The BEST Pram-Friendly Walks in the Lake District

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🎃 October half term is creeping up! See what’s on across the Lake District.

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When planning your visit to the National Park, please arrive early or late in the day to avoid crowds if visiting over sunny weekends or school holidays. Please also take all litter home with you, don’t bring BBQs, and park your car in designated parking areas. Also, please use these walks as a guide; access and stiles may change.

PARKING INFORMATION: Please do not rely solely on the postcode for parking directions. In the National Park, a postcode can cover a large area. Postcodes are only provided as guidance. Please either use the Google Maps point or what3words, which are provided on every walk guide.

Location map of our Lake District pram-friendly walks

1. Bowness-on-Windermere walk (circular, 2.1km)

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Click here for start point

This easy pram-friendly walk in Bowness-on-Windermere is perfect for families looking for a gentle lakeside stroll. The route follows flat paths along the shore of Lake Windermere to Cockshott Point and Ferry Nab, with plenty of opportunities for little ones to play along the way.

Expect beautiful lake views, mini beaches for paddling, logs and rocks to climb on, and the chance to watch boats arriving at Ferry Nab, where the passenger ferry crosses to Far Sawrey. It’s a short, relaxed walk that’s ideal for toddlers and pushchairs / buggies.

2. Tarn Hows walk (circular, 3km)

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With its lush woodland, dramatic views over the Langdale Pikes and Coniston Fells, and pebble beaches edging calm water, it’s easy to see why Tarn Hows is one of the best pram-friendly walks in the Lake District. But despite its natural beauty, Tarn Hows is actually man-made, created in the 1860s when three smaller tarns were joined together as part of the Monk Coniston Estate, with many of the surrounding trees planted at the same time.

Previously owned by Beatrix Potter and now cared for by the National Trust, this easy circular route around Tarn Hows follows a well-maintained clockwise path around the tarn, where iconic Herdwick sheep graze alongside incredibly tame Belted Galloway cattle that can often be found cooling off in the water on warm days. Finish with an ice cream from Joey’s Café back at the car park, or grab a coffee to enjoy as you stroll.

3. West Windermere Way walk: Lakeside to Newby Bridge (linear, 3.3km)

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This short section of the West Windermere Way is an easy, pram-friendly linear walk from Lakeside to Newby Bridge (1.6km each way). Running mainly alongside the River Leven and the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, it follows well-surfaced paths and boardwalks that make it suitable for pushchairs and buggies. Quiet, scenic, and well signposted, it’s a relaxed way to explore the less busy western shore of Windermere, with a pub stop enroute.

While there is a handy car park for families arriving by car, you can also arrive by boat (click here for more information) or by steam train between Easter and the end of October (click here for information).

4. Brothers Water walk (linear, 4.3km)

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Just south of Patterdale, this sheltered walk around Brothers Water takes you alongside the lake, over rivers, past fields and farmland, all with dramatic views of the surrounding valley and hills. Mostly following a gravel path with a gentle, flat gradient, it’s a great choice for families, little legs, pushchairs and those looking for a more relaxed stroll. Along the way, there are plenty of places to stop along the lakeshore, explore and take in the scenery.

5. Red Nab to Wray Castle walk (linear, 5km)

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Tracing the western shore of Windermere, the route from Red Nab to Wray Castle offers one of the Lake District’s most scenic, accessible walks. Built in the 1840s as an extravagant, Victorian Gothic Revival mansion, the National Trust’s Wray Castle is rich in history, most famously serving as the summer home where Beatrix Potter first fell in love with the countryside, and as you walk this route to its approach, it’s easy to see why.

Highlights along this gentle trail include frame-worthy views across the water toward Red Screes and Wansfell, peaceful gravel paths through the native trees of Arthur Wood, and water-side picnic spots throughout. Best of all, thanks to well-surfaced paths upgraded under the ‘Miles Without Stiles’ initiative, the entire walk is wonderfully pram-friendly.  

6. Elterwater to Skelwith Bridge walk (linear, 5.2km)

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Historically shaped by slate quarrying and gunpowder works, this gentle walk between Elterwater and Skelwith Bridge packs spectacular Cumbrian scenery into a fantastic pram-friendly walk. Tracing the clear waters of Great Langdale Beck down to the calm shores of Elter Water, the route offers tranquil paddling spots for dipping your feet, sheltered woodland, and the roaring Skelwith Force waterfall.

Between the postcard views of Langdale Pikes framing the lake, and the treat of multiple cafés for fresh pastries or pub lunches, this is easily one of the most accessible and rewarding short walks in the National Park.