Bowwin one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 85.71% of reviewers

I've walked this SlowWay on multiple occasions when travelling from the bus & train interchange at Windermere to Bowness. It is accessible for all types of wheels (subject to steep gradients and a slight deviation required for north-bound cyclists around Windermere's one-way system).

Overall, the pavements are wide, well surfaced and lit, with the exception being once in Bowness town, where they are narrower and subject to congestion.

For those wishing to take a quieter, less direct route, Bowwin Two would be preferable.

December 2023. Direction: Windermere to Bowness.

Short, functional and very straight forward. As it follows the main road between the two places, I would imagine there is often a lot of traffic, but as we did this one at night, it was not too busy (but no photos worth including). Bowwin2 is a much nicer route, but slightly longer. Would I walk it again ? Yes, four times in total during the week.

An easy pleasant, safe and direct route. All on pavement albeit along a very busy road. Plenty of pubs cafes and shops and with views of Windermere and the surrounding hills.

Pleasant easy walk between towns, but not a walk if you want to go rambling in the countryside. It is a main road, but not too bad. Very green with interesting traditional slate buildings. At least three mini parks and a couple of monuments.

Windermere to Bowness is an easy down hill. If you want to put in a bit more effort, do Bowness to Windermere, which is up hill. Both towns are lovely with shops bars and restaurants.

Easy short, accessible route that we walked from Windermere bus station (after getting an open topped bus in from Ambleside). Although on the main road, so quite a few cars but plenty of green, shops and cafes on the way. It’s downhill as well… :-).

This is the main road route between Windermere and Bowness so presents no problem with navigation. But it is not particularly pleasant because of the high traffic volumes along its length. Expect to walk past a semi-stationary queue of motor traffic in the tourist season as Bowness attracts a lot of car drivers.

This is the route I used to take before becoming aware of BowWin Two, which is much, much nicer and about the same length. Unless you have good reason to access the main road, BowWin Two wins every time.

A lot of people go to the town of Windermere expecting to see England’s largest lake. They usually end up driving or walking to Bowness. Walking is probably quicker when you take parking into account! This route simply goes straight down the main road. It is nice enough, although busy, and is lined with pleasant hotels, lots of trees, and a very pretty police station. There are toilets in the middle which are now permanently closed, but there are plenty at either end of the route. Bowness is often absolutely heaving. It was busy even midweek in November. There are boat trips, ice creams, pubs, souvenir shops and cafés, and an interesting sign set into the pavement saying “This footpath is not dedicated to the public”. The lake is a couple of hundred metres beyond the Slow Ways end point.

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