By familywalkslakes on March 17, 2019 ( 5 Comments )

Rydal Hall, Rydal

So today we’d like to share with you one of our special spots in the Lake District… Rydal Hall. This is a beautiful, and often quiet place, in the sometimes very busy Lakes, which provides everything required for a fantastic fun family walk.

With waterfalls, formal gardens, woodland, fairy trails, the sculpture path and no entry fee, we have always wondered why no one has ever truly discovered this secret gem!

You’ll find Rydal Hall just off the main road between Ambleside and Grasmere. Parking is available on site, with permit being available to purchase from Reception. The cost is £5, which covers a full days parking and includes a £2 discount voucher from your total bill in the cafe. Cars are requested to park in the lower car park.

After parking up we headed through the formal gardens, where the kids enjoyed a run around and playing near the impressive fountain. Then we followed the path through the “quiet garden” down towards the “Grot”, which is the perfect indoor viewing spot for the waterfalls.

We looped back up to view the falls from the bridge above and then wandered over to discover the sculpture path. The kids really loved finding all the different art pieces throughout the woodland. We also went inside the “Ice House” to discover where they used to keep their food cold.

You can walk any route through the woodland, and we covered approximately 0.5 mile in total. If you wanted a longer walk, you could extend this easily. When the baby woke up, we headed to the cafe to use our voucher. We can highly recommend the flapjack!

Apart from beautiful gardens, amazing waterfalls, sculptures, fountains and cake, the big win for us with a baby is that you’re never too far from the car, a toilet or the cafe! Have a look round Rydal Hall‘s website.

However on the flip side, if you wanted a full days adventure, you could base yourself here and head across to Rydal Caves, White Moss, Loughrigg, Alcock Tarn, Buckstones Jump, walk some of the Coffin Trail or many many more!

If you fancied pub grub, Badger Bar is just up the road and serves delicious food.

Today we tried out our new “Go Find It” cards. The kids absolutely loved them! You could easily make these yourself, however if you’re short on time, these cards are beautiful, with profits going to the Sensory Trust Charity. Each card has something on it that the kids have to find, e.g. smooth, bumpy, colourful, light, thin, small, big etc. Anyway they were a big hit and will be coming with us on all of our future adventures, to add to the list of games we play whilst on our walks!

For more family walks, great picnic spots and pubs, stay up to date and “like” our facebook page Family Walks and Pubs in the Lake District and follow us on Twitter @familywalklakes