Wasdale Hall YHA

Top choice in The Lake District


This hostel on the shores of Wastwater has the kind of location you'd normally pay through the nose for. It's in a 19th-century mock-Tudor mansion that still has most of its period architecture, including original roof trusses and latticed windows. It has the usual self-catering facilities, plus a very decent restaurant.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Lake District attractions

1. Wastwater

2.27 MILES

In his 1810 Guide to the Lakes, William Wordsworth described Wastwater as 'long, narrow, stern and desolate', and it's a description that still seems apt…

2. St Olaf's Church

3.77 MILES

Supposedly one of the tiniest chapels in England, this 16th-century church is full of atmosphere. Legend claims the roof beams were salvaged from a Viking…

3. Muncaster Castle

5.68 MILES

This crenellated castle, 1.5 miles east of Ravenglass, was originally built around a 14th-century pele tower, constructed to resist Reiver raids. Home to…

4. Honister Slate Mine

7.5 MILES

This old slate mine has been reinvented as a centre for all kinds of activities: you could venture underground into the bowels of the old 'Edge' and …

5. Bowder Stone

10.16 MILES

A mile south from Grange, a turn-off leads up to the geological curiosity known as the Bowder Stone, a 1700-tonne lump of rock left behind by a retreating…

6. Ruskin Museum

10.63 MILES

Coniston's little museum explores the village's history, touching on copper mining, Arthur Ransome and the Campbell story. There's also a section on John…

7. Watendlath Tarn

10.85 MILES

This National Trust–owned tarn is reached via a turn-off on the B5285 south of Keswick. On the way the road passes over one of the Lake District's most…

8. Coniston Water

11.35 MILES

Coniston's gleaming 5-mile-long lake – the third largest in the Lake District after Windermere and Ullswater – is a half-mile walk from town along Lake Rd…