Three reason why Kendal is always best

Staying in a hotel in Kendal is the ideal base for exploring the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. There are many accommodation options for this area – camping, caravanning, renting a holiday home, or one of the beautiful hotels in the Lake District National Park, but a hotel in Kendal has several advantages. Firstly, as you are just outside the Lake District you can usually get a better price for your room, secondly you have the option of visiting the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales, and thirdly you have much better access to the whole of the Lake District. While a hotel or B&B in Windermere is ideal if you want to visit the South Lakes area, from a hotel in Kendal you can access the A591 to the South Lakes, the A590 to the Lakeland Peninsula or the M6 to Keswick and the North Lakes.

Another possibility would be to drive into the Lake District on the A591 towards Windermere, and then head right onto the A592 aka the Kirkstone Pass towards Ullswater. It might be quite a slow drive, but it will be worth it for the cracking scenery you'll drive through.

Once you get to Ullswater, you have the most amazing choice of hiking you can do at all levels of difficulty, or you could just take a cruise on the Ullswater steamers.

While the Lake District may look small it is about 40 miles from top to bottom, and almost as much across. And once you get off the main roads then driving can be very slow and tiring.

Personally I would spend an hour or two in Kendal, then head into the District, if your base is a hotel in Kendal I would stick to the Southern Lakes. How about a few hours in Windermere then a stroll up Orrest Head? 20 minutes and gives a cracking view, and famous as Wainwright's first view of the Lake District. The other easy walk that springs to mind is to catch the steamer on Coniston and walk back up the west bank. Right by Windermere Train station and car park is a tourist information centre. Here you can get loads of maps and guides to the Lake District. They should also have information about a hotel in Kendal, Windermere or any of the Lakes towns, and they should also be able to book it for you. They will also have books you can buy showing shorts walks (or drives) round the area.