Transport Travel Guide

Windermere, Kendal, Penrith and surrounds are easy to travel to by car, train, plane or ferry.

Manchester and Newcastle international airports are within easy reach for flights to the Lake District. Newcastle Airport, the closest, is around 60 miles from Penrith and has a wide range of flights to Europe and within the UK. Manchester, one of the UK's major international airports with flights from all over the world, is approximately 110 miles down the M6 from Carlisle. For cheap flights, Blackpool Airport, under an hour's drive from the Lake District, receives no-frills airlines from London, Stansted, the Isle of Man, Dublin and Belfast.

To reach The Lakes & East Cumbria by ferry, the port of Newcastle is the closest for travel from mainland Europe. Regular ferry crossings leave Newcastle for Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. For travellers visiting or arriving from Ireland, the port of Heysham is approximately 55 miles from Carlisle. Regular ferries cross to Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Penrith railway station is on the west coast main line, with trains running north to Carlisle and Scotland, and south to London and the Midlands. The scenic Settle to Carlisle Line carries trains from Yorkshire and the north-east, with stops at Appleby and 'Hadrian's Wall'.

To drive to The Lakes & East Cumbria, the town of Penrith is close to the M6 which travels north - south through the region connecting the Midlands to Scotland. Further west, Keswick, Derwent Water and the upper lakes are on the A66. From Keswick the A591 travels south-east to Kendal via Ambleside, Grasmere and Windermere in the Lake District National Park.