Two car-free days from Ambleside
Two days out of Ambleside without a car, each one a whole outing: how you get there, the walk, and how you get back. The bus times on this page are read from the published timetable for the date you choose, and it says plainly when a date is past the timetable we hold.
Each outing below is for Saturday 24 October 2026. Check the timetable before you rely on the last bus.
Day 1: Wansfell Pike and Baystones, from the door
For Saturday 24 October 2026
No bus and no boat: the walk starts in Ambleside and ends there, so the only clock is daylight.
- The walk: Wansfell Pike and Baystones: 11.92 km, 560 m of climbing, about 4 h 25 at a steady pace (walked by Lee).
Start walking by 11:31. On this date the sun sets at about 17:56 at the start. With the site's two-hour margin, start walking by 11:31; to finish before sunset at all, by 13:31.
The walk starts and finishes in the town, so turning back at any point brings you home on foot.
Day 2: the 505 to Coniston, the Old Man round, the 505 back
For Saturday 24 October 2026
A big mountain day on the bus: Coniston Old Man from the village, with the last 505 back to Ambleside in the evening.
- Out by bus: First bus from Ambleside, Hayes Garden Centre: the 505 at 09:47, reaching Coniston, The Crown at 10:33. The stop’s page. From Stagecoach Lakes by Bus, Summer 2026, signed to 1 November 2026. Stagecoach’s timetable.
- The walk: Coniston Old Man Round: 16.1 km, 1155 m of climbing, about 6 h 51 at a steady pace (walked by Lee).
- Back by bus: Last bus back from Coniston, the Ruskin Centre towards Ambleside: the 505 at 18:44. The stop’s page. From Stagecoach Lakes by Bus, Summer 2026, signed to 1 November 2026. Stagecoach’s timetable.
Tight on this date: the first bus gets you to the start after 08:52, the latest start. To have an hour in hand for that bus at a steady pace, be walking by 10:39. On this date the sun sets at about 17:57 at the start. With the site's two-hour margin, start walking by 08:52; to finish before sunset at all, by 10:52. The first bus arrives at 10:33 and the walk from the stop takes 7 minutes, so you start 108 minutes after 08:52, the latest start that keeps the two-hour margin: tight on this date.
The last 505 is the last bus from Coniston towards Ambleside in the timetable we hold. The route is long: if the first bus is late or the day is short, a shorter walk from the same stop is the fallback, not a later bus.
Which timetable this reads
Bus times: Stagecoach Lakes by Bus, Summer 2026 (23 March to 1 November 2026), signed by Lee to 1 November 2026. Stagecoach has published its Lakes by Bus, Winter 2026/27 timetable (2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027, read on 16 October 2026); we have not checked its times yet, so for those dates this page prints no time and links it rather than guessing. This page was built on 24 October 2026. The live source is Stagecoach’s timetable (and its Winter 2026/27 timetable). No sailing time is printed anywhere: the boat operator’s own page is the only place to read one.