Ullswater

Ullswater is the second-largest lake in the English Lake District, stretching 12 kilometres through a glacially carved valley with fells rising steeply on both sides. It is widely considered the most scenically dramatic of the Lakeland lakes — the combination of scale, mountain backdrop, and the serpentine curve of the lake means you rarely see all of it at once.

The lake supports swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, and sailing. Wild swimming is popular at several points along the shores, particularly off the eastern bank near Howtown. The water is cold year-round but swimmable in summer. Paddleboard and kayak rentals are available from Ullswater Outdoor in Glenridding. The lakeshore is almost entirely undeveloped, which is what makes it so visually powerful.

things to do sight
A story
William Wordsworth wrote that the view of Ullswater from the fells was "perhaps the happiest combination of beauty and grandeur, which any of the Lakes affords." He was famously inspired by daffodils he saw along the Ullswater shoreline near Gowbarrow in April 1802, which became the subject of his most famous poem. The specific spot where he and his sister Dorothy saw the "host of golden daffodils" is still marked and still has daffodils in spring.

Other places in Things to Do