travel videos & photos at: townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links.
0:55 Bowness town
7:37 pubs & restaurants
9:53 Windermere town
15:14 lake walk at Millerground
18:09 west side of Lake Windermere
19:46 hike to Sawrey
23:36 Ravenglass and Eskdale Miniature Railway
24:50 Burn How Hotel
The town of Bowness in the Lake District is a great base of operations for heading out to see the other lakes in the district and enjoying some detours as will be showing you here. There are actually two towns joined together here as one got Windermere, about a mile to the north and Bowness-on-Windermere along the shores of the Lake. Each center has its cluster of shops and restaurants but the main focus is down at Bowness, which has most of the hotels and has that special setting along the water.
Properly called Bowness-on-Windermere, the town really is a quaint and charming place even though it's got a lot of competition with the lakes and the mountains and the other villages nearby, which is where you want to spend most of your time, but it's always nice to come home to Bowness. It really is an ideal kind of an English country town even though it is touristic. But when you're here in the off-season as we are, visiting in May, it's really not crowded at all, and it's got that hilly atmosphere and winding streets. There are some little back lanes and a lot of restaurants to take care of you.
There are some bars and walkways along the waterfront. Bowness on Windermere really does embrace the Lake. The little beach in town always has a lot of geese and ducks and swans looking for food.
You’ll need to spend at least several nights in the area this to really get a chance to see the charming countryside, explore some towns, do a little shopping, and perhaps enjoy some fine dining on offer here in Bowness and Windermere.
We’ll also take you on some hikes along the lake shore and up in the hills hear Sawney, and then on a ride on a miniature train.