,url-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripexpert.com%2Fimages%2Fmarker-fade%402x.png(-3.023615,54.458344)/-2.974843718111515,54.4105218588307,9.509756623104282/1280x214@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoidHJpcGV4cGVydHdlYiIsImEiOiJja2Fud3l2MDcwbXZ0MndyeGF3eGI3ZWhzIn0.zLqNa1RECyZZadF8zfQM5w)
Lake WindermerevsWordsworth Grasmere
Both are rated very highly by professional reviewers writing for major publications. Overall, Dove Cottage is preferred by most professionals compared to Lake Windermere. Dove Cottage comes in at #2 in Lake District with praise from 3 reviewers like Lonely Planet, Michelin Guide and Travel + Leisure.
Lake Windermere
Fodor's
Michelin Guide
The Telegraph
Independent
Windermere
From $0/night
Fodor's "At 11 miles long, 1½ miles wide, and 220 feet deep, the lake is England's largest and stretches from Newby Bridge almost to Ambleside, filling a rocky gorge between thickly wooded hills." Full review
Michelin Guide 2 Stars
"This 16km-long lake, equally popular with sailors and water skiers, is pleasantly surrounded by woods and hills." Full review
The Telegraph "Stretching for over 10 miles between Ambleside and Newby Bridge, Windermere is not only the largest lake in the Lake District, it’s the largest lake anywhere in England." Full review
Independent "One of the Lake District’s most well-known lakes, Windermere is an enormously popular place to visit due to its myriad water-based activities and walking options"
Wordsworth Grasmere Fodor's
Lonely Planet Michelin Guide Lonely Planet
Travel + Leisure The Telegraph
A591, 1 mi south of Grasmere, Grasmere LA22 9SH
From $0/night
Fodor's "William Wordsworth lived in Dove Cottage from 1799 to 1808, a prolific and happy time for the poet." Full review
Lonely Planet "Next door to Dove Cottage, the new Wordsworth Museum houses a fascinating collection of letters, portraits and manuscripts relating to the Romantic movement."
Michelin Guide 1 Star
"Dove Cottage was a magnet for the Romantic writers Coleridge, Southey and De Quincey. The upper floor includes a "newspaper room" where newspapers were used to keep out the cold. " Full review
Lonely PlanetTop choice
"On the edge of Grasmere, this tiny, creeper-clad cottage (formerly a pub called the Dove & Olive Bough) was famously inhabited by William Wordsworth between 1799 and 1808." Full review
i
Entry is by timed ticket to avoid overcrowding and includes an informative guided tour.
Travel + Leisure "Wordsworth’s home is now a museum with original manu-scripts by the poet as well as a vast collection of watercolor paintings from the 19th-century Romantic movement." Full review
The Telegraph "Now owned by the Wordsworth Trust, the cottage is full of memorabilia, including the poet’s ice-skates, his passport, a pair of his reading glasses and a portrait of one of his favourite dog." Full review
