Lake District Golf Packages and Breaks: Where to Stay and Play
Nobody comes to the Lakes only for the golf, and that is exactly why this break works. England's most beautiful corner carries a set of honest, scenic, well priced courses, Windermere at £85, Keswick at £38, and one genuinely great links, Silloth on Solway, within a day trip. Here is how to package fells, water and golf into one trip that the whole party signs off on.
Photograph: Keswick Golf Club, by Rupert Bonington, via Google
Who this trip suits
Couples and mixed groups where half the party would rather hike Catbells or take the Ullswater steamer than play 36, buddies trips that want value and views over championship pedigree, and anyone routing between Scotland and the links of Lancashire who wants two scenic rounds in the middle. Let us be straight about what this is not, because our Lake District golf guide makes the same point: there is no championship links inside the National Park. What the Lakes sell is golf as part of England's best holiday landscape, fairways under 3,000 foot fells, greens above the water, and green fees that look like typing errors to anyone arriving from Fife.
The two bases
Base one is Windermere and Bowness in the southern lakes. Windermere Golf Club at Cleabarrow, five minutes above the town, is the area's standout, a short, sporting James Braid era course nicknamed the mini Gleneagles for its rock outcrops and panoramas, and the town carries the deepest stock of hotels and restaurants in the park. Kendal, Grange over Sands and Ulverston, around £60 a round, are all within forty minutes. Base two is Keswick in the north, wilder and quieter, where Keswick Golf Club plays beneath the Blencathra and Skiddaw fells and Penrith's old moorland course waits just off the M6. The drive between the two bases is forty minutes over Dunmail Raise and is itself one of the great road trips in England.
Three package shapes, costed
| Package | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| The fells and links combo | 4 nights split between Windermere and Keswick: Windermere (2026 summer rate £85 before 2pm, £68 after), Keswick (£38, or £50 for a day ticket), then the headline day trip north to Silloth on Solway (£120 summer 2026). Three rounds, one of them a top 100 links, for around £245 in fees |
| The mixed party holiday | 5 nights in Windermere or on Ullswater: two relaxed morning rounds (Windermere, Kendal or Ulverston at around £60) timed so afternoons are free for the lake cruises, Wainwrights and country house dinners the non golfers came for. Golf spend under £220 per player |
| The value tour | 4 nights, golf every day, no round over £90: Keswick £38, Penrith's moorland turf, Ulverston around £60, Windermere's £68 twilight. Cumbria's county card scheme and day tickets stretch it further; the cheapest serious golf break in northern England |
Hotel and golf bundles through the Lakes' country house hotels often beat piecing it together yourself. Compare packages · Check tee times · Browse stays.
When to go and when to book
May, June and September are the windows. The golf is at its best, summer rates and full tee sheets run from late March at Windermere and from April at Keswick, and you miss the August school holiday crush that doubles the drive times on the A591 and fills every bed from Ambleside to Buttermere. The courses themselves rarely sell out the way marquee links do, Keswick takes visitors seven days a week subject to availability, but the hotels absolutely do: in the Lakes you book the beds first and the tee times second, the exact reverse of a Scotland golf trip. For July and August stays, six months of hotel lead time is realistic; for tee times, a week or two is usually plenty outside competition days.
Winter is the honest exception. Both Windermere and Keswick stay open on winter tees with fairway mats from late October to late March, and fees drop, Windermere to £50 and £40, but you are gambling on fell weather. The shoulder argument also applies to Silloth: its Cumbria county card window and quieter midweek sheets make a spring or autumn links day simple to land.
Getting there and staying
Manchester is the practical airport, about 90 minutes to Windermere; Oxenholme on the West Coast main line connects London to Windermere by rail in under three hours. Stay in the country house hotels the area does better than anywhere in England, on Windermere for the southern base, around Keswick or Ullswater for the north, and let dinner, not golf, set the standard of the trip. Book the beds, then drop the rounds in around the weather. Browse partner stays.
Plan your Lake District golf break
Tell us your group, your month and how much golf you actually want, and one concierge builds the bases, beds and tee times around it, including the Silloth links day. No obligation.
Lake District package questions
How much does a Lake District golf break cost?
Far less than a marquee links trip. Windermere's 2026 summer green fee is £85 before 2pm, Keswick is £38, and the one true championship round, Silloth on Solway out on the Solway coast, is £120 in summer 2026. Three or four rounds plus a good country hotel lands most groups between £600 and £1,200 per person for a long weekend depending on where you sleep. All fees are indicative for the 2026 season; always confirm directly before booking.
Is there links golf in the Lake District?
Not inside the National Park, and any guide that says otherwise is selling you something. The golf among the fells is parkland and moorland with mountain views. The links fix is a day trip: Silloth on Solway, a top 100 Great Britain and Ireland course, sits about 90 minutes north of Windermere on the Solway Firth and charges £120 in summer 2026.
Where should the break be based?
Windermere and Bowness for the southern lakes, with Windermere Golf Club five minutes from town and Kendal and Ulverston within easy reach. Keswick for the wilder northern fells, with Keswick Golf Club under Blencathra and Penrith just off the M6. A five night trip that splits the two bases covers the whole park without a single long drive.
When is the best time to go?
May, June and September. Long daylight and firm turf without the August holiday crowds that fill the roads and the hotels. Summer rates run from late March to late October at Windermere and from April to the end of October at Keswick; winter golf is playable but both clubs put mats and winter tees in play.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Green fees verified June 2026 against club published rates. Last reviewed June 2026.