There’s Windermere, and there’s Bowness-on-Windermere, but both are at Windermere the lake. Repeat that to the kids on the way to your Bowness-on-Windermere campsite– it’s not at all confuddling and they’ll get it if you say/sing it long enough… Bowness-on-Windermere is the older of the two towns on the shores of the Lake District’s Windermere, growing from a village in the fifteenth century to the most popular destination in Cumbria in the twenty-first, and now showcasing the rascally anthromorphic characters of Beatrix Potter at the much-visited World of Beatrix Potter Centre.
Bowness-on-Windermere is about halfway between the north and south ends of Windermere at Waterhead and Lakeside, so take a steamer first one way then the other to cruise England’s biggest natural lake, or hire a motorboat at Bowness-on-Windermere marina to zip around the water and its islands in proper style. (Or both.) As expected, lots of other watery antics are to hand when camping in Bowness-on-Windermere – sailing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and windsurfing are all available from local providers just to gently ease you in, while out of the water we heartily recommend caving, karting, paintball, paragliding or climbing up local rock and mountain.
