Windermere Cottages

The small town of Windermere runs into the town of Bowness-on-Windermere where it meets the lake Windermere. Bowness is on the lake shore, with a promenade and steamer jetties, while Windermere is about a mile and a half further inland. The railway connects Windermere with the West Coast Main Line through a junction at Oxenholme, near Kendal. Both towns have busy shopping centres with a good choice of bars and eating establishments although Bowness is the largest and most bustling with boutique type fashion and outdoor wear shops, delicatessens and groceries, gift and antique shops. A vast range of tourist accommodation of all types serves the holidaymaker: hotel, inn, guesthouse, bed and breakfast (b&b), hostel and self catering houses and cottages. Much of the self-catering accommodation is available in the older slate built terraces near the centre of the towns or else in estate cottages or converted barns or other buildings in the nearby countryside. Some larger houses have been split into apartments for tourist rents. A few are purpose built.