FRI 13 - SUN 15 JUNE 2025 - Great North Swim & Windermere Marathon
Categories: Events
Beat the crowds and the busy roads - travel by boat to the start/finish line.
We're thrilled to be back at the Great North Swim, providing transport for swimmers and supporters! Plus, we're excited to support Windermere Marathon runners and their fans at the Brockhole finish line this year.
Park in a quieter area around Lake Windermere (Bowness or Ambleside) and use our convenient boat service to get the start/finish line at Brockhole. Bowness has over 450 pay-and-display car parking spaces within a 7-minute walk from our pier, Ambleside has 280 pay-and-display car parking spaces within a 10-minute walk from our pier.
QUICK LINKS 👉 Travel to the swim/marathon by boat from Bowness | Ambleside | Wray
Boats to the start/finish line:
Bowness ↔ Brockhole (Start/finish)
A special direct shuttle shuttle service for swimmers, runners & spectators.
Regular departures throughout the day on Friday 13, Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 June between Bowness and the start/finish line.
🕑 Journey time is 20 mins each way | 🎫 Adult Return: £12.00, Child (5-15) Return £6.00, Family (2+3) Return: £32.50
Ambleside Waterhead ↔ Brockhole (Start/finish)
A special direct shuttle shuttle service for swimmers, runners & spectators.
Regular departures throughout the day on Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 June between Ambleside Waterhead and the start/finish line.
🕑 Journey time is 20 mins each way | 🎫 Adult Return: £12.00, Child (5-15) Return £6.00, Family (2+3) Return: £32.50
Wray ↔ Brockhole (Start/finish)
We don't have any special shuttle services between Wray & Brockhole, but a regular Green Cruise service connects the two piers and will be running every day as normal.
🕑 Journey time is 15 mins from Wray to Brockhole departing 10:05, 11:15, 12:30, 14:00, 15:25, 16:30 & 17:35
🎫 Pick a Green Cruise ticket for a return fare (just buy them on the day) - Adult Return: £14.20, Child (5-15) Return £7.10, Family (2+3) Return: £38.50
→ One-way tickets from Wray to Brockhole also available
Further event information
Further information about the event as a whole is available on the Great Swim website (external site)
Not swimming, running or taking part?
More than 30,000 people will be either swimming, running or cheering on the competitors during the weekend of Friday 13 June - Sunday 15 June . Although the event is well planned and additional transport/parking is available, the area around Brockhole - Lake District Visitor Centre including Bowness and Ambleside is likely to get extremely busy.
We are advising customers who are visiting us over the weekend who aren't taking part in the swim to consider a day out at areas of the lake unaffected by the large amounts of people. Generally the southern half of Windermere will be much quieter, so why not try the following on the Great North Swim weekend?
- Park at Lakeside (away from Great North Swim traffic) and get the Yellow Cruise up to Bowness, grab some lunch and then head back to Lakeside. It will be cheaper and easier to park too.
- Explore the other many attractions at the south of Windermere (many of whom do combined boat tickets with Lakes Aquarium, Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway, Lakeland Motor Museum and Lakeside Hotel)
