William Wordsworth: Afternoon Half Day Tour with an Expert Guide | 3 hours

3 Reviews | Windermere
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Inclusions / Exclusions

  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English
  • Relaxed and friendly small-group tour of no more than 7 guests
  • Comfortable minivans with air-conditioning, WiFi and charging points for most mobile devices
  • Regular photo / comfort stops
  • Entry into Dove Cottage is included in the price
  • Professional Guides share their expertise of all the fascinating facts and stories in English
  • Departure and return to convenient, centrally located meeting points
  • Food and drinks

Overview

This tour takes you to: • Grasmere Village. • Church Stile the former inn where William Wordsworth, his brother John and fellow romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed for several days during their Lake District tour in 1797. • Grasmere Gingerbread Shop where Sarah Nelson invented the world famous "Grasmere Gingerbread" in 1854. • The Wordsworth family graves. • St Oswald's Church where the Wordsworth family worshipped. • Dove Cottage where William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy lived from 1799 to 1808. • Views of Grasmere, the beautiful lake the Wordsworths knew so well. • Rydal Mount William Wordsworth's best loved family home from 1813 to his death in 1850. • Rydal Hall Gardens where Wordsworth admired the waterfall from the "grot" viewing house. • Rydal Church built on the site chosen by William Wordsworth which also inspired two of his poems. • Dora's Field bought by William Wordsworth in 1826. • Views of Rydal Water, one of the smaller lakes.

Itinerary

  • St Oswald's Church

    Our tour starts with a drive to Grasmere Village. Here you will see St Oswald's Church and the Wordsworth family graves which are one of the most visited places in the Lake District. Grasmere is also the name of a lake just outside the village itself. 'The loveliest spot that man hath ever found' is how Wordsworth described this most beautiful area of the Lake District. The small island in the middle of the lake was a favourite place which he often visited while he was living at Dove Cottage.

    35 minutes

  • Allan Bank (Pass By)

    Wordsworth's family quickly expanded, with the arrival of three children in four years, and so they left Dove Cottage in 1808 to seek larger lodgings at Allan Bank on a hill overlooking the village. We will get to see this from the outside.

  • The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

    Next to St Oswalds is the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. We will take a quick look at it as we pass by.

    5 minutes

  • Wordsworth Grasmere

    We now move on to Dove Cottage on the outskirts of Grasmere village. Dove Cottage is where Wordsworth set up home with his sister Dorothy in 1799. There are big changes happening at the Wordsworth Museum and entry to Dove Cottage will be erratic in 2019. There will be times when the cottage is open and other times when they will have a virtual tour instead. The museum will be closed all year. Entry to Dove Cottage is not included in the price of this tour.

    30 minutes

  • Lake Grasmere (Pass By)

    We drive along the shore of Grasmere

  • Rydal Mount & Gardens

    After the death of two of their children, the Wordsworth family felt that they had to move away from Grasmere Rectory with its constant view of the graveyard where they were buried. In 1813, they moved to Rydal Mount. This was William Wordsworth's best loved family home for the greater part of his life from 1813 to his death in 1850 at the age of 80. The house with its beautiful gardens were a focus for romantic literature. They continue to be owned by descendants of William Wordsworth and retain the feel of a lived in family home. The house dates from the 16th century and was enlarged over the intervening centuries, and also by Wordsworth himself. It contains a selection of the family's prized possessions and portraits. Wordsworth was a keen landscape gardener and the five acre garden remains very much as he designed it. It consists of fell-side terraces, rock pools and an ancient mound. Entry to Rydal Mount is included in the price of this tour

    15 minutes

  • Rydal Hall Gardens

    There is an opportunity to visit the beautiful and tranquil Rydal Hall Gardens. Built in the 16th Century, Rydal Hall was the home of the le Fleming family, Wordsworth's landlords at Rydal Mount. The house has subsequently been much altered, including the addition of a Victorian south range. The formal garden at Rydal Hall was designed in 1909 by the Arts and Craft garden architect Mr Thomas Mawson. It is a splendid example of the work of the leading Arts and Crafts garden designer, whose work is world famous. The garden is of particular historic interest for the extensive use of exposed aggregate precast concrete, instead of more usual stone, to form the main elements in the design, a very early use of concrete in this way. The Carlisle Diocese in association with The Cumbria Gardens Trust and in consultation with English Heritage are restoring this lovely formal garden. There are mosses, native flora and trees, including a 500 year old Sweet Chestnut tree with a girth of 36 feet. From the formal garden the sound of rushing water can be heard. Water crashes over a series of high waterfalls down a rocky ravine, through the banks of a wooded garden. The oldest 'viewing house' in the country was built below the lower fall in 1669.

    15 minutes

  • Dora's Field

    Near to Rydal Mount is Rydal Church. The chapel of St Mary was built by Lady le Fleming, of Rydal Hall in 1824. William Wordsworth helped to choose the site, which was originally an orchard. The Wordsworth family and the family of the English poet Matthew Arnold, from nearby Fox How, worshipped here. Their family pews are on each side of the aisle at the front of the church. Wordsworth was church warden from 1833-1834, and there is a memorial plaque to him. The Rash field next to the churchyard is a plot of land which was bought by Wordsworth who originally intended to build on it. The house never materialised. After his daughter Dora died in 1847, William went down to this field, and together with his wife and gardener, planted hundreds of daffodils as a memorial to Dora.

    10 minutes

  • Rydal Water (Pass By)

    Our road now heads south towards Ambleside passing Rydal Water and Nab Cottage. This was once home to Thomas de Quincey and later, Hartley Coleridge, the son of Wordsworth's old friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge who rented the house in 1840 until his death there in 1849.

  • Windermere (Pass By)

    This is one of our pickup points

  • Bowness-on-Windermere (Pass By)

    This is one of our pickup points

  • Ambleside (Pass By)

    This is one of our pickup points

Sample Menu

Additional Info

  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • The English Lake District weather can change quickly, even in the summer months. Please bring a waterproof coat with a hood in case of rain or windy weather
  • As there is a little walking involved on the tour, some uphill and on uneven or wet terrain, please wear suitable, comfortable shoes
  • Children under the age of 5 can travel on this tour but we do not recommend it
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • All passengers, including children of any age, must have a seat purchased for them
  • We will collect you from the departure point linked to your chosen option. Please do not change to a different departure point without informing us in advance as we don't automatically go to every departure point. If we don't know you have changed your departure point we may not pick you up for the tour!

Free Cancellation

June 23100% refund
June 24No refund

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Reviews

5.0

3 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
  • 5 stars
    3
  • 4 stars
    0
  • 3 stars
    0
  • 2 stars
    0
  • 1 star
    0

Reviews by TravelOne travelers

Showing 1-5 of 3 reviews with 5 stars

Expert Wordsworth tour

Published on Mar, 2022

Highly recommend this tour. Tim was our driver and Gillian our guide. I don’t know how Gillian packed so much information into a half day! Her passion for Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy is obvious and her enthusiasm infectious. As well as delivering a huge amount of information to us, it was done in a thoroughly engaging style. Her experience and expert knowledge of the subject is clearly apparent and we had a very enjoyable and educational afternoon.

Expert Wordsworth tour

Published on Mar, 2022

Highly recommend this tour. Tim was our driver and Gillian our guide. I don’t know how Gillian packed so much information into a half day! Her passion for Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy is obvious and her enthusiasm infectious. As well as delivering a huge amount of information to us, it was done in a thoroughly engaging style. Her experience and expert knowledge of the subject is clearly apparent and we had a very enjoyable and educational afternoon.

Bringing Wordsworth to life!

Published on Jun, 2019

Our guides, Gillian and Tim, were knowledgeable, witty, entertaining, intellectual, and a delight to spend the day with. I can't praise them enough for the excellent adventure they took us on, bringing Wordsworth, his life, his work, his history, to life. Every step of the way, every stop on our journey, including the cafe for lunch, was meaningful to the Wordsworth story. So very happy we found them! (P.S. really a delightful day with you both! Cannot thank you enough! Just so you know, contrary to your prediction, I haven't bought property in the Lake District [yet]!)

Bringing Wordsworth to life!

Published on Jun, 2019

Our guides, Gillian and Tim, were knowledgeable, witty, entertaining, intellectual, and a delight to spend the day with. I can't praise them enough for the excellent adventure they took us on, bringing Wordsworth, his life, his work, his history, to life. Every step of the way, every stop on our journey, including the cafe for lunch, was meaningful to the Wordsworth story. So very happy we found them! (P.S. really a delightful day with you both! Cannot thank you enough! Just so you know, contrary to your prediction, I haven't bought property in the Lake District [yet]!)

Sanjiv and Prasanna

Published on May, 2019

Gillian and Tim did a wonderful job on the tour. They were knowledgeable, informative, caring, courteous, patient, good listeners, good communicators, supportive and most of all we got what we wanted from the tour. Sanjiv and Wordsworth fan Prasanna.

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