Top 20 cafés and tearooms in the Lake District
If you are a first-time visitor to the Lake District you will be amazed by the number of superb cafés and tearooms in the area. Many serve home-made pastries, cakes and Cumbrian specialities, and all offer a warm welcome. It would be impossible to list all the great cafés in the Lake District, but here are 20 of our favourites:
1.Café at RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Myers Farm, Silverdale, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA5 OSW. Tel: 01524 701601. Leighton Moss one of the most popular nature reserves in the lakes, and visitors can see spectacular wildlife around the park. The award-winning café offers home-cooked meals and desserts. All profits go towards helping nature, so you can enjoy a delicious lunch and help local wildlife at the same time.
2.Blackwell Tea Room, Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3JT. Tel: 015394 46139. One of the finest houses in Britain, Blackwell enjoys a stunning location overlooking Windermere. The Blackwell Tea Room offers a range of snacks and meals using local Cumbrian produce, home made cakes and a range of pastries.
3.Bryson´s of Keswick, 42 Main Street, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5JD. Tel: 017687 72257. Bryson´s Tea Room is located above the famous craft bakery and serves some of the most delicious snacks, cream teas and full meals, using local produce, in a traditional tea room atmosphere.
4.Café Oswald´s at Cranstons Cumbrian Food Hall, Ullswater Road, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 7EH. Tel: 01768 868680. This award-winning Cumbrian Food Hall offers visitors a wide choice of excellent Cumberland sausages, bacon, burgers and home-made pies, and also stocks an extensive range of delicious food supplied by local Cumbrian farmers.
5.Low Sizergh Tearoom, Low Sizergh Barn, Low Sizergh Farm, Sizergh, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8AE. Tel: 015395 60426. Serving delicious home made cakes, pies, home-baked breads and pastries, the Sizergh Tearoom is one of the best in the area. For a real taste of Cumbria, this is an excellent place to visit.
6.Fellbites Eatery at Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, Ravenglass, Cumbria, CA18 1SW. Tel: 01229 717171. This famous railway offers cafés and gift shops at both ends of the line, plus a children´s adventure play area, cycle trails and cycle hire. Fellbites offers a range of home-cooked snacks, cakes and meals to suit all appetites.
7.Café Pod at the Rheged Centre, Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 ODQ. Tel: 01768 868000. International award-winning centre, the Rheged is Europe´s largest grass-covered building, and is home to a giant cinema screen showing epic movies every day. The Café Pod offers delicious coffee, cakes and sandwiches in delightful surroundings.
8.Dalemain Tearoom at Dalemain Historic House and Gardens, Dalemain, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 OHB. Tel: 017684 86450. This beautiful historic family home is set against the stunning scenery of the Lake District Fells, and surrounding parkland. With a five acre garden, and some of the most beautiful landscapes in Lakeland nearby, the Dalemain Tearoom enjoys a fabulous location, and serves a range of meals using local produce and home made cakes and bread.
9.Francine´s Coffee House and Restaurant, 27 Main Rd, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 1DX. Tel: 015394 44088. Enjoy breakfast, coffee and tea with a range of home-made cakes or scones, or choose from the large lunchtime menu. An a la carte menu is offered in the evenings, making this one of the most popular cafés in the area.
10.Greystoke Cycle Café, Poplin Dub, Greystoke, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0UT. Tel: 017684 83984. This café is quirky, original and situated in a picturesque part of the Lake District. The café offers a wide range of workshops, including: Cookery, Willow Weaving, Art, Dry Stone Walling and ITC First Aid Courses.
11.Jumping Jenny at Brantwood, Home of John Ruskin, Coniston, Cumbria, LA21 8AD. Tel: 015394 41715. Situated at Brantwood, the former home of famous local resident, John Ruskin, the Jumping Jenny offers home cooked food and a daily specials menu to tempt visitors.The home of John Ruskin from 1872 until his death in 1900, Brantwood became an intellectual powerhouse and one of the greatest literary and artistic centres in Europe.
12.Farletonview Tea Room at Farelton View Fishery, Crooklands, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7NU. Tel: 015395 67328. The Tearoom overlooks the fly-fishing lake, which serves light meals, sandwiches, snacks and home-made meals. There is also a small plant nursery on site.
13.Lanercost Tearoom, Abbey Farm, Lanercost, Brampton, Cumbria, CA8 2HQ. Tel: 016977 41267. This is the perfect stop-off place for excellent food, including lunches, breakfasts and teas, and it is situated right next door to Lanercost Priory.
14.Conservatory Café at Conishead Priory, A5087 Coast Road, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 9QQ. Tel: 01229 584029. Offering light lunches, coffees and afternoon teas, the Conservatory Café offers excellent local produce in a warm and relaxing atmosphere. Outside tables overlook the south lawn, and this is one of the most scenic parts of the Lake District.
15.The Café at Brockhole, the Lake District Visitor Centre, Brockhole, Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 1LJ. Tel: 015394 46601. Brockhole is a great place to bring the kids, with interactive exhibitions, an adventure playground, a shop and an excellent café with home made cakes, breads and a delicious choice of local produce.
16.The World Peace Café, 5, Cavendish Street, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 7AD. Tel: 01229 587793. Serving the finest organic vegetarian food and speciality teas and coffees, the World Peace Café allows guests to relax and unwind in a beautiful location. Free Wi-fi is available at the café, and a meditation room offers regular classes.
17.Wellies Café at Greenlands Farm Village, Tewitfield, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA6 1JH. Tel: 01524 784184. This café offers restaurant-quality local food in wonderful surroundings. The café opens from breakfast until dinner, and includes a wood-burning pizza oven and an outdoor seating area in the picturesque garden.
18.The Poetry Tearoom at Rydal Mount and Gardens, Rydal Mount and Gardens, Rydal, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 9LU. Tel: 015394 33002. Rydal was William Wordsworth´s best loved Lake District home, and it was here he wrote many of his most famous poems. The Poetry Tearoom offers visitors a wide range of home-baked cakes, snacks, breads and lunches, using local produce and Cumbrian specialities.
19.The Bellingham Buttery at Levens Hall and Gardens, Levens, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 OPD. Tel: 015395 60321. This Elizabethan mansion boasts world famous topiary gardens, designed by M Beaumont in 1694. Fountains, gardens and a gift shop are situated close to the Bellingham Buttery which is a fully licenced restaurant offering visitors delicious breakfasts and lunches.
20.Tapestry Tearooms at the Quaker Tapestry Exhibition, Friends Meeting House, Stramongate, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4BH. Tel: 01539 722975. Offering superb vegetarian cuisine, cooked on the premises and a specials menu which changes every day, the Tapestry Tearooms are a great place to relax. Morning coffee, light bites, lunches and afternoon tea is offered in the tearoom every day that the Quaker Tapestry Exhibition is open.
Whichever part of the Lake District you decide to stay in, you won´t have to travel far to enjoy some of the excellent exhibitions, galleries, cafés, bars, boutique hotels, spa hotels, leisure facilities and events, which are held throughout the year in Cumbria. For more information about the Lake District, pick up a leaflet from any tourist information centre when you arrive.
