The Carter Company

About

The Lake District is a walker's paradise, with hundreds of walks, each with a myriad of variations. Whether you want to soak up the scenery from a gentle low-level stroll, or scale the heights of Scafell Pike, we can tailor make the perfect Lake District experience for you. Please get in touch to find out more.

Cycling Holidays

Our cycling holidays are a unique way to discover Cumbria.
Designed with the thoughtful traveller in mind, we aim to show you the hidden gems of the Lake District and also offer the option of electric bikes. Therefore as you pedal through countryside you can get to know the local landscape, culture, history and cuisine, and at the end of the day unwind in our favourite boutique hotels.

Quintessential Lake District

The Lake District is a walker's paradise. With hundreds of walking routes it has almost limitless possibilities.

Soak up the scenery from a gentle low-level stroll, or scale the heights of Helvellyn, we have the perfect Lake District experience for you. We will give you a flavour of this World Heritage Site and include some of our favourite places. However we tailor-make all our Lake District trips to suit you, the customer. What you will see on our itinerary page on the website is a sample tour featuring mainly low level walks with a couple of more challenging days, but we suggest you drop us a line or give us a call to discuss your interests, needs, energy levels and more, and we'll put together an itinerary designed especially for you.

Perhaps you're interested in exploring the literary heritage of the Lake District, with its connections to Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. Maybe you'd like to explore self-guided for a few days and then have a knowledgeable guide to lead you on a more challenging ascent and tell you about the local flora and fauna, history and geography en route. You might want to sample the area's famous haute cuisine restaurants like L'Enclume, or perhaps it's kayaking that tickles your fancy.

Whatever it is, we're sure we can create a special Lakeland experience you'll treasure forever.

Hadrian's Wall Walk

Hadrian's Wall is Europe’s largest surviving Roman monument. It was the brainchild of Emperor Hadrian, who ordered its construction in AD122 to hold back the advancing Barbarians in northern England. Much of the wall still exists, and it traverses some of Britain's most ruggedly beautiful landscapes, this is a remarkable and dramatic walk through history. As you follow Hadrian's footsteps from coast to coast, from Bowness on Solway, past Carlisle to Newcastle, you encounter a string of milecastles and forts, jaw-dropping vistas and details of life from two thousand years ago.

To this World Heritage walk we have added wonderful stays in boutique hotels, full of elegant charm, and private transfers to these and key related Roman sites.

Coast to Coast

This dramatic tour is one of the great walks of England.

Start out on the beautiful sandstone cliffs and beaches of St. Bees on England’s west coast, home to kittiwakes, shags and fulmars, and finish on the east coast, the Dinosaur Coast at Robin’s Hood Bay, where it is said the legendary Robin Hood spent many quiet years fishing after his escapades with the Sherriff of Nottingham.

Inspired by Alfred Wainwright, this tour has all the poetry of the Lake District, the romance of the Yorkshire Dales and the grittiness of the North York Moors, three of England’s greatest National Parks. At 190 miles and an ascent (and descent) of 22,825 feet, the crossing of northern England is for the more experienced walker. It takes between 2 and three weeks to complete. But you don’t have to walk it in one fell stride, you can take in the beautiful lakes and mountains of the Lake District, then the rivers and dry stone walls of the Yorkshire Dales, and finally the rugged wilds of the North York Moors, dipping your toe in the Irish Sea on the west coast and in the North Sea on the east coast in different years.

 

Electric Lakes

Home to England's biggest lakes and tallest mountains, the Lake District is an area of electrifying natural beauty and as such, has recently become a World Heritage Site.

It has inspired numerous writers, artists and poets and you will not fail to fall under its magical spell either as you pedal its stunning length from serene Lake Bassenthwaite in the north to magnificent Lake Windermere in the south.

This is a strenuous cycling holiday with an utterly staggering ride we are proud to have created, which we want you all to enjoy, and as a result we are recommending electric bikes which are just perfect for this terrain. Our Electric Lakes tour will enable you to cruise not only by steam boat on Ullswater, by launch on Coniston Water and by steam train to Windermere, but also to cruise on two wheels past fells and crags, hill hamlets and hidden valleys, sheep clad slopes and of course, dreamy lake shores too. Much of the route is off the beaten track, through stunning woods, past cosy inns and over fords to small breweries and tiny water mills. Enjoy wonderful gardens, a Georgian town, an intriguing castle, the homes of Ruskin, Wordsworth and Potter, a vibrant food scene and stays in 4 different locations from tranquil lake side to ancient market town and buzzing waterfront. No wonder we call it Electric Lakes!