Published 2 April 2026
Tarns, quiet bays and river pools — where to swim in the Lakes, and how to do it safely.
Cold water is now fashionable, which is a shame, because it was always wonderful. The Lake District has more good swimming than anywhere in England, and most of it is walked past by people heading for a summit.
Easedale Tarn, an hour above Grasmere, is the swim we recommend most: a bowl of clear water under crags, best before nine in the morning.
For lake swimming, the western shores are quieter and the water is cleaner. Enter where you can see the bottom, stay parallel to the shore, and never swim alone.
Our concierge team can arrange a guided swim with a qualified open-water coach, which is genuinely the best way to start.
“The best swims here are short, cold and completely clarifying.”
Stay somewhere extraordinary
Every house in our collection comes with the team who wrote this.
