The Lake District in 5 days
Five nights, roughly clockwise from Manchester — east lakes first, round the coast, home over the top. Every leg below is computed on our own road router; every stop count comes from our live map.
446 km all in, about 6h18 of driving across the week — including the run home to Manchester.
Stops below are described by type and area, not business name — we do not name a pub or farm as welcoming campers unless they have actually said so. The counts are live from our map and honestly labelled unverified.
Your route is not the standard route
The Lakes has its own Bealach na Bà, and this plan avoids it:
- Hardknott and Wrynose passes — gradients to 30%, hairpins with no run-off, and the highest breakdown-recovery callout rate in the national park. Not for a motorhome, in either direction, in any weather. This plan reaches Eskdale and Wasdale the long way round, by the A595 coast road — which is what the locals in big vehicles do.
- The Struggle (Ambleside to Kirkstone) earns its name; the A592 up Kirkstone from the south is the sensible side.
- Hawkshead and the lanes west of Windermere are tight for anything over 6 m — the ferry queue and the B5285 are not the shortcut they look.
Night 1 · Ambleside
Up the M6 and into the park by the A591 — the spine road, and the only fast road you will see for days. Ambleside at the head of Windermere is the working centre of the south lakes: gear shops, food, and the evening lake walk to Waterhead.
Stop type: Campsite at the lake head, or a booked pitch south along Windermere. Ambleside's own car parks are day parking.
Within 10 km on our map: 30 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Night 2 · Coniston
A short day round the lake foot — deliberately, because the driving here is slow and the point is the water. Coniston sits under the Old Man, and the lakeside path to Brantwood is the afternoon.
Stop type: Campsite or farm site around the village. The shore car parks are signed — read them.
Within 10 km on our map: 26 campsites & caravan sites · 2 service points · 1 water points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Slow section: everything between Windermere and Coniston. Allow double the map.
Night 3 · Ravenglass, for Eskdale and Wasdale
Out to the coast the long way — A595 round the bottom of the park, which is the motorhome road to the western valleys. Ravenglass is the base: the miniature railway runs up Eskdale, and Wasdale — the deepest lake, the biggest screes, the smallest church — is the detour that justifies the whole day.
Stop type: Campsite at Ravenglass or up Eskdale. Wasdale's parking is National Trust and day-only.
Within 10 km on our map: 11 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Do not let the satnav send you over Hardknott from Eskdale. It will try.
Night 4 · Keswick
North up the coast and in by the A66 under Skiddaw. Keswick is the north lakes in one town: Derwentwater at the door, Catbells across the water, and the best evening lakeshore of the trip at Friar's Crag.
Stop type: Campsite on Derwentwater or north of town. Book — Keswick fills first in the north lakes.
Within 10 km on our map: 32 campsites & caravan sites — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Worth the detour: Castlerigg stone circle, two miles up the hill.
Night 5 · Ullswater
Over the A66 and down to the quietest of the big lakes. The steamer plus the lakeside path from Howtown back to Glenridding is the best flat walk in the park, and Aira Force is on the way. Home to Manchester is about two hours down the M6.
Stop type: Campsite or farm site around Pooley Bridge. The lakeside car parks are day parking.
Within 10 km on our map: 37 campsites & caravan sites · 2 LPG — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
The part that is not about driving
The Lakes is the most visited national park in England, and its patience with vans is thinner than its car parks: the no-overnight signs at the lake shores and the National Trust's day-only rule exist because people ignored them. Book pitches in season, use the spine roads, and pull in to let the queue past on the narrow stretches — a motorhome with six cars behind it is the argument against motorhomes.
Wild camping in a motorhome is not a legal right in England — overnighting needs the landowner's permission, every time. The full explanation →