The 555 bus is one of the jewels in the crown of the bus network - and it’s right on our doorstep.
Running from Lancaster to Keswick, it passes through the glorious heart of the Lake District, stopping on the way at various towns and villages including Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere.
From a seat on the top deck, you’ll be able to gaze down on serene Rydal Water and Thirlmere, and crane your neck to stare up at some of Lakeland’s most majestic mountains, including Helvellyn.
There are memorable walks to be enjoyed from just about every bus stop – from relaxing valley strolls to more strenuous high-level hikes. The frequency of the service also makes it easier to set out on a linear journey by foot, walking from one bus stop to another – a particularly satisfying experience.
Spoilt for choice, guidebook writer Vivienne Crow managed to whittle down her favourite walks from the 555 to a list of just 10.
Walk 1: Scout Scar (linear from Levens Hall to Kendal)
- Start: 555 bus stop at Levens Hall
- Finish: Kendal bus station
- Length/ difficulty: 8¾ miles; moderate; approximately 4½ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
Scout Scar is a long limestone cliff that is topped by an expanse of grassland, brought to colourful life in spring and summer by a wealth of wildflowers. Striding out over the springy turf along the south-eastern edge of the Lake District National Park, you’re treated to superb views across to the high fells. The Lyth Valley and the gently rolling countryside east of Windermere enable an uninterrupted view of the mountains, often topped by snow in the winter. Catch the 555 to Levens Hall and then use quiet lanes to gain the higher ground above Brigsteer Park. Continue steadily gaining height, passing above Burnbarrow Scar, another limestone outcropping, to reach Scout Scar. In spring and summer, keep your eyes peeled for wildflowers such as bedstraw, thyme and hawkbit. You might even spot a few orchids up here. Descend to Kendal via Cunswick Scar and Kendal Fell. You can catch the 555 at various points in the town including the bus station.
Walk 2: St Catherine’s Church
- Start/finish: 555 bus stop at Abbey Square, Staveley
- Length/ difficulty: 8½ miles; moderate; approximately 4½ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
The Dales Way passes close to Staveley on its way from Ilkley in West Yorkshire to Bowness-on-Windermere. Set off from the Abbey Square bus stop and join the long-distance route just south of the village. The route then uses quiet roads, green lanes and paths through enclosed parcels of rough pasture to reach the isolated farm at Crag House. Leaving the Dales Way here, head south along rough tracks and through wildflower-filled meadows to reach the old St Catherine’s Church. Now just an abandoned tower, it’s located on a small hill near Crook – a lovely, tranquil spot with good views of the distant hills, including the Howgills on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales. More meadows are then encountered before the Dales Way is rejoined and followed back into Staveley. Your visit to the area doesn’t have to end now though – there are good paths beside the River Kent or, if you just want to kick back, there are several places in the village to grab a drink and a bite to eat.
Walk 3: Orrest Head
- Start/finish: 555 bus stop at Windermere Station
- Length/ difficulty: 2 miles; easy; approximately 1½ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
Orrest Head is closely linked with the famous Lakeland guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright. Hailing from Blackburn in Lancashire, he was just 23 when he went on his first proper holiday in 1930. Having arrived in Windermere, he and his cousin excitedly set off up Orrest Head. He wrote an account of the experience several decades later, describing it as “a moment of magic, a revelation so unexpected” that he was transfixed by the view from the low-lying summit. “Those few hours on Orrest Head cast a spell that changed my life,” he wrote. Today, having got off the bus at Windermere railway station, you’ll find the route on to Orrest Head starts from the opposite side of the A591. The path’s undergone a lot of improvement work in recent years so, although there’s obviously some uphill work involved, it’s easy-going underfoot. Return the same way or take your pick from a variety of field and woodland paths.
Walk 4: Wansfell Pike
- Start/finish: Ambleside bus interchange, Kelsick Road
- Length/ difficulty: 6½ miles; moderate; approximately 4 hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
Taking the 555 bus to Ambleside opens up a massive choice of walks taking in woodland, lakes, hidden tarns, low fells and high, windswept ridges. The first of two walks recommended here climbs Wansfell Pike, a popular viewpoint. It’s a stiff pull to the summit (1,581ft/482m), but the views of the surrounding fells and of Windermere make it well worth all the puffing and panting it takes to get here. Start from the bus interchange and then, after following Stock Ghyll upstream – past its tumultuous waterfalls – the route heads out on to the open fell. Beyond the summit, it drops easily to Troutbeck, one of the Lake District’s most idyllic villages. Here, pretty cottages and farmhouses, largely dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are strung out along the hillside, taking advantage of a line of natural springs. The route then returns to Ambleside via old driving lanes and a woodland path. On the way back, take some time to make a short detour out to Jenkin Crag for another superb perspective on England’s largest natural lake.
Walk 5: Fairfield Horseshoe
- Start/finish: Ambleside bus interchange, Kelsick Road
- Length/ difficulty: 11½ miles; hard; approximately 6½ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE and OL5, English Lakes NE
For more serious hill-walkers, this is one of Lakeland’s classic horseshoe routes, taking in a series of summits along the high ridges that cradle the head of Rydal Beck. It involves a fairly long day on the fells, most of it at an altitude where the weather can be prone to sudden change. But those who come prepared will be in for a treat, particularly those who enjoy gazing off to distant horizons; because of its central location, the views of the surrounding fells are superb. Ascending via Nab Scar, the walk takes in Heron Pike, Great Rigg, Fairfield (at 2,863ft/873m, the highest of the bunch), Hart Crag, Dove Crag, High Pike and Low Pike. The ridges are broad enough to allow you to stride out without fear of falling but narrow enough to give that sense of freedom that comes from walking along a raised spine of earth. Underfoot, the paths are generally grassy with some stonier sections and occasional peaty patches.
Walk 6: Grasmere and Rydal Water
- Start/finish: 555 bus stop near Heaton Cooper Studio, Grasmere
- Length/ difficulty: 5½ miles; easy; approximately 3 hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
Like Ambleside to the south, Grasmere offers a wealth of low-level and high-level walks, as well as everything in between. The circuit of Grasmere’s eponymous lake and neighbouring Rydal Water is a great walk for families, or for when you just want a relatively easy half-day. It visits two of the smallest and prettiest lakes in the Lake District – both right in the heart of Wordsworth country. From Grasmere, follow quiet lanes and pleasant tracks in and out of woodland along the base of the fells. This is the route of the old corpse road, once used to carry coffins from Ambleside to St Oswald’s Church in Grasmere for burial. Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount, two of poet William Wordsworth’s former homes, are passed on this outward leg. (Both are open to the public.) The second half of the walk takes in shore paths beside the sparkling waters of the two lakes and, on returning to the village, there’s the option of visiting the graves of Wordsworth and his family in the churchyard.
Walk 7: Helm Crag
- Start/finish: 555 bus stop near Heaton Cooper Studio, Grasmere
- Length/ difficulty: 4¼ miles; moderate; approximately 3 hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL7, English Lakes SE
Helm Crag (1,329ft/405m) stands tall above the village of Grasmere, its distinctive summit rocks clearly visible from the A591. It’s a relatively short, but steep walk from the 555 bus stop in Grasmere. After following the Easedale Road away from the centre of the village, ascend the well-used path up to the first group of rocks – The Lion and The Lamb. There’s some easy scrambling to stand atop the rocks, or you can take the bypass path to the left. The highest rocks on the ridge make up a formation known as The Howitzer. While the scrambling on The Lion and The Lamb is straightforward, climbing to the top of The Howitzer is much trickier and should only be attempted by the surefooted. Indeed, it is the only one of 214 peaks that defeated the guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright. Having enjoyed spectacular views from both sides of the ridge, descend a zig-zagging path to Greenburn, a tranquil side valley that sees few visitors. From here, quiet lanes lead back to the bus stop in Grasmere.
Walk 8: Helvellyn (linear from Dunmail Raise to Swirls car park)
- Start: 555 bus stop at Dunmail Raise
- Finish: 555 bus stop at Swirls car park
- Length/ difficulty: 6 miles; hard; approximately 4½ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL5, English Lakes SE
The 555 bus passes directly below the western slopes of the Helvellyn range, so it’s ideal for tackling linear walks on England’s third highest mountain. Routes range from just under six miles to almost 15 miles if you want to bag all the tops along the ridge. One of the shorter options starts at Dunmail Raise and ends at Swirls. It ascends to the beautifully located Grisedale Tarn via Raise Beck before embarking on the zig-zag path up Dollywaggon Pike, the southernmost peak in the range. It’s a tough slog to the top but once you’re there, it’ll feel like you’re on top of the world. Ahead lies more than a mile of easy, high-level ridge-walking – a chance to peer down on the rocky aretes and secret coves carved by glaciers thousands of years ago. The view from the summit of Helvellyn (3,116ft/950m) takes in the famous aretes of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. Be careful to locate the correct path down from the top. It heads north-west from Lower Man, over the top of Browncove Crags, then skitters down to the Swirls bus stop.
Walk 9: Raven Crag
- Start/finish: 555 bus stop at Thirlmere Dam road end
- Length/ difficulty: 4¼ miles; moderate; approximately 3 hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL5, English Lakes NE and OL4, English Lakes NW
Ask the bus driver to drop you at the Thirlmere Dam road-end bus stop. As you cross the dam, built in the late nineteenth century to create a water supply for Manchester, Raven Crag looks impossibly steep. There’s no need to worry though, the face you’re looking at is visited only by climbers and, in spring, nesting ravens; there’s a much easier way up for walkers. If you need something to take your mind off the impending ascent though, the impressive views across the reservoir to the Helvellyn range should prove a welcome distraction. There are more glimpses of Thirlmere as you climb steeply through the forest, but nothing can prepare you for the moment you emerge from the trees and reach the viewing platform on Raven Crag’s summit. The scene, taking in the reservoir’s dark waters and the fells surrounding it, is breathtaking. It’s a superb place to linger before setting out on a gentler return route via winding forest paths and tracks.
10. Derwentwater viewpoints
- Start/finish: Keswick bus station
- Length/ difficulty: 5¼ miles; moderate; approximately 2¾ hours
- Map: Ordnance Survey OL4, English Lakes NW
Be prepared for indecision if you catch the 555 to its northern terminus at Keswick – the choice of walks is mind-numbing. Head high, on to Skiddaw or the Derwent Fells; take a wander out to the mysterious stone circle at Castlerigg; or enjoy a few hours beside beautiful Derwentwater. Friar’s Crag and Castlehead are just two of the many lake viewpoints that can be accessed directly from the town. From the bus station, head down to the landing stages near the Theatre by the Lake and then take the popular shore path out to the benches on Friar’s Crag for a view straight down Derwentwater into the Jaws of Borrowdale. Follow the route of the waymarked lake circuit as far as Calfclose Bay and then climb through the grand old trees of Great Wood and Spring Wood. On the return to Keswick, a rough ascent to Castlehead provides an opportunity for one final view of the lake below. This is a quieter spot than Friar’s Crag, so the benches are less likely to be occupied.
Advice before you set off
Make sure you’ve got a map and are equipped for whatever the weather might throw at you. If you’re heading to the fells, check out the Adventure Smart website for advice.
For information on bus times, check our website or download the Stagecoach Bus app from Google Play or Apple’s App Store. Pensioners travel free with a NoW card while everyone else pays only £2 per journey under the national fare-cap scheme.