswick
Windermere

Nearby towns outside of the National Park include:

Carlisle
Cockermouth
Grange-over-Sands
Kendal
Lancaster
Penrith
Ulverston

Check out our National Park maps (opens Document Library) for more details.

Housing

House prices within the National Park are more expensive then other areas of Cumbria due to market forces.

The following links to websites are offered in good faith. The Lake District National Park Authority has no control over the content of the sites and no endorsement of any of the products or services contained on the sites is implied.

All links open in a new window.

Estate agents

Schooling

You can find out the names of the many schools in the area in UpMyStreet and read reports on the schools by Ofsted (both links open in new window).

Public transport

Trains

The West Coast mainline runs to the east of the Lake District, connecting Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle with London and Glasgow. A direct train runs from Manchester to Windermere. Local trains call at Kendal, Staveley and Windermere. There is also route following the Cumbrian coastline.

Buses

Towns and villages such as Ambleside, Windermere, Coniston and Keswick are linked by bus, with extra services in the summer.

Steamers and launch trips

Taking a cruise is a great way to experience the beautiful Lake District views. Our on the water section has more details.

Give the driver a break

Our give the driver a break leaflets show maps, timetables and great ideas for days out by bus, train and even boat. Or pop into one of our information centres for details of travel packages, ticket deals and bus services.

Useful links

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Cumbria County Council bus timetables
Traveline for bus, train and coach information
National Rail for timetables
NorthernRail
Virgin Trains serving Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle
Trainline for online tickets
Lakeside and Haverthwaite preserved railway
Ravenglass and Eskdale preserved railway

By car

The average journey time from London and the south east is about five hours. It takes about one and half hour from Manchester and two hours from York.

The M6 runs to the east of the Lake District National Park:

Take Junction 36 and then A590 for the southern end of the Lake District
Take Junction 40 and the A66 or A592 for the northern end of the Lake District

If you're using satellite navigation, check out our Postcodes for Sat Nav page.

While you're here, do remember that even A roads can be quite twisting so allow extra time for your journey and for finding a space in Car parks in high season. Example journey times are:

Kendal to Keswick: one hour
Windermere to Keswick: 40 minutes
Kendal to Wasdale: one and a half hours

Hardknott Pass and Wrynose Pass between Eskdale and the Langdales have gradients of 1 in 3 and Honister Pass between Borrowdale and Buttermere is 1 in 4, making them some of the steepest roads in England!

Living In