Travel Car Free & Save – Arrive by Train & Explore by Bus

‘Let the train take the strain’ may have been a strapline from years ago but it still remains 100% relevant today and with buses added to that, there has never been an easier, more connected way to reach and travel around Cumbria.

Why not make your holiday feel relaxing and simple from start to finish on a car free holiday to Cumbria.  Sit back, relax, read a book, enjoy views of the countryside or even watch a movie or your favourite TV show, courtesy of free Wi-Fi, as you effortlessly travel from A to ‘C’ (Cumbria) with Avanti West Coast, Northern Trains, TransPennine Express and Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire.

Avanti’s Superfares make the train element very affordable and with routes from the likes of London, Scotland, the Midlands and north England it’s easy to reach any one of Cumbria’s three west coast mainline stations at Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle.  Meanwhile, at each station you’ll find interconnecting bus routes to take you far and wide into the heart of the Cumbrian countryside aboard one of Stagecoach’s comfortable buses.

Avanti’s Superfare tickets mean that passengers open to a little more flexibility around their time of travel can enjoy huge savings off typical fares, for example a ticket from London to Cumbria can cost as little as £26 one way!   Once in Cumbria, travelling around the county could not be easier or cheaper, with £3 single trip fares from Stagecoach and plenty of routes across the Lake District, there's never been a better time to hop aboard and make the journey part of the experience.

Still need to bring a car?  We do appreciate that some visitors may still need to arrive by car, perhaps you have a large family, vast amounts of luggage or your home area doesn’t connect easily to trains and buses coming into the county.  Fear not, you’ve not been forgotten and there are still lots of options for enjoying easy travel around Cumbria and the Lakes this summer, thanks to an array of ticket options:
 

Park and Explore

If you want to explore multiple places in one day without the hassle of looking for new parking spaces or trusting the SatNav to take you to the right place, ‘Park and Explore’ could be just the ‘ticket’ (pardon the pun).

Costing just £18, the ticket provides parking in one of six central car parks and the use of a Lakes Day Rider bus ticket - which allows unlimited travel for up to five people on any Stagecoach bus service within the Central Lakes Day Rider zone. Covering popular hotspots such as Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Coniston, Hawkshead, Rydal and Grasmere users could enjoy visiting a variety of attractions and popular landmarks. 

Pull on your walking boots, pack your map and compass, and hop off at the base of a Wainwright route taking in the likes of Wansfell, Orest Head or Loughrigg. Get cultural at attractions such as Wordworth Grasmere (present your bus ticket to save 20% on entrance fee), The World of Beatrix Potter in Bowness-on-Windermere, The Armitt Museum in Ambleside, and Brantwood in Coniston (a special bus, boat and Brantwood ticket can by purchased onboard the bus for £21.10).  Connect with a cruise along Windermere, Ullswater, Derwentwater or Coniston, or tackle a new challenge at the likes of Zip World. 

Zip World, Brockhole, Windermere.

If food and drink is more your scene use the ticket to try one of Cumbria’s many Michelin starred restaurants, some of which are located within the travel zone or perhaps take on an alternative pub crawl. Whatever you decide, be sure to park up early and make the most of a full day of exploring our wonderful county.

Car parks included in the ticket are:

• Braithwaite Fold (Bowness)
• Waterhead (Ambleside Pier)
• Low Fold (Ambleside)
• Stock Lane and Broadgate Meadows (Grasmere)
• Hawkshead
• Coniston (village).

More information on Park & Explore

Wasdale Shuttle Bus

Wasdale Shuttle Bus operated by Reays coaches © Philip Higgins
 

Operating on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays until 21 September 2025, the popular Wasdale Shuttle Bus has once again returned to ease pressure on the roads and make for a more comfortable and seamless journey for passengers and all for free!

Running between 9am and 5pm, the bus operated by Reays Coaches, offers pick-ups from the car parking field at Nether Wasdale taking passengers all the way to Wasdale Head – starting point for hikes to many fells including Scafell Pike and Great Gable as well as Wastwater.  The bus also offers less frequent connections to Muncaster Castle and Ravenglass.

Wasdale Shuttlebus details and timetables

Buttermere & Cockermouth Shuttlebus

Also back for 2025 is the Buttermere and Cockermouth shuttlebus. Operated by Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, the 16-seater shuttlebus runs five daily return journeys between Cockermouth, Low Lorton and Buttermere Village, with the first bus departing from Main Street in Cockermouth at 9.30am everyday until Sunday 1 September. As well as providing easy access to the scenic round-the-lake-route at Buttermere, the new service connects to Cumbria’s wider bus network, including the hourly X4/5 to Workington and the 77/77A, which runs between Buttermere and Keswick.

Buttermere Shuttlebus details and timetables

Ullswater Bus

As part of a drive for more sustainable transport and reduced private vehicle traffic in the Ullswater Valley a 16 seater mini bus service operated by Stagecoach and called the Ullswater Bus (UB1).

The Ullswater Bus will operate on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays until 3 November 2024. It will cover the following route: Aira Force - Pooley Bridge - Howtown.

More information about the Ullswater Bus