Buttermere

Getting there and parking

Without a car: The nearest stations as the crow flies are Sellafield (20 km away) and Corkickle (21 km away); the 77 stops at Buttermere Youth Hostel (near), 1.3 km from here; the last bus back is 18:21 towards Keswick Bus Stn 3 Monday to Friday (Saturday and Sunday differ), signed off against the operator’s timetable on 7 September. The bus map has every stop we hold.

The valley has one road, the B5289, which arrives over Honister Pass from Borrowdale, over Newlands Hause from Keswick by Moss Force, or up the Lorton valley from Cockermouth past Crummock Water; all three are narrow and the two passes are steep. On a fine weekend the village car parks fill by mid-morning and Gatesgarth's soon after, and once they have there is nowhere else: the verges are the road's passing places and the National Trust and the farms will tell you so.

The answer in summer is the 77 / 77A Honister Rambler, the seasonal loop from Keswick through Borrowdale, over Honister, down to Buttermere and back over Whinlatter (the 77A runs it the other way). It stops in the village, at the youth hostel and at Gatesgarth for Haystacks, which makes a linear walk possible: over the pass on the bus, back on foot. It is seasonal and it stops for the winter; the days it runs and the times are on the bus map, and the fell and route pages carry the last-bus figures where they have been checked.

If you drive, the car parks nearest the village are listed below, with what they charge and who runs them: the National Park's and the National Trust's in the village, the honesty-box field car parks behind the inns, and Gatesgarth Farm at the head of the lake. The searched-for postcode drops you in the village, but treat sat-nav as a guide on these lanes. The parking map shows every option in the valley on one map.

What to see

• The lake walk — the reason most people come, and it deserves its fame; the whole of it is below.
• Crummock Water — the bigger, wilder lake below the village, with Scale Force, the highest waterfall in the district, in a ravine on its far side.
• Moss Force — the roadside waterfall at the top of Newlands Hause, a spate fall best after rain, on the way in from Keswick.
• Haystacks — Wainwright's favourite fell, at the head of the lake above Gatesgarth, where his ashes were scattered at Innominate Tarn.
• The church — St James's above the village, with the memorial window to Wainwright that looks out to Haystacks.
• Rannerdale — the side valley below Crummock Water, famous for its wild bluebells in May, and the small fell of Rannerdale Knotts above it.
• Sour Milk Gill — the white fall down the far hillside from Bleaberry Tarn, seen from the whole of the lake walk.

Where to stay

The village is small and its beds go early. This is what is here, with the valley's alternatives:

Each is a business named for the reader's convenience, not a recommendation; check its own site for what it costs and whether it has room. Lorton and Loweswater down the valley and Keswick over the passes have the rest. There is no campsite on the lake shore, and wild camping on it is not allowed.

Pubs and food

The Bridge Hotel and the Fish Inn are the village's two pubs, both used to wet boots, and Syke Farm and Croft House Farm serve tea and ice cream from the farm yards. There is no shop in the valley; the nearest are at Lorton and Braithwaite, and Keswick over the pass has everything.

The Buttermere lake walk

The circuit is the reason most people come, and it deserves its fame: a near-level path right around the lake, roughly 4.5 miles (7 km), taking most walkers 2 to 2.5 hours (allow 3 with photo stops and a picnic). It is one of the gentlest of the big-lake circuits, stretches of it "Miles without Stiles"-easy, and you can start from the village and go either way. Two small surprises to know about:

• A short rock tunnel on the south-western shore (about 20 m, low-roofed, often wet and puddled underfoot), carved in the 19th century at the whim of a Manchester mill owner so his guests could walk the shore. It is fine, but a torch helps.
• One brief "rock step", a few moments of easy hands-on scrambling; otherwise the path is straightforward.

Runners love the circuit; cycling the shore path is not really on (it is a walkers' footpath, rough and busy), so ride the valley road or the passes instead. The Buttermere circuit route covers the shore walk in detail, stage by stage.

Spring closure: the nesting sandpipers

One honest caveat that catches people out: a short permissive path along the north-eastern edge is closed each spring, roughly 1 April to 30 June, to protect ground-nesting sandpipers. For most of the year the full circuit is open; in late spring you may have to follow a short signed diversion, so do not promise yourself the complete shoreline loop in May without checking the signs on the day.

Can you swim in Buttermere?

Yes, and it is lovely. There is a shallow, shelving entry and a small beach at the village end, which makes a natural place to wade in, paddle or launch a paddleboard. As always in Lakeland water, take cold-water care: it is cold year-round, there are no lifeguards, and you should ease in rather than jump. Out of respect for the ground-nesting birds, keep to the village end in spring rather than the quiet north shore.

The walks

Buttermere is the start of some of the best ridge days in the district. From the village, High Stile and Seat by Buttermere climbs Red Pike by Bleaberry Tarn and walks the whole of the High Stile ridge, and the Buttermere ridge takes it the other way; Scale Fell and Mellbreak goes round the Crummock side by Scale Force. From Gatesgarth at the head of the lake, Haystacks with Fleetwith Pike is the classic, and the tramway leads on to the Gable group. For the flat days, the Buttermere circuit and the Crummock Water shore from the village. Check the live fell conditions before the tops; the full list is below, with the fells each one climbs.