The Lake District is undoubtedly a stunner to look at but it’s also a great big adventure playground. Which is excellent news for families with hard-to-please children. Apart from the obvious fell-walking – Cat Bells, Gummer’s How and Latrigg are good for little legs or first-timers – there are watery activities and mountain biking plus gorge scrambling and rock-climbing for the more adventurous.
Gentler, but equally diverting activities, include lake cruises, steam train rides and quirky attractions such as Keswick’s Pencil Museum and the World of Beatrix Potter.
Then all you need is a hotel that entertains families, too. Some have decent-sized pools and children’s play areas, or maybe an outdoor trail. Others offer kayaking lessons and off-road driving, and at least one has a Beatrix Potter-themed afternoon tea. Enticing children’s menus (not just fish fingers) can be found as well as bedrooms with fun bunk beds in family rooms, plus welcome children’s treats.
The best family-friendly hotels in the Lake District
At a glance
1. The Swan Hotel and Spa, Newby Bridge
As soon as you step inside, you know this is going to be a fun hotel with its bold-patterned wallpapers, sofas and armchairs in hot pinks and oranges, a swimming pool behind reception, and a lilac-coloured pool table in the children’s play-room. Bedrooms, too, are similarly colourful. The whitewashed, 17th-century former coaching inn beside a stone-arched bridge near the southern end of Windermere has been considerably extended but without losing its charm. You can still sit on the terrace overlooking the river to take afternoon tea, or enjoy a drink in its stone-flagged bar.
For children, there’s an indoor playroom with games and toys, plus an outdoor adventure playground; for grown-ups there’s an extensive indoor-outdoor spa. The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway, plus landing stage for Windermere cruises, is a five-minute walk. Children’s welcome packs include night-time milk and cookies.
2. Armathwaite Hall Hotel and Spa, Bassenthwaite
For families, the big pull of this hotel, overlooking Lake Bassenthwaite, is that children have free entry to the next-door Wildlife Park (and adults are two-for-one). The conservation-driven park includes lemurs, meerkats, zebras, yaks and red pandas, as well as birds of prey – with daily displays of the latter as well as ‘come and meet’ sessions for the mammals. Apart from that excitement, there’s a large pool and spa, tennis court, archery lessons plus extensive grounds (down to the lakeshore) in which to romp around.
The hotel – a former Victorian stately home - is grand with battlemented parapets, vast rooms, huge fireplaces and oak panelling. So, plenty of space for young explorers to discover. Bedrooms range from traditional in the original hall to more contemporary in the spa wing. There are family rooms with bunk beds as well as interconnecting rooms while eating choices range from fun and casual to fine dining.
Read more: The best walks in the Lake District – beautiful lakeside hiking routes and where to stay
3. Cuckoo Brow Inn, Far Sawrey, near Hawkshead
This cheerful, family-run (two generations) inn, near the western shores of Lake Windermere, is ideal for Beatrix Potter fans: 10 minutes up the road is Potter’s house, Hill Top, while across the lake by ferry (20 minutes) is the World of Beatrix Potter attraction in Bowness. And if children have excess energy to burn, Grizedale Forest with its zip-wires, tree-top adventures, forest walks and mountain-biking trails, is a 15-minute drive.
Return to a warm welcome at the inn – literally, there are two log fires – which has a useful adjoining Stables Bar for groups and families, separate from the main bar, as well as a beer garden. Food is above-average pub classics and there are three family rooms with bunk beds plus there are free cots.
4. The Yan, Grasmere
If your family likes punchy food, decent walks and cracking views they’ll feel at home in this family-run bistro-with-rooms. A converted farm and outbuildings, The Yan sits at the foot of a fellside, a 15-minute walk from the centre of Grasmere village. The seven bedrooms, all with sofabeds that sleep an additional one or two, sit above the bistro in the former stone-built barn and have a sleek, minimalist white-and-grey style that makes the most of the size. All have fell views.
Several walks start straight from the door including Helm Crag and Grisedale Tarn. Otherwise there are low-level walks around Grasmere lake plus Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage and the hard-to-resist Grasmere gingerbread shop.
The Yan’s popular modern-rustic bistro (booking essential), with children’s menu, offers punchy Modern European classics given a Cumbrian spin. Leave room for the puddings!
Price: From £145
5. Another Place, Watermillock, Ullswater
This contemporary country-house hotel will be of interest if there are any water-babies amongst your flock. It sits on the western shores of Ullswater, the second-largest of the area’s lakes at 7.5 miles, with grounds that run down to the water’s edge and include a private jetty. Getting guests in or on the water is one of the hotel’s aims. Try your hand at open-water swimming (free wetsuits and floats), stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, with tuition if needed, plus there are regular group activities such as cross-lake swims (even night swims) as well as children’s activities in the Kids’ Zone. If that all sounds too energetic, there’s an indoor pool plus small spa and outdoor hot tub.
Family rooms include shepherd’s huts (gorgeous and snug, and with fire-pits) plus two cottages, and there are handy pantries with fridges and microwaves in corridors. Three dining options, including a pizza place by the lake, baby-monitoring and baby-sitting services all add up to a fun and relaxed family stay.
Price: From £270
Read more: Best hotels in the Lake District for lakeside views, spa breaks and Michelin-starred meals
6. Low Wood Bay, Windermere
This white-washed resort-style hotel, overlooking the northern end of Lake Windermere, is a stalwart of the Lake District hotel scene, though much-expanded (130 rooms) and glossied-up in recent years. With its range of bedrooms from modest courtyard rooms to lake-view to swanky glass-balconied affairs in a private-access chalet-style building, it caters for most pockets and tastes.
Families are well looked-after with an indoor pool, watersports centre and swish spa (adults-only) with infinity pool, as well as numerous lounge areas. Eating choices, with children’s menu options, are wood-fired grills in one restaurant, or Modern British in the other, plus an all-day offering of snacks and cakes. All children receive a welcome pack, too.
7. Storrs Hall, Bowness-on-Windermere
Set in grounds leading down to the shores of Windermere, Storrs Hall – a Georgian core with a Victorian extension – offers peace and privacy if you’re looking for a quieter family stay. There are 17 acres to wander, a splendid south-facing terrace and lawn, and a private jetty; sailing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding lessons can be arranged. The hotel’s sleek motorboat, Abigail Leah, can also be hired for private jaunts.
There’s fine dining, with a terrific lake view, or more casual in bright and buzzy bistro surrounds with children’s menus offered. There’s also a special Tiny Tots Tea with a clever Beatrix Potter theme: bunny-shaped sandwiches, lemon mousse ducklings, chocolate mice and carrot cake rabbits. Grown-ups can join in, or order their own grown-up afternoon tea.
8. The Coniston Inn, Coniston
For a good-value, family-friendly hotel, on a lakeshore, this one ticks the boxes. Indeed, The Coniston Inn is the only hotel that has access to Coniston Water’s shoreline and enjoys lovely views across the water. Even better, it has its own jetty, a two-minute walk from the hotel, from which to catch the launch boats that cruise around the lake.
The hotel’s rustic-style, open-plan ground floor bar-restaurant-lounge offers an all-day menu of pub classics, with a separate children’s menu. The atmosphere is bright and jolly, helped by the very friendly staff. Bedrooms – with bunk beds in family rooms - are simple and fuss-free and what they lack in style they make up for with plenty of space.
Read more: How to do the Lake District car-free
9. The Royal Oak, Keswick
Plum in the centre of possibly the most attractive of the Lake District’s towns – Keswick - the Royal Oak is a time-served inn that’s been given a contemporary makeover while still retaining the welcome of a traditional pub. So, it’s warm, cosy and friendly in all the right places. Bedrooms have handsome oak headboards, bold feature wallpapers and bright throws; family rooms offer sofabeds and possibly the odd cuddly toy to welcome children. Food is hearty and filling pub food; children’s portions available.
There’s plenty to keep the family occupied in Keswick without needing to use the car, from the quirky Pencil Museum and twice-weekly market to boat trips across Derwentwater, a lakeside pitch-and-putt course and an easy walk up Latrigg fell for fantastic views.
10. Tweedies Bar & Lodge, Grasmere
In the middle of pretty Grasmere village, but surrounded by lawns and trees, this family-run hotel has a great location yet feels away from the tourist crowds. Bedrooms are spread between the main building and a converted barn, the latter ‘mews’ rooms perfect for families as they have a mezzanine bedroom for parents and a sofabed below for the kids. The four mews rooms also have access to a hot tub on their shared patio.
The lake, with its rowing boats, is a 10-minute walk, and it’s a further 20 minutes to a lovely little beach. Grasmere is also well-served by buses if you want to explore without the car. Return to the vast south-facing beer garden where the kids can run around while grown-ups enjoy a drink.
Meals in the hotel’s buzzy bar-restaurant are punchy crowd-pleasers – fish and chips, home-made pies and burgers – while adults might appreciate the bar’s range of 15 real ales and ciders.
