Visitors often take home unexpected details about their holiday destination.. Windermere is a case in point. There is a lake called Windermere – not Lake Windermere nor Windermere Lake, simply Windermere. Then there is a town called Windermere, which is about a mile from the lake itself.

The only town actually on the lakeside is Bowness-on-Windermere, a bustling small community with a wide range of shops, cafes, pubs and top quality hotels. Parking is not easy because of the area’s popularity, but you do have to explore on foot.

Visit the shops, sit outside with an ice cream or a coffee, or head for the waterfront and indulge in a lake cruise, or hire your own small boat, powered, or self-propelled (you do the rowing or pedalling). Mind the ducks as you stroll along the lake front – they’ll hustle you for crumbs and/or ice cream.

Windermere is England’s largest natural lake. It is more than eleven miles long (18km)  and just under a mile wide (1.5km) at its widest point. Its maximum depth is 219ft (67m).

While on the lake, enjoy the vistas of its nineteen islands, the largest of which, Belle Isle, is privately owned and was once the centre of the manor of Windermere and the barony of Kendal.

Windermere has been a popular location for films and novels, including Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome and one of the Inspector Lynley novels, Believing the Lie.

A novel way to explore is to head for Haverthwaite (on the A590), park and take a steam train ride round to Lakeside, where you can set out on a lakes cruise covering all or part of the lake before returning for your homeward journey.

Whatever you chose do do, or see, Windermere is guaranteed to impress