Cosy and full!

Visitors to our Bowness guest house often want to know where they can stop off for a little repast when gadding about Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere, so I thought I would write about some small local eateries. Please note that these are mere suggestions and NOT recommendations.

One of the best known coffee shops in Windermere is Renoir’s. This is a convenient stopping place for a light lunch, hot drinks and yummy cakes. I have sampled their carrot cake and chocolate gateau, but, otherwise, nothing else. The confections are handmade by one of the chefs and I particularly enjoyed the carrot cake. Orrest Head is a popular viewpoint easily accessed from Windermere town. Walkers might reward themselves with cake and tea or coffee at Renoir’s after an invigorating walk to Orrest Head.

For travellers arriving into or leaving Windermere train station, the most convenient coffee house is the First Floor Cafe at Lakeland Plastics. Like Renoir’s, the cafe offers meals as well as sweet treats, and is ideal for a quick snack or, certainly, finer dining than what the train service from Windermere can manage. Visitors might also enjoy browsing through Lakeland Plastic’s thousands of items for home and garden. (www.lakeland.co.uk)

There are more eateries in Bowness-on-Windermere, and one of the most centrally located is Roberto’s. This bistro is open for lunch as well as evening service. Visitors coming off the ferries on Lake Windermere will find Roberto’s a cosy place to warm up after the sometimes chill breeze off the water.

There are plenty more places to eat in Bowness-on-Windermere and Windermere. In fact, there must be around 30 pubs, restaurants, bistros, and cafes to choose from in Bowness itself. Windermere probably as about 20 to choose from. These numbers are quite incredible considering the fact that both towns are not large by any standard!

So, when you next visit Bowness-on-Windermere or Windermere, and are thinking about where you might keep cosy and eat well, do consider the merits of the many eateries both these little towns have to offer. On wet, cold or windy days, a nice cafe, bistro, pub or restaurant surely cannot do better than offering an eager visitor a warm welcome, and good food and drink to line the intrepid traveller’s stomach! Keeping cosy and full is the motto!

‘Blenheim Lodge . . . panoramic Lake views, peace and tranquillity, nestled against acres of beautiful fields and woodlands, in the heart of the English Lake District National Park.’