Family Holidays in Cumbria

Start with the shape of your trip

There are 58 family stays published on BritStays in Cumbria, and the mix is worth knowing before you start browsing. Caravanning accounts for 27 of them, holiday parks another 13, camping 13, and only five are hotels. So if you had pictured a family week here as a hotel booking, the numbers point elsewhere: most of what's available is a pitch, a static caravan or a lodge on a site with shared facilities.

That shapes the practical side of the week. Site-based stays tend to come with the things that make a wet afternoon bearable, and the facility counts bear it out: 30 of the 58 list a playground, 24 a swimming pool, 23 a bar, 23 WiFi and 20 a laundrette. Sixteen list toilets, which is a detail worth reading closely if you're camping rather than taking a caravan or lodge.

Lakes bases or the Solway coast?

Windermere has the most family stays of any single area here, with six, followed by Kendal, Keswick, Ullswater, Bassenthwaite and Penrith with two each. Those are the bases to look at if your days are built around water, walks and short drives — Lake Windermere, Ullswater and Derwentwater are all within reach of that cluster, and Ambleside sits in the middle of it.

Two examples show what a countryside base can look like. Herdwick Croft at Bassenthwaite, near Keswick, sleeps six and lists both EV charging nearby and a bus stop close at hand, which is useful if you'd rather not move the car every day. Lowside Farm Glamping at Troutbeck sleeps 12 and is also near a bus stop — the obvious choice when two families are travelling together or grandparents are joining.

The coast is a different sort of holiday, and it's well represented. Silloth alone turns up three times in the examples: Solway Holiday Village and Stanwix Park both sleep eight, and Rowanbank Caravan Park sleeps six. Tarnside Caravan Park at Braystones lists a swimming pool, hot tub and spa, and Lyons Manor House at Maryport sleeps six. Lillyhall Lodge Retreat at Workington sleeps six and has EV charging nearby. Coastal sites generally mean more space per pound and fewer queues than the central lakes in August, with the trade-off of a longer drive to the fells.

The eastern and southern edges are quieter again. Augill Beck Holiday Park at Kirkby Stephen and Eden Lodge Retreat at Crosby-on-Eden both sleep six and both list EV charging nearby; Wild Rose Caravan Site at Ormside lists a swimming pool, gym and spa; Blaithwaite Country House Estate at Wigton sleeps six. Further south, Fell End at Milnthorpe sleeps six and Hall More at Hale sleeps four — a sensible size if it's just the four of you and you don't want to pay for beds you won't use.

Dogs and electric cars

Twenty-seven of the 58 are pet friendly, so roughly half. That's a decent choice, but it isn't a given, and dog-friendly pitches and lodges are usually the first to go in the school holidays. Book early and confirm the policy directly rather than assuming.

EV charging nearby appears on 25 stays, including Augill Beck, Eden Lodge Retreat, Fell End, Hall More, Herdwick Croft, Lillyhall Lodge Retreat and Stanwix Park. Read that as "nearby" rather than "at your pitch" unless the listing says otherwise — worth checking before a long drive north.

Filling the days

For outdoor days, the lakes do most of the work, and The Lakes Aqua Park in the Lake District is an easy sell for older children. Houses and heritage give you a slower option: Hill Top and Townend are both National Trust, Wray Castle suits younger children who want somewhere to run, and Levens Hall is a stately home with gardens. Gretna Green sits on the northern edge if you're arriving or leaving that way.

Keep a list of indoor options for the days the weather turns. Keswick Museum & Art Gallery, West Cumberland Railway Museum and Knox Wood Wildlife Centre are all at Keswick; Eskdale Mill is in the Lake District; and further afield you'll find the Laurel and Hardy Museum at Morecambe, Killhope Lead Mining Museum in County Durham and Mr George's Museum of Time in Northumberland. Check opening arrangements before you set off, as smaller museums often run reduced days outside summer.

When to book

With only 58 family stays in the region, six of them in Windermere and just five hotels in the whole set, availability tightens quickly. Book school summer holidays and late May half term as far ahead as you can, particularly for the sites with a swimming pool or a playground. For a caravan or camping pitch outside peak weeks you have more room to move, but confirm which on-site facilities — pool, bar, laundrette — actually run in shoulder season, as many parks scale back. If you're bringing a dog or an electric car, filter for that first and choose the area second.