{"id":3509,"date":"2021-12-14T16:27:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T16:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:35:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:35:40","slug":"our-favourite-festive-villages-to-visit-over-christmas-and-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/our-favourite-festive-villages-to-visit-over-christmas-and-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Favourite Festive Villages to visit over Christmas and New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Lake District is blessed with many stunning villages and towns to visit, and the locals love to decorate for the festive season.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a few you may like to visit on your festive stay. Think twinkling lights, the smell of hot chocolate and perhaps some festive music playing, all in the backdrop of the beautiful Lake District.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>Hawkshead<\/strong>:<\/h4>\n<p>This quant ancient village was almost made for Christmas!\u00a0 With white-painted houses, little pedestrianised streets and alleyways, homely warm pubs, and welcoming shops.\u00a0You\u2019ll find the small church atop the hill, and <strong>Esthwaite Water<\/strong> nearby. Plenty of walks all around, include Latterbarrow, and you can drive to the lovely Far Sawrey in 10 minutes with the atmospheric Tower Bank Arms another cosy pub, next to <strong>Hill Top<\/strong>, home of <strong>Beatrix Potter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3514\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3514\" class=\"wp-image-3514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1726622161.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3514\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hawkshead Village<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Windermere and Bowness on Windermere:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Two of the busiest towns in the Lakes, these 2 are a mile apart, with <strong>Bowness<\/strong> sat on the lakeshore, and <strong>Windermere<\/strong> a mile up the road.\u00a0 Both are bustling with Christmas lights, festive eateries, great pubs, restaurants, and shops.\u00a0 They also have walks galore all around, and of course the famous <strong>Windermere Lake Cruises<\/strong>, offering beautiful views of the higher fells as you sail around England\u2019s longest lake, perhaps enjoying a mince pie and a brew.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3191\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3191\" class=\"wp-image-3191\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/10\/shutterstock_585882374.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3191\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View of the boats on Windermere from Orrest Head<\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>Glenridding<\/strong>:<\/h4>\n<p>on the shores of Ullswater at the south end, this lovely village has pubs and bars for food and drink, local shops, and stunning walks, from Aira Force, to Helvellyn, and the lakeshore favourite that is Howtown to Glenridding.\u00a0 There is the Ullswater Way which you can do all or part of.\u00a0 Why not enjoy a trip on one of the <strong>Ullswater Steamers<\/strong> from its base here, to get the full atmosphere of this beautiful lake and they are running various festive trips.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3510\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3510\" class=\"wp-image-3510\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/shutterstock_1610190259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3510\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ullswater Steamers just leaving Glenridding<\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>Ambleside:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Another bustling busy town, with plenty of shops, pubs, cafes, and restaurants.\u00a0 A good vibe during the festive season, whether you are walking the fells all around, or just \u2018ambling\u2019 through.\u00a0 Great place to recharge yourself with great food and drink, meet friends, and even take in a film at <strong>Zeffirelli\u2019s<\/strong>, or head up the climbing wall on a rainy day.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Pooley Bridge:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>On the north side of Ullswater, you can approach from Penrith or drive up the Kirkstone Pass from Ambleside. A small bustling town with lots of pubs and eateries to keep you happy. Lovely walks include <strong>Aira Force<\/strong> nearby, as well as a lakeshore amble, and of course the Ullswater Way threads itself around the entire lake. and the breathtaking views of this wonderful lake.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Keswick:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The \u2018capital\u2019 of the North Lakes, sitting on the north end of Derwentwater, and surrounded by majestic fells whichever way you look.\u00a0 Enjoy great local shopping, festive eating, and drinking here, and the award-winning <strong>Keswick Market<\/strong> is on twice a week.\u00a0 One of the most dog-friendly towns in the UK your pooch will also be welcome.\u00a0 You can also enjoy a cruise on the lake with Keswick Launches, or perhaps head up majestic Catbells on the lake, or Skiddaw, the backdrop to the town.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2772\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2772\" class=\"wp-image-2772\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/03\/Keswick-6-1200px.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keswick Market<\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>Cockermouth:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A handsome Georgian town, once the childhood home of <strong>William Wordsworth<\/strong> and stories abound about Fletcher Christian.\u00a0 This town is fast becoming a foodie-destination and the Christmas lights and festivities around all the shops, pubs and restaurants will certainly bring you good cheer. You are also handy for Loweswater, Crummock Water &amp; Buttermere.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3512\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3512\" class=\"wp-image-3512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/Screenshot-2021-10-13-at-12.32.10.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"354\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3512\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cockermouth Christmas lights<\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>Kendal<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>the friendly market town in the south of the Lakes, home of the famous <strong>Kendal Mint Cake<\/strong>.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find a busy high street with shops, cafes and pubs to welcome you, along with the ruins of the Castle on the horizon, the fast-flowing River Kent, and one of the largest parish churches in the UK. \u00a0Walks nearby include Scout Scar with views across Morecambe Bay and Arnside.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>B<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rowse our cosy cottages here<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3162\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/10\/fwb-christmas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"376\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lake District is blessed with many stunning villages and towns to visit, and the locals love to decorate for the festive season. Here\u2019s a few you may like to visit on your festive stay. Think twinkling lights, the smell of hot chocolate and perhaps some festive music playing, all in the backdrop of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":3516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[715,1029],"tags":[892,1992,1937,1990,1991,1954],"class_list":["post-3509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink","category-things-to-do","tag-christmas","tag-hawkshead","tag-keswick","tag-new-year","tag-villages","tag-windermere","location-ambleside","location-hawkshead","location-lake-district","location-windermere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3509"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8906,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions\/8906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}