Wray Castle is a vast Victorian neo-Gothic pile on the western shore of Windermere, built in the 1840s for a Liverpool gin distiller and now owned by the National Trust. The architecture is over the top in the most enjoyable way — turrets, battlements, stained glass, fake medievalism — and the gardens slope down to the lakeshore.
The interior is being slowly restored and is run with an informal, family-friendly approach. Boat trips from the castle pier across to Ambleside operate in summer. Combine a visit with a walk along the shore back to Hawkshead.