Windermere railway station is the closest station to Bowness, about a mile uphill from the lake — a 20-minute walk or a short bus or taxi ride. Direct trains run from Manchester Piccadilly and there are connections from London Euston via Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line. Euston to Windermere takes around three hours with a change at Oxenholme. Local buses connect the station to Bowness frequently through the summer months.
By car, Bowness is well signposted off the A591 from Windermere town. The A591 runs from Kendal (10 miles south) through Windermere and continues north to Ambleside and Grasmere. Driving into Bowness itself is straightforward, but parking is the challenge: the pay-and-display car parks along the lakefront fill quickly on summer weekends, and the queues on the approach roads can be significant. Arriving before 10am avoids most of it; arriving after 3pm when day-trippers start to leave also works.
The Windermere Ferry crosses the lake from Bowness to the western shore at Ferry Nab, giving access to Hawkshead, Hill Top, and the less-visited western side of the park. It operates year-round except in very high winds.