Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks Hocks Summer Outings!
Before we start this weeks post, we wanted to take a minute to tell you all about our new series...
"The Hocks On" will be replacing Top Of The Hocks on Friday's. As much as we have enjoyed doing our Top Of The Hocks series, it has been going for quite a long time now and we decided it was time for a change to keep the Blog fresh and interesting! For anybody who is disappointed that Top Of The Hocks is finishing, not to worry, we are sure there will still be the odd Top Of The Hocks post here and there, as we have enjoyed doing it ourselves! So, what is "The Hocks On"?? Well, "The Hocks On" will be a weekly series where we basically discuss anything we have on our minds that week! There are no rules! We could be discussing anything from a story in the news that week down to a product review of something we have bought that week! Also, if there is anything you would like to see us discuss, do feel free to send us requests, we would love to hear from you! The reason we have decided to start "The Hocks On" is because we wanted a series that would be totally different every week, making it interesting for both us and you! "The Hocks On" will be starting this Friday and we are really excited about it! Do keep an eye out, we look forward to seeing you!
Now, on with this weeks Hocks Summer Outings post! This week we have chosen the beautiful Lake Windermere....
The reason we have chosen Windermere is because we have had some wonderful family days out there ourselves and have created some wonderful memories there.
About Lake Windermere.
Lake Windermere is in The Lake District and at 10.5 miles long and 219 ft deep it is England's largest lake. In the late 19th Century many businessmen from Lancashire built grand mansions overlooking the lake. Since then, many of these have been made into hotels and because of its natural beauty, Lake Windermere has become and extremely popular place for holidaymakers and tourists to visit. There are lots of things to do and places to visit around Lake Windermere and the lake is today one of the prime destinations for watersports and is home to many marinas and sailing centres.
Things To Do Around Lake Windermere.
There is lots to do around Lake Windermere, so we have chosen to tell you about the things that we have done and enjoyed when we have been there, and would recommend to families.
The World Of Beatrix Potter.
The World Of Beatrix Potter is located in Bowness-On-Windermere and in this wonderful attraction, you can see Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and all the other characters from Potter's wonderful stories come to life. You can also learn all about Beatrix Potter's life and story.
When you first enter The World Of Beatrix Potter you pay, then enter a dark room with a big screen on the wall. You take a seat and are shown a short video all about Beatrix Potter and her stories. Once the video has finished, you hop through the rabbit hole into the magical world of Peter Rabbit and all his friends. It really is wonderful, you feel as though you really are in another little world..
You walk around all the beautiful displays, stopping on the way to read all about Beatrix Potter and her stories. She really did have a wonderful imagination.
Eventually you arrive outside, to our favourite part of the attraction, the Peter Rabbit Garden. The garden is full of beautiful flowers and displays. You really do feel as though you have stepped out into Mr McGregor's Garden, its magical!
After you have spent enough time taking in all the beautiful displays, you walk out into a very reasonably priced gift shop full to the brim with beautiful Beatrix Potter inspired goodies. There is also a lovely café you can visit if you fancy a drink or a bite to eat.
The World Of Beatrix Potter is a truly lovely few hours and really is well worth a visit. We are big fans of Beatrix Potter and her stories, Rosie absolutely loves The Tale Of Peter Rabbit. However, even if you're not a huge fan or very familiar with Potter and her stories, we can guarantee you will still thoroughly enjoy it and will be fans when you leave!
Admission Prices to The World Of Beatrix Potter are as follows..
Adult £6.95
Senior Citizen £5.95
Child £3.65
Infant (age 2 & under) FREE
Family Ticket (2 adults & 2 children) £18.50
Freedom pass (entry for one whole year for up to 2 adults and 2 children) £30.00
Freedom pass renewal £25.00
The address for The World Of Beatrix Potter is-
Crag Brow,
Bowness-on-Windermere,
Cumbria
LA23 3BX
You can find out anything more you need to know about The World Of Beatrix Potter by visiting their website http://www.hop-skip-jump.com .
Windermere Lake Cruises
Another one of our favourite things to do when we visit lake Windermere is go on a lake cruise. It is such a relaxing and enjoyable way to take in the sights. Windermere Lake Cruises have a number of different cruises you can choose from depending on where you are wanting to visit. These are..
The Yellow Cruise
This beautiful round trip from Bowness-On-Windermere can be taken as a 90 minute non-landing cruise. Or, alternatively you can get off at either Lakeside..
Or Bowness Pier..
Then return on a later boat. Each cruise includes a commentary on the history, attractions and points of interest around Lake Windermere.
The Prices for the Yellow Cruise are as follows..
Adult £10.80
Child £6.40
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children) £30.00
The Red Cruise
Again a round trip starting from Bowness can be taken as a 70 minute non-landing cruise. Or, alternatively you may get off at either Ambleside..
Brockhole..
or Bowness Pier..
Then return on a later boat. Again, each cruise includes a commentary on the history, attractions and points of interest surrounding Windermere.
Prices for the Red Cruise are..
Adult £10.30
Child £6.20
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children £29.00
Islands Cruise
This is 45 minute non-stopping circular cruise from Bowness where you can sit back and enjoy scenery of mountains, wooded shorelines and beautiful bays.
Prices for the Islands Cruise are..
Adult £7.70
Child £3.90
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children) £20.00
The Green Cruise (summer only)
Board one of Windermere Lake Cruises traditional launches from Ambleside for a stunning cruise around the northern end of Windermere. This is a 50 minute circular cruise. Or, alternatively you can get off at any stop and get a later boat back to enjoy a full day out. The Green Cruise is a great choice for families, with some great family attractions just minutes from the piers that it stops at such as Brockhole ..
and Wray Castle..
Prices for The Green Cruise are..
Adult £7.70
Child £3.90
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children) £20.00
Freedom Of The Lake
The Freedom Of The Lake is by far the best value cruise ticket as it is valid on all scheduled sailings islands, red, yellow and green cruises for a period of 24 hours. This means you can go on each cruise as many times as you want for 24 hours from the time the ticket is first used.
Prices for Freedom Of The Lake are..
Adult £19.00
Child £9.50
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children) £50.00
Evening Cruise (Summer Only)
This is one and a quarter hour non-stop cruise where you can watch the sunset over Lake Windermere. This cruise only takes place during the summer months and starting times will vary depending on the time of year and the time the sun sets.
This cruise is weather dependant so cannot be pre-booked, you just turn up during the day at Bowness Pier and check with the staff at the ticket office.
Prices for The Evening Cruise are..
Adult £10.30
Child £6.20
Family (consisting of up to 2 adults and 3 children) £29.00
To book your chosen Windermere Cruise and to see some of the special cruises they have to offer such as Walkers Tickets, Bike Cruise and Dinner Cruises click here.
Lakes Aquarium
Another thing we have thoroughly enjoyed during one of our trips to Lake Windermere is a visit to Lakes Aquarium. Lakes Aquarium is located in Lakeside (one of the stops that you can get off at on the Yellow Cruise). The Lakes Aquarium is fairly small but very well layed out.
The Lakes Aquarium consists of lots of interesting displays and creatures such as The Tropical Rainforest where you can find creatures such as marmosets, crocodiles and frogs, The English Lake District where you will find crayfish and harvest mice, The Seashore Discover Zone where you can look into the fascinating world of Rockpools plus lots more!
The Lakes Aquarium also has lots of talks throughout the day such as Otter Talks and Feeding, Lake Tunnel Talks, Rockpool Discovery Spotters Guide Talks and Rainforest Hands On Meet The Reptiles Talks.
The Lakes Aquarium also has a café and a gift shop if you fancy a bite to eat and a shop before you leave!
To find out more about what The Lakes Aquarium has to offer you can visit their website here.
Prices Of The Lakes Aquarium are..
Adult £6.95 or £5.95 if bought online in advance
Child (3-15 years) £4.95 or £3.95 if bought online in advance
Child Under 3 FREE
Senior £5.95 or £5.50 if bought online in advance
Disabled Adult £5.95
Disabled Child £4.50
Family (consisting of 2 adults and 1 child) £14.95 or £13.50 if bought online in advance
Family (consisting of 2 adults and 2 children) £18.95 or £16.95 if bought online in advance
Family (consisting of 2 adults and 3 children) £22.95 or £20.50 if bought online in advance
Sightseeing
Last but not least, one of the best (and cheapest!) things to do around Lake Windermere is just walk around browsing all the little shops and taking in all the beautiful sighs of this wonderful place. There are lots of cafes and restaurants to grab a drink or a bite to eat but we would recommend taking a picnic and eating it by the lake.. heaven!
To find about more of the things you can do and places you can visit during your time at Lake Windermere visit www.visitcumbria.com.
We thought we would end this post with a collection of pictures of some of the (in our opinion) best places you can see and visit around Lake Windermere.
Bowness-On-Windermere..
Ambleside..
Lakeside..
We hope you have enjoyed reading this weeks Hocks Summer Outings post all about Lake Windermere. Don't forget to join us on Friday for our brand new series "The Hocks On!" See you then!
