Road-Tripping in the Lake District

The humble road trip is one of the most thrilling ways to experience the UK’s various landscapes. Road trips enable you to experience those landscapes first-hand, weaving through them and discovering some incredible locations in the process. Road trips are set to be more popular this summer, too, on account of many Brits’ intentions to travel domestically instead of internationally for their holiday.

If you’re thinking of taking a road trip yourself, whether with your friends or your family, you might be stuck on where exactly to go. Here, we will petition for your next road-trip destination to be the Lake District – arguably the most stunning National Park in the whole of the UK.

About the Lake District

The Lake District National Park encompasses over 900 square miles of mountainous land in the North West, and over a third of Cumbria. It is an area defined by its edifying horizons, which contain jutting mountain peaks and incredible glacier lakes. There are walking routes galore in the Lake District, all of which beg for your attention. But driving through it is something else entirely.

The Lake District is one of the easier national parks to explore, on account of its well-maintained network of roads. Not only is it easy to travel around the region, but also exceedingly fun; twisting roads carve a route out of mountain faces and kiss the waterfronts of the likes of Lake Windermere. 

Well-maintained as these roads are, they can be particularly dangerous to drive on. This is especially true of longer road trips around the park, where temporary car insurance on another driver is an essential provision. With a careful approach to travel, though, any trip will be well worth the effort; which trips are must-tries for a road-tripping adventurer like yourself?

Whitehaven to Silloth

Though technically just beyond the bounds of the Lake District, this coastal route is practically unavoidable for the avid road-tripper. The sea views are unparalleled, particularly as you drive north and edge ever closer to the Scottish border.  A slight detour will take you inland to Loweswater, and the chance to take in the amazing Holme Force waterfall.

Windermere to Ullswater

This is a non-negotiable road trip for those visiting the Lake District for the first time. Windermere and Ullswater are definitive destinations in the national park, boasting beautiful lake views and incredible woodland in one. The trip is a relatively short one, but takes you up the lengths of Lakes Windermere and Ullswater, with astonishing sights that simply must be seen to be believed.

The Keswick Loop

The Keswick Loop is a circular trip that starts and ends with Keswick town – a quaint place that is also home to a must-visit pencil museum. The loop, though, encircles Bassenthwaite Lake, and gives you the chance to take a peek at some of the region’s special wildlife such as the Bassenthwaite osprey. This trip will leave a profound impression, whether in your mind or in graphite!