Give me a Lakes route, please guys
Discussion
Hi. Thinking of a road trip in the UK. Never done the Lakes before. Could one of yo knowledgable sorts suggest a good route? I want to enter anywhere north of Morecambe, and obviously I need to check out the Wrynose and Hardknot passes. Not bothered where I go after that, and trime is not that important. Can someone come up with a good circular-ish route that will show me the Lakes at their best, please? (Mind you this will have to be in the first week of March, so I know the Lakes won't be at their best, but you know what I mean 
)
Ta ever so.
) Ta ever so.
heebeegeetee said:
Never done the Lakes before.
Oh dear. I don't know if you are coming from the South or North,
but here's a suggestion.
Start Kendal.
B5284 to Bowness
Ferry across Windermere.
B5285 to Coniston.
A593 to Skelwith Bridge.
West to Wynrose Pass
West to Hardknott Pass
There is an optional detour from Santon Bridge to
Wasdale Head and back. See Scafell Pike on a good day.
A595 to Sellafield [ I have heard *glowing* reports about this place]
Turn off at Calder Bridge for Ennerdale Bridge
A5086 to Loweswater
B5289 over Honister Pass to Keswick
A66 East to Troutbeck
A5091 South
A592 to Patterdale
Kirkstone Pass to Windermere
A591 back to Kendal.
It's a long route, and could easily take you all day.
Hardknott is the worst bit - most of the other passes should
be ok for snow by Easter.
Watch out for legions of tourists in the big towns. Plenty
of Japanese, loads of bus tours and plenty of cars.
dcb said:
Never done the Lakes before.
B5289 over Honister Pass to Keswick
This one is very good indeed. Start from Keswick and head for Buttermere over the Honister Pass. There is a reasonable pub here as well. However, just before the village there is a junction. There is no road number to speak of, but it is the high road heading up the hill. This is (I think) one of the best roads in the area and leads you to the A66 just west of Keswick.
Ones to avoid...not many but if you are going on a weekend then the roads around Windermere/Bowness and Ambleside can be very busy at any time of the year.
Also, be careful on the A66, they do like their camera vans around there.
Ah, The Lakes, God's Country indeed! One road you MUST drive is Kirkstone Pass. This road links Glenridding & Patterdale to Bowness & Ambleside. As you progress along the A591 towards Ambleside (having come off the M6 via the Southern Lakes Junction) you will come to a mini roundabout. Take the third exit on to the pass. The road is superb if you enjoy getting your car by the scruff of the neck & pushing on a bit. The descent down the pass is not for the faint hearted, ie Vauxhall Vectra drivers, it is very twisty and you have a substantial dry stone wall either side of the road. Get it wrong and you will ENDEX your car! As you descend the pass, you get a great view of Ullswater Lake. Great drive, great place-ENJOY!
Cheers,
Ped
Cheers,
Ped
shadytree said:
GETCARTER !
You called?
Well I guess you've done it by now - so you'll know where to go and where not to. I've lived here only two years and the best tip I have is (due to caravans and traffic) avoid it in July, August, Whitsun, any Bank Holiday, Christmas, New Year, Easter - and during bad weather.
That leaves you about a month or so per year. Then the route above is excellent.
Marks out of ten for driving roads if you time it wrong... 1/10
The first thing I did when I moved here was to sell my 911 turbo. Just nowhere to drive it.... any good roads are littered with scamera vans.
Bloody great place to walk mind you !
>> Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 3rd May 14:42
There's a few routes as pdf files here www.bafam.org.uk/routes.html one of which is a Lakes route. I know one of the guys that put them together and it sounds like they had great fun putting it together!
Not for everyone I know, but I took my mountain bike in the car to the lakes, (rom Aberdeen), parked up in a very large camp site near Pooley Bridge, left the car there for about a quid a night, and spent a week cycling around the lakes with my tent and sleeping bag, throughly enjoyed the tranquility of cycling around, no jams to hold me up, and no parking problems when you get where you are going.
First day actually covered 92 miles just a steady peddle, with stops for tea and stickys. In case your wondering how you can cycle 92 miles in the lake district, went from Pooley Bridge over the M6 inland, turned south, headed that way for a while, back over the M6 to Grange over Sands, and up the west coast a bit.
I was lucky enough to pick a DRY week, not many of those down there, but scenery to die for. And what an enjoyable pint in the pub at the top of the Kirkston Pass before the decent into Ambleside, hairy in a car, suicidal on a bike, but survived to tell the tale.
Did this about 12 years ago, must do it again one day.
First day actually covered 92 miles just a steady peddle, with stops for tea and stickys. In case your wondering how you can cycle 92 miles in the lake district, went from Pooley Bridge over the M6 inland, turned south, headed that way for a while, back over the M6 to Grange over Sands, and up the west coast a bit.
I was lucky enough to pick a DRY week, not many of those down there, but scenery to die for. And what an enjoyable pint in the pub at the top of the Kirkston Pass before the decent into Ambleside, hairy in a car, suicidal on a bike, but survived to tell the tale.
Did this about 12 years ago, must do it again one day.
Zad said:
Fortunately, after the long wiggly descent of the Kirkstone, there's a handy little garage in Glenridding that sells brake fluid 
Very useful !
Went to the lakes first time about 85 ish, had the Cavalier 2.0 SRI then, as I recall, an excellent drive from Glenridding up to the top of the Kirkstone Pass to the pub.
Nice open road, no traffic, 2nd/3rd all the way, its amazing how much stick company cars can take?
Thanks for the replies guys. I was seriously thinking about a week long road trip in the UK, covering southern England, Wales, Lakes, Borders, Scotland and Highlands.
But I thought seriously about the traffic, crap drivers, weather, poor food, lottery of finding decent hotels, crap service, rip-off prices and a land riddled with cameras.
So France got my money again and I had a wonderful, wonderful week in the French Alps back in March. Sorry.
But I thought seriously about the traffic, crap drivers, weather, poor food, lottery of finding decent hotels, crap service, rip-off prices and a land riddled with cameras.
So France got my money again and I had a wonderful, wonderful week in the French Alps back in March. Sorry.
dcb said:
So France got my money again
Seems reasonable to me. All your points were valid concerns.
Next time you might want to try Southern Germany or Austria
or South Tyrol for a different part of the Alps.
The scenery trumps anything available in the UK, IMHO.
Yes, definitely. I was a bit worried about snow, as I was travelling in March, so I stuck to a more main roads route and stayed beow a 1000 metres. I figured that would be mnore difficult in the Alps further east. As it turned out, the was less snow than there was last April, so there you go.
I have a route planned for most of the high alps, but obviously that will have to be a summer jaunt. Perhaps next year, 'cos I definitely want a holiday in Germany at some point.
nelly111s said:Those look great, Anyone know of any other similar routes posted in other areas of the UK?
There's a few routes as pdf files here www.bafam.org.uk/routes.html one of which is a Lakes route. I know one of the guys that put them together and it sounds like they had great fun putting it together!
dcb said:
Oh dear. I don't know if you are coming from the South or North,
but here's a suggestion.
Start Kendal.
B5284 to Bowness
Ferry across Windermere.
B5285 to Coniston.
A593 to Skelwith Bridge.
West to Wynrose Pass
West to Hardknott Pass
There is an optional detour from Santon Bridge to
Wasdale Head and back. See Scafell Pike on a good day.
A595 to Sellafield [ I have heard *glowing* reports about this place]
Turn off at Calder Bridge for Ennerdale Bridge
A5086 to Loweswater
B5289 over Honister Pass to Keswick
A66 East to Troutbeck
A5091 South
A592 to Patterdale
Kirkstone Pass to Windermere
A591 back to Kendal.
It's a long route, and could easily take you all day.
Hardknott is the worst bit - most of the other passes should
be ok for snow by Easter.
Watch out for legions of tourists in the big towns. Plenty
of Japanese, loads of bus tours and plenty of cars.
I did this route yesterday in the VX with my girlfriend. Set off from just outside Liverpool at 10:45am, arrived at jct36 of the M6 about 90 mins later, and spent until about 6pm doing this route
The downside:
Lovely and sunny, but extremely windy which caused a bit of a problem on the single track roads - quite a few branches (read: hundreds!) had blown down, and sadly large bits of wood and plastic cars don't mix too well (the underside of the car sounded like it had received quite a few hammerings!
). Also, the Wynrose Pass was unbelievably windy. I drove over possibly the deepest pot hole known to man resulting in my front number-plate smashing to pieces, most of which landed in the cockpit of the car. Feeling a lull in the wind, I opened my car door only for the wind to kick up again and nearly take my door off
The upside:
Brilliant route, with some exceptional views. Thankfully the roads were quite clear yesterday (or other cars, and sheep!) and so we were able to go progress at a nice speed
On the way back home I was going along the M6 at slightly above the speed I possibly should have been (
) only to see a camera van on the bridge up ahead. As there were no other cars ahead of me I know he will have got me 
BUT sadly that awful, awful, naughty Wynrose Pass had removed my car of its front number-plate 
Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon... We took the detour to Wasdale Head but didn't drive right to the end. The amount of spray being blown off the lake by the wind made it feel like a downpour. In hindsight I'd have probably tried to have lunch here and would have gone to the end of the road. Is it correct that there's a nice pub towards the end?
As an aside, my car (VX Turbo) got the hottest I've ever seen while driving yesterday, with the water temperature gage showing 109 degrees C (normal operating temperature is 84-85). I've been told that you should 'bail out' at around 120 degrees, and was wondering if that pass had given a hammering to other cars as well? The VX is a hardy little car, so I was quite shocked that it appeared to be struggling - though you wouldn't have known it by the driving.
All-in-all and excellent route, and highly recommended
Thanks for the original recommendation dcb
Andy M said:
The downside:
Lovely and sunny, but extremely windy which caused a bit of a
problem on the single track roads
Sounds like above average weather for the Lakes.
Andy M said:
We took the detour to Wasdale Head but didn't drive right to the
end. The amount of spray being blown off the lake by the wind
made it feel like a downpour. In hindsight I'd have probably
tried to have lunch here and would have gone to the end of the
road. Is it correct that there's a nice pub towards the end?
Yes. It's basically a real ale, food and mountaineering pub,
since Scafell Pike is so close. Lots of lovely B&W
piccies of mountaineers the last time I was there.
Andy M said:
I've been told that you should 'bail out' at around 120 degrees, and was
wondering if that pass had given a hammering to other cars as well? The VX is a hardy little car, so I was quite shocked that it appeared to be struggling - though you wouldn't have known it by the driving.
My dad has a good story about going over Hard Knott pass in a
bubble car [ three wheeler ? ] in 1956. It managed it ok apparently.
Andy M said:
All-in-all and excellent route, and highly recommended
Thanks for the original recommendation dcb
You made my day. Thanks.
If you want any routes for east of the M6, just let me know.
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