Lakes by Oar and Rail
We cross the lakes in two-person rowing boats and take the little trains between them. It is the slowest way to get anywhere, which is the point.
- Days
- 6
- Group
- Up to 8 people
- Pace
- Gentle
- Best season
- Spring and summer
- Example price
- EUR 2,120
Example price per person in EUR for a fictional trip. Not an offer; nothing can be booked.
Day 1: Alder Staithe · 3 km
Read the route as text
- Day 1, Alder Staithe, 3 km
- Day 2, Mere Head, 8 km
- Day 3, Rushby, 11 km
- Day 4, Skein Isle, 7 km
- Day 5, Hollow Quay, 12 km
- Day 6, Brack, 7 km
The route, day by day
Day 1Meet at the staithe
Alder Staithe, 3 km
A walk to the boathouse and a first row on the flattest water you have ever seen. We practise until no one is going in circles.
Day 2Row to Mere Head
Mere Head, 8 km
Eight kilometres of rowing with a long stop on a pebble beach. The mist lifts at ten, as if on a timetable.
Day 3A short train and a longer walk
Rushby, 11 km
A narrow-gauge train takes us over the divide and a path through alder carr leads to the next lake. Frogs are loud.
Day 4The island
Skein Isle, 7 km
We row out to an island with one house and one orchard and spend the afternoon eating what is in the orchard.
Day 5Forest and a quiet quay
Hollow Quay, 12 km
A long forest walk with oak, then pine, then more oak. The quay is a single jetty and a bench.
Day 6The last lake
Brack, 7 km
One more crossing and a walk to a road where a bus is parked and the driver is already asleep. We wake him gently.
Included
- Five nights in the places listed
- Breakfasts and five dinners
- Rowing boats and lifejackets
- Train tickets on the route
- A local boat guide
Not included
- Travel to Alder Staithe
- Lunches
- Travel insurance
Other routes
- HarrowfellHigh pastures, long light.
- SaltreachDunes, tides and one long road.
- Corvane TerracesRows, stone and the harvest.
- Kestrel PlainA very long horizon.