I decided that Chris and I needed a night away. I hadn’t actually realised that the night I had planned this for, happened to be on the week of the school holidays! Worry not I thought. I could find a child free hotel to stay at, somewhere quiet in The Lakes.

My search was extensive, I trawled the Internet and finally decided on Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel. It wasn’t child free but it looked amazing. Breath taking views across Lake Windermere, private, secluded gardens and a Beatrix Potter room. So called because Potter once owned Lindeth Howe, she bought it for her mother in 1915. Beatrix Potter also illustrated Timmy Tiptoes and Pigling bland whilst staying there.

The hotel is nestled away in the woods at the end of a windy driveway, surrounded by silence and inspiration.

We were given a tour of the hotel by the wonderfully helpful reception lady and were made to feel as though nothing would be too much trouble. We were tempted to dine there, in the restaurant that once housed the worlds most expensive dessert. (2011)

Unfortunately it was slightly out of our budget so we headed in to Bowness instead. There’s a path leading from the bottom of the hotel gardens that takes you on to the main road and straight in to the town centre, it’s about a 15 – 20 minute walk in to Bowness, if you don’t stop to hug the giant trees in the middle of the pavement…

Most places were getting pretty busy as it was going on for 7pm. We decided on The Flying Pig. It wasn’t so busy that you had to yell at each other to be heard and it wasn’t the kind of quiet that you had to worry why nobody else was eating there. The service was pleasant, the food was good and the ale was better.

We arrived back at the hotel to find our bed turned down, curtains drawn and our biscuits and hot chocolate replenished!

I don’t sleep well in strange places so unfortunately I didn’t get the restful nights sleep I was hoping for. This wasn’t something the hotel could have changed, I’m just rubbish at relaxing 😦

The room was incredible, the bed was huge, seriously I think I lost Chris at some point through the night. Complimentary toiletries as standard but also ear buds and cotton buds which I think is a nice touch, complimentary bottled water and a chocolate mint on our pillows. Also the biscuits with the refreshments were delicious.

We had breakfast at the hotel, I had kippers and Chris had the salmon and scrambled egg. Both dishes were faultless. The staff members were attentive and ever so helpful. The building is beautiful and steeped in history. Well worth a visit even if it’s just to see the cute little zebra finches in the garden!

We were very kindly given a 10% discount voucher from the hotel manager for the Windermere Lake Cruises, so we headed there after breakfast and boarded the Tern ‘steamer’. Built in 1891 as a steam powered yacht, the now diesel powered ‘Tern’ is whopping 145 feet in length and can hold 350 passengers.

We chose the ‘Yellow Line’ cruise, which is 90 minutes, leaving from Bowness, stopping at Lakeland and then back to Bowness. The on-board facilities include a bar and light refreshments.

The trip down Lake Windermere may incite some feelings of jealousy, there are some insanely, incredible houses. I have already incorporated owning one in to my 5 – 10 year plan 🙂

After out relaxing trip past our future home, we stopped for lunch at The Easy Breeze Cafe. This place is amazing, they have an awesome rustic, style decor and the food was incredible. I would happily drive up to Bowness every day to have lunch here if I could afford the petrol!

I had the Garlic Chicken Flatbread and Chris had Spicy Chicken and Chorizo Ciabatta, both were equally yummy and I suggest that you please come and open an identical cafe in Bingley 😉 Thank you…

We finished our day with a visit to Kimi’s Gelato Bar. This American style gelato bar is a a dream come true for any sweet tooth. They have tray bakes, cakes, sorbets, milkshakes, waffles and crepes. The ice-cream looked out of this world but I had to go for a maple syrup crepe with cream and it was divine. Chris had the lemon sorbet with chocolate covered popping candy. It was all delicious!

We’ve had a wonderful little trip. I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you Bowness-on-Windermere, you were wonderful ♥