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The bustling market town of Keswick is full of traditional Lake District charm with its eclectic mix of independent shops handed down through generations, countless outdoor equipment shops, cafés and cosy traditional walkers’ pubs. Keswick Spa which is located next to your hotel is definitely worth a visit. Fitz Park which again is right next to the hotel has tennis courts, a brand new childrens’ play area and a bowling green. The park also has stunning views of Skiddaw and Latrigg in the distance. We also highly recommend wandering down to the town centre on your free day on Thursday to visit the local farmers’ market.
The activities in the itinerary are based around the picturesque Borrowdale Valley and “The Queen of the English Lakes” - Derwent Water. During the activities your family will love enjoying this open air adventure playground accompanied by some of the best guides in the business.
Suitable for
Families with children over the age of 8 years (please note that this does not preclude younger children but participation in the activities will be at the discretion of our instructors).
Friday: Arrival and Dinner
You will have time to check in and settle into your room before dinner and an introductory meeting with your guide.
Saturday AM: Mountain Adventure
After a hearty breakfast at the hotel you will be picked up to spend a day exploring one of the Lakeland mountains. During the day your guide will discuss the local flora and fauna and depending on the route, include visits to caves, mines and rivers. Games will be played along the route to ensure the group get the chance to bond and make friends!
Saturday PM: Climbing and Abseiling
After lunch, we head for a local rock face. Our instructors will ensure that we are safely harnessed and provide expert tuition before we try our ascent. Descending by abseil is just fun, fun, fun! If the weather is not suitable for outdoor climbing you will be taken to the newly refurbished Keswick Climbing Wall for an indoor lesson.
Sunday AM: Via Ferrate
Hugely popular in the Italian Dolomites and across Europe, Via Ferrata is Italian for "Iron Way" and the system has been used in the Alps for more than a century. A series of ladders and rungs are installed into the rock faces around Honister Slate Mine and allow inexperienced climbers access to areas they would otherwise be unable to reach. You will be given full instruction throughout.
Sunday PM: Ghyll Scrambling
Following a short uphill walk alongside the gorge at Stoneycroft Ghyll, we make our way downstream with a series of scrambles, slides, ducks, dives, swims and jumps. The experience is like being in a natural water park and is an absolute favourite each and every year.
Monday: Derwent Water Lake Day
Today you will spend a full day on the Queen of the English Lakes, Derwent Water. There will be a range of water based activities for you to experience including Canadian canoeing and dinghy sailing. Whether you have tried your hand at these activities before or are a complete beginner, our instructors will be on hand to ensure you have as much fun as possible.
After your activities today it’s time for you to leave the Lake District and return home. Alternatively if you would like to extend your stay for a few days this is possible and additional activities can be arranged locally.
Available
Limited places
On request
Pricing Notes
Prices include all activities. If you do not wish to take part in one or more activities please let us know at time of booking as this may reduce the price.
Please note child price is applicable when child is sharing room with 1 or more adults or another child.
Getting there
This is a self drive holiday.
Our Activity Centre is located at the head of the stunningly beautiful Borrowdale Valley in the Lake District National Park. The centre offers a large range of outdoor activities and is operated in an environmentally responsible and community friendly manner. The Centre's management prides itself on employing local people on long-term contracts, allowing staff to stay resident in this beautiful area. All of the centre's instructors and staff are briefed on responsible travel and use of the environment, in turn passing on this message to the many customers.
The centre uses only produce provided by local suppliers, thus providing only the freshest produce for its customers whilst supporting the local economy. The centre has an active recycling programme, which all staff and customers are briefed in and encouraged to use. Each year the staff monitor the centre's energy consumption and investments are made in new energy saving appliances and procedures. The ideal location in the heart of Borrowdale means that use of transport for activities can be kept to a minimum. If transport is needed local companies are used to help boost the local economy.
The centre works closely with the National Trust, the National Park Authority, the local community and other nearby outdoor centres to ensure that the local area and activity sites are managed thoughtfully, with any environmental impact kept to a minimum. The centre is also a key member of the Borrowdale User Group (BUG), through which they assist in reporting and informing other users about any areas of concern and implement plans to deal with any current or potential problems.
Our accommodation is situated just 5 minutes walk from the centre of Keswick. Despite being owned by a small chain the hotel adopts a sound environmental policy. In this respect recent changes have been made in the housekeeping department. In order to cut down on plastic containers being used and liquids, the hotel now use concentrated chemicals and have re-usable containers for these.
The amount of full linen changes on stayovers has been reduced to cut down on laundry and kitchen aprons, clothes and restaurant serving clothes are washed in-house. Guests are asked to place towels in the bath if they require them to be changed otherwise they would be placed back on the towel rail to be re-used. If a bedroom is for single occupancy we always use a twin room (2 single beds so only 1 bed will be used instead of a double bed) and make sure only one set of towels are in the room.
The hotel has invested in a compressor for cardboard boxes which are then sent away to the council for re-cycling and all paper is put into a recycle bin in reception which is then transferred to the outside large recycling bin. There are 3 bottle bins which all bottles from the bar and restaurant are put into each day. All printer cartridges are kept and sent back to the supplier to be recycled. When ordering copier paper we always use recycled. The night porter turns all lights and lamps off in public areas once the guests have gone to bed and then turns them back on at 7am. Housekeeping turn lights and TVs off in rooms once they are serviced. Radiators are checked in warmer months to ensure they are turned off. The heating times are reduced in warmer months.
The hotel endeavours to employ local people wherever possible but admits that it is difficult to attract residents into the lower paid jobs such as waiting and kitchen portering. Nevertheless, job vacancies are always advertised in local papers and the local job centre first, if no suitable employee is found then the hotel broadens the advertising.
The hotel strives to support local businesses by using only local tradesmen for any building and maintenance issues. With being in a chain of hotels, most of the contractors are signed to the company for the Lake District and the Blackpool hotels and are all local.
All the food is supplied from the North West ranging between Keswick and Blackpool (Head Office suppliers) and the head chef endeavours to use local ingredients where possible. As a chain, the hotel raises thousands of pounds every year through events for many different charities and have provided many vouchers for various fund raising events.