Each time we go to the Lake District we go on at least one cruise on Lake Windermere and our last visit was no exception – we took my mother in law on the journey from Bowness to Ambleside and she loved it!

The people who run the cruises are a company called Windermere Lake Cruises – I bet it didn’t take too long to think of that name!

The company runs cruises across the lake between Bowness, Ambleside (Waterhead) and Lakeside.

Bowness is a pretty holiday town which is the ‘heart’ of the Lake District. It has all sorts of shops from the traditional Tesco, Boots, Co-op and clothes shops to shops selling souvenirs of every kind. There are also plenty of cafes and restaurants here making it an interesting place to spend a couple of hours.

Ambleside is a beautiful town full of interesting shops selling everything from books to bikes and walking equipment to souvenirs. Again there are plenty of cafes and restaurants here including a lovely little cafe to be found just off the main street at the side of the stream.

Lakeside is at the southern end of the lake is the home of the award-winning freshwater Lakes Aquarium and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway, although I can’ comment on either of these as we haven’t visited them yet.

There is a selection of tickets available and all prices quoted are valid until November 2009 - they include:

24 Freedom of the Lake
This is exactly what it says in that it is a ticket for any journey as often as you like for a period of 24 hours. The price is £16 for adults and £8 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
Three Day Freedom Ticket
This is exactly the same as the 24 Freedom ticket except that it lasts for 3 days from the time of purchase. The price is £32 for adults and £16 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
Red Cruise
This is the journey from Bowness to Ambleside or vice versa. The price is £8.90 for adults and £5 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
Yellow Cruise
This is the journey from Bowness to Lakeside or vice versa. The price is £9.20 for adults and £5.20 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
Blue Cruise
This is the Island Cruise from Bowness out into the lake and round some of the many islands. The price is £6.60 for adults and £3.30 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
Green Cruise (Brockhole)

This is a 45 minute cruise from Waterhead, which is the Ambleside stop at the northern end of the lake to Brockhole where you will find the World of Beatrix Potter Exhibition. The price is £6.60 for adults and £3.30 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.

Walkers’ Ticket
This one is a single ticket which either starts or finishes in Bowness or Ambleside. The price is £8 for adults and £4.50 for children between the ages of 5 – 15.
There are a variety of cruising vessels which are used for the daytime cruises as detailed above and also for a variety of evening outings including dancing with dinner, a buffet, silver service or a barbeque. Dancing is available to a band, a disco or music played through an IPod and a casino can also be provided if required.
The vessels range from large white cruisers catering for 100 to 180 passengers for private charter through smaller vessels catering for 50 or 80 people to the smallest boats in the fleet which are the traditional wooden launches which can cater for up to 25 for a champagne reception . Most of the vessels have a lower deck with a licensed bar, a middle deck with seating and an upper deck where the dancing usually takes place.
The journey that we usually take is from Bowness, where we stay, to Ambleside and back. As I said earlier the actual stop for Ambleside is Waterhead where we disembark and walk up the road to Ambleside – a walk of about half a mile, which is pleasant enough in decent weather.

The journey itself is lovely – the views are nothing short of amazing across the lake to the mountains and hills beyond. The driver (is that what you would call him?) of the boat points out any landmarks as we go along, which makes the whole journey really interesting. We sit on the top deck in the sunshine of the weather is nice and if it is a bit miserable we sit inside on the middle deck where there is a bar selling tea, coffee, soft drinks, biscuits and sweets. There is another deck below where you will find the bar selling alcoholic drinks and also the toilets.

We always go on at least one Lake Cruise when we stay at Bowness and it makes a lovely day out for us and gives Dave a break from driving for the day. It also gives us a bit of exercise to combat all the nice food we eat whilst we are holidaying in the Lake District!