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Freedom of the Lake, Steam Train & Motor Museum

Explore our Lakeland heritage on historic 'steamers', railways and at the motor museum

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Starting from Haverthwaite Railway Station?

If you would like to start your day with the steam train from Haverthwaite then please just purchase these combined ticket on the day from Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

This discounted ticket combines a day's worth of boat travel on Windermere with a visit to two top attractions just minutes from Lakeside Pier. It's a great day out for the whole family and combines stunning views from the water, and a fascinating insight into our 'steamer' vessels and our proud rail and road heritage.

You should allow yourself at least 7 hours to make the most of this combined ticket and see all of Windermere.

Your ticket includes:

  • Unlimited travel on board any of our boats for 24 hours including the Red Cruise, Green Cruise, Blue (Islands) Cruise and the Yellow Cruise to Lakeside Pier thats convenient for the Steam Railway and Motor Museum. This ticket is the most economical way of visiting these attractions by boat if travelling from our Ambleside (Waterhead) PIer.
  • A visit to the Lakeland Motor Museum - home to a collection of over 30,000 cars, motorcycles, scooters, cycles and auto memorabilia. Highlights include a Campbell Bluebird exhibition, Vincent motorcycle display and an Isle of Man TT display. There's something for the whole family with a riverside cafe, local heritage and period shopping displays. Find out more on their website. You can visit the museum up to 5 days after your cruise.
  • A return ticket on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway offering stunning views of the Leven Valley from its historic carriages. Haverthwaite Station has a visitor's centre, gift shop and playground. Lakeside station is a one minute walk from the pier. Find out more on their website.
  • Please note that the train journey can only be taken on the day that the tickets are redeemed. Only the boat travel is valid for the full 24 hours.

Standard Ticket Prices (valid from Saturday 23rd March 2024 until Sunday 3rd November 2024)

  • Prices below are return fares
  • Book your tickets by selecting a date in the 'Book Your Cruise' box below.
Adults Children Families
£46.00£24.70£125.50

Additional Information

  • This ticket is only available in the summer (Easter - October) when the steam train is operating regularly. A limited service operates at other times of the year, see their website for details.
A full day out to explore the lake and the best of Lakeland heritage.

A full day out to explore the lake and the best of Lakeland heritage.

Enjoy a full day on Windermere and enjoy some great attractions at the south of the lake.

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Book Your Cruise

Select a date to view prices and sailing times.

  • Child prices are valid for children aged 5-15 years. Children under 5 travel free.
  • Family tickets are valid for 2 adults and up to 3 children.

Timetable

Our ‘Freedom of the Lake' ticket is valid on all our scheduled sailings (includes blue, red, yellow and green cruises) for a period of 24 hours.We are unable to show all the timetable options for this great value ticket on one page, please refer back to our ‘cruises’ page for details or download a printed version of our brochures.

Additional Information

Service Status

green

Today's Service Status

🔴 RED CRUISE Bowness → W'Mere Jetty Museum →Brockhole → Ambleside Waterhead → Bowness
✔️ Services OK
🟡 YELLOW CRUISEBowness ↔ Lakeside

✔️ Services OK

🔵 ISLANDS CRUISE

Bowness → Bowness

✔️ Services OK
🚤 MOTOR BOAT HIRE from Bowness
Bowness Beach / Bowness Dock ↻

✔️ Beach OK
❌ Dock closed

🚤 MOTOR BOAT HIRE from WaterheadWaterhead (near Ambleside) ↻

✔️ Services OK

🟤 YELLOW CRUISE & STEAM TRAINHaverthwaite ↔ Lakeside ↔ Bowness✔️ Services OK
🟢 GREEN CRUISEAmbleside → Wray Castle → Brockhole → Ambleside✔️ Services OK
🚶 WALKERS TICKETBowness → Brockhole → Wray Castle → Walk ↻❌ Keep checking back
🚣 ROW BOAT HIRE from BownessBowness Beach / Bowness Dock ↻⚠️ Starts 29 March
🚣 ROW BOAT HIRE from WaterheadWaterhead (near Ambleside) ↻⚠️ Starts 29 April

CROSS LAKES SHUTTLE

Bowness ↔ Ferry House❌ Keep checking back
FELL FOOT FERRYLakeside ↔ Fell Foot
⚠️ Starts 25 May

🕑: We are now running to our peak season timetable.

Route Map

Load Map

Access and facilities

♿ Disabled Access

Three different types of vessels operate on our routes with varying accessibility.

  • ♿ MV Swift - (marked with a green wheelchair icon on our timetables): our most accessible vessel - step-free access from pier to indoor/outdoor seating & accessible toilet
  • ♿ 'Steamers' MV Swan/Teal - (marked with black wheelchair icon on our timetables) - step-free access from pier to indoor/outdoor seating. Toilets down steep steps.
  • ❌ 'Steamer' Tern & modern launches like Miss Cumbria/Miss Lakeland - are not recommended for customers with limited mobility
  • ❌ Traditional launches like Queen of The Lake - are not recommended for customers with limited mobility

Please visit our Accessibility section for more information.

Wheelchair users are strongly advised to call us to confirm which vessel is operating on which service, particularly in poor weather conditions. As on rare occasions, the vessels operating each route can change.


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Annual Pass

Annual Pass

Unlimited cruising for a whole year. | ⚓ Valid on any daytime cruise every day except Christmas Day 📆 364 days

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