Best Ambleside Hotels
Ambleside Introduction
A bustling market town at the northern tip of the sprawling Lake Windermere, Ambleside is a playground for all things outdoors. A chocolate box centre brimming with meandering lanes, centuries-old buildings built from gleaming Lakeland stone and buzzy watering holes beside the Rothay give way to a verdant landscape of sweeping fells, soaring mountains and tumbling waterfalls. For explorers, painters and poets alike, Ambleside has long offered a picture-perfect gateway to the UNESCO-lauded Lake District National Park.Hotels in Ambleside
For a pocket-sized town, Ambleside delivers the unexpected with its selection of digs to suit every traveller. Friendly B&Bs and cosy country pubs find favour with walkers keen for a hearty Cumbrian breakfast to put a spring in their step, though if a splash of romance is on the agenda, memories are best made at a luxury hotel on the waterfront. Ambleside hotel deals are not that hard to find, especially outside of the busy summer months, but those on a budget soon discover the town's backpacker-approved hostels boast lively social spaces, WiFi on the house and rock-bottom rates.Where to stay
Town centre B&Bs and hotels in Ambleside serve up the perfect setting if you want to stay in the thick of it. And galleries, gift shops and smart stores touting a bewildering array of outdoor gear offer plenty of chances to squeeze in a little retail therapy. On the edge of town, as you head toward Windermere – the town's famous neighbour – a little more space comes into play at the grand Georgian and Edwardian mansions that line the lake's eastern shore. Here, you can often expect destination dining, upscale day spas and on-the-doorstep access to the park's prettiest walks.Things to see
History comes alive in Ambleside, and nowhere more so than at the Gothic Revival-style St Mary's Church – its unusual stone spire providing a local landmark since the 1850s – and quaint Bridge House, a National Trust-owned property built over the Rothay and one of the Lake District's most photographed scenes. The nearby Armitt Museum, also in the capable hands of the National Trust, displays Beatrix Potter's exquisite botanical drawings and personal first editions of her whimsical tales of Peter Rabbit and friends. A walk through the woods on the east of town leads to the free-flowing Stock Ghyll Force – a 70-foot waterfall that tumbles through rocks into a bowl-shaped pool – though if it's sweeping scenery you're after, you'd be just as well heading past the 2nd-century Galava Roman Fort to Waterhead Pier, where climbing aboard a traditional steamer to chug your way across Lake Windermere is a quintessential Lake District pastime.How to get to Ambleside
While Manchester Airport is the nearest airport to the Lake District, you'll still find yourself close to 100 miles from your Ambleside hotel. It's often far easier to hop on the train to Oxenholme and make your way from there, or pack up your car for a jaunty road trip along the M6. Once you've settled in, travel in Ambleside is best accomplished on foot or on the seat of a bike, though for the weary or those wanting to explore a little further afield, there's a decent bus service that trundles between Ambleside and the likes of Troutbeck and Grasmere.
