See this British lake on a 1920s-inspired sailing trip

Formed by glacial erosion and meltwater during the last ice age, Windermere is England’s largest lake. It’s been popular with travellers since the Napoleonic Wars, when the upper classes couldn’t travel abroad and it became part of an English equivalent of the Grand Tour. Family-owned stone boatsheds still dot its shores, as do the grand mansions of English lords, ladies and millionaires, some dating to the 18th century.

William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome are just some of the famous wordsmiths who have been touched by the romance of Windermere over the centuries. Today, the east-shore towns of Windermere and Ambleside — with their cafe terraces and upmarket shops — still attract nature-lovers, with high fell walking trails accessible on foot from many back doors. Meanwhile, small marinas and public jetties provide launchpads for exploration by water.

The experience

Stay on the lakefront and early in the morning you might spot locals in rowing boats line fishing for perch. After breakfast, the ritzy yachts anchored in the water start to bob in the wake of public ferries. Small, gaily decorated motorboats putter around Windermere’s 18 islands, while wobbly paddleboarders skirt the shallow shorelines dodging the ducks. But to experience the lake as Arthur Ransome did when he was inspired to write his classic 1930 adventure novel Swallows and Amazons, take a trip on the Albatros. Built in Berlin in 1928 for a German sea captain, this beautiful vintage motor yacht has been restored by the waterfront Langdale Chase hotel, just south of Ambleside on the lake’s east shore. It launched as a Windermere pleasure boat in spring, running three times a day for 1.5-hour trips which are open to the public.

Despite being 10.5 miles long, Windermere is only about half a mile wide — as you chug along, the skippers will happily point out landmarks on both shorelines and may even let you take the wheel. On the less-developed western shore, look for the turrets of Wray Castle — an ostentatious mansion built for a retired surgeon in the 1840s, now open to visitors through the National Trust — and Claife Viewing Station, a gothic-style folly that was built as Windermere’s first viewing platform 50 years earlier. Closer to the middle of the lake, the boat will glide between islets inhabited by Canada geese.

Where to stay

Launching the Albatros on Windermere is just one way Langdale Chase is aiming to revive the lake’s 1920s and 30s golden era. There’s an art deco-themed bar spilling onto an expansive waterfront terrace for Gatsby-esque cocktail-sipping. Several of its 30 rooms — all revamped in 2023 in contemporary English-country style — overlook the lake, including a very special suite in the Victorian boathouse that sits directly above the water, with a copper whirlpool bath on the rooftop above. Some lake-view rooms have dual aspect windows; you can read Beatrix Potter from your small in-room library while propped up in bed, one eye on the glittering water.

At Langdale Chase’s 2AA Rosette Dining Room restaurant — open to both residents and non-guests — feast on reworked classics, such as treacle-cured British beef fillet and sticky toffee souffle, in a room with floor-to-ceiling lakeview windows. The hotel also offers a generous Swallows and Amazons-themed afternoon tea with dishes that evoke moments from the novel, including gooseberry choux buns, crispy ham hock, and mace-buttered shrimps on delicate, hot crumpets — all served on artisan crockery from local potters.