no alt text

Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 10 November, 2022
Expert travel writer: Oliver Berry

The Lake District is indelibly linked with the ‘Romantic Movement’, the generation of 18th-century poets who drew inspiration from nature and the world around them.

Chief among them was William Wordsworth, who was born in the Lake District and spent much of his childhood and adult life here.

Several sites associated with the poet can be visited, including three of his former homes and his childhood school, as well as his last resting place in the peaceful churchyard of St Oswald’s in Grasmere.

For a general overview of Wordsworth and the Romantic Movement, head for the Wordsworth Museum, next to Dove Cottage.

Price: Free
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around
Duration: 3 hours

Dove Cottage (& Wordsworth Museum)

Grasmere, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

Take a guided tour around Wordsworth’s charming cottage near Grasmere to get a fascinatingly personal insight into the poet’s life and times – and don’t miss the brilliant museum next door.

Best for ages: 180+ | £12

Pedestrians outside the gift shop and cafe in the Main Street in the centre of Grasmere Village
Experience

Grasmere Village

Ambleside, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

The region’s most picturesque and charming village. Grasmere is set on the shores of its eponymous lake and cradled by green fields and fells. William Wordsworth is buried in the churchyard of St Oswald’s – you can see the poet’s tombstone.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free | 3 hours

Website >
Overview >
Exterior of the school, a small white building
Experience

Hawkshead Grammar School

Hawkshead, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

Wordsworth attended the little village school in Hawkshead. Learn about the poet’s early life and education on a guided tour, and also look out for the school desk where he mischievously carved his name.

Best for ages: 18+ | £4 | 3 hours

Website >
Overview >

Rydal Mount

Rydal, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

Wordsworth’s grand family home between Ambleside and Grasmere is an essential stop: it’s full of memorabilia, and offers an intriguing glimpse of the Wordsworth family’s daily life in the Lakes.

Best for ages: 18+ | £5

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

William Wordsworth: Morning Half Day Tour with an Expert Guide

William Wordsworth: Morning Half Day Tour with an Expert Guide

Windermere

This tour takes you to: • Grasmere Village where William Wordsworth lived. • Church Stile the former inn where William Wordsworth, his broth...

£77 | Rating 5 / 5 [6 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo
Lakeland Poets: Wordsworth and his circle at Dove Cottage, Grasmere and Rydal Mount - Full Day All-inclusive Tour

Lakeland Poets: Wordsworth and his circle at Dove Cottage, Grasmere and Rydal Mount - Full Day All-inclusive Tour

Windermere

You get to see: • Hawkshead Grammar School where Wordsworth went to school and carved his name on his desk (only on a friday) • Grasmere Gi...

£155 | Rating 4.87 / 5 [8 ratings]

Website >

Tour supplied by:

Viator Logo

Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Augill Castle

Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

A lovingly restored 19th-century castle that’s also a family home and a friendly hotel. It’s near the market town of Kirkby Stephen, handy for exploring the eastern Lakes and the Eden Valley.

Official star rating:

Brimstone Hotel & Spa

Great Langdale, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

The Lakeland version of a deluxe ski lodge, offering supremely plush rooms, a lavish spa and a very private location on a Langdale estate. It’s also adults-only – making this an ideal place for couples looking for a place to pamper themselves.

Official star rating:

Daffodil Hotel

Grasmere, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

A large, lakeside hotel not far from Grasmere, with a variety of rooms to suit all kinds of visitors – families, couples, walkers and weekend breakers will all find a happy home here.

Official star rating:

Forest Side Hotel

Grasmere, Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

One of the very best of the Lake District’s boutique hotels, a reinvented country mansion, brimming with wit, style and invention. In prime position for exploring the Lakes..

Official star rating:

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Lake District

Cumbria, United Kingdom (UK)

Imposing mountains, wild landscapes, tranquil lakes and picturesque towns combine to make the Lake District uniquely beautiful, and one of the best places in Britain for walking, climbing, boating and biking.

Website >
Overview >