Bed and breakfast availability
Coniston b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Coniston and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Coniston, Cumbria. This village lies on the west side of Coniston Water, and is accessible from Ambleside, North, from Broughton or Lowick Bridge, South, or from Bowness ferry, East Along the North West of the village run the Coniston Fells, dominated by Coniston Old Man, with the Duddon Valley behind them. Coniston is the centre for ascents of this range. In the churchyard is the cross commemorating Ruskin. Of hard green local stone, the cross is carved on four sides, one of them showing an artist drawing with the sun rising above pine trees. The small Ruskin Museum illustrates the life and work of the critic and writer, together with material relating to the locality.

Tarn lows, celebrated for its beauty, is North East of the village and near the road, surrounded by areas of National Trust property. It is a favourite place for excursions, and from the slopes above there are magnificent views of mountains that include Red Screes, Fairfield, the Helvellyn range and Langdale Pikes. Yewdale Tarn is near, and West lies the Tilberthwaite valley with a series of waterfalls.

Coniston Water is about 5½miles long, with tree-lined bays, and its background of wooded hills and mountains on the West make a striking picture. The Coniston Fells run along the north-west side of the lake, rising to 2,633 ft at the summit of Coniston Old Man. Beyond them Grey Friar and Dow Crag look down on the Duddon Valley. There are continuous ridges leading to several connected heights on the Coniston range. Old Man is a well-known peak for climbers and walkers, but its east side particularly, and other parts of the range, have been defaced by old quarries and copper mines; these should be avoided for safety reasons. Around the lake most place-names have Norse origins, as elsewhere in Lakeland. There is fishing, boating and swimming on the lake. It was here that Donald Campbell died in 1967 in an attempt to break the water speed record.

Brantwood is on the east side. John Ruskin bought this house in 1871, and died there in 1900. Ruskin insisted on the value of hand-made as against machine-made goods, and preached the gospel of beauty. He could read and write at the age of four, at six began trying to write books and at seven poetry. Volume I of his Modern Painters (arising from his spirited defence of Turner) made him famous as an art critic at 24. He championed the Pre-Raphaelites, and opened a window on the beauty of Italian art. A passionate campaigner, he spent most of his father's legacy of £157,000 on educational work, gifts and attempts to improve working-class conditions. While at Brantwood Ruskin attempted one of his industrial experiments, a revival of the old hand-made linen industry at Elterwater; and at Keswick his work is also remembered. In Coniston village the museum and churchyard cross are a reminder of the man who believed that the gentleman should labour and the labourer should exercise mind and soul. Brantwood is kept by the Education Trust as a memorial. It contains some 250 paintings by Ruskin.

Another old building is Tent Lodge, where Tennyson once stayed. Monk Coniston Hall is a National Trust property that is let to the Holiday Fellowship. Among various routes for walks are those towards Walna Scar, Broughton Mills, the Grizedale Forest, and West of Water Yeat and Blawith. Tam Hows to the North gives good views along Coniston Water.

Nearby towns: Ambleside, Borrowdale, Bowness-on-Windermere, Broughton-in-Furness, Duddon Valley, Eskdale, Keswick, Millom, Ulvertson, Wasdale, Windermere

Nearby villages: Beckfoot, Boot, Bowland Bridge, Broughton-in-furness, Elterwater, Grasmere, Greenodd, Grizebeck, Grizedale, Haverthwaite, Hawkshead, High Nibthwaite, High Wray, High Yewdale, Kentmere, Lake Side, Newby Bridge, Ravenglass, Rusland, Rydal, Seathwaite, Torver, Ulpha, Wythburn

Have you decided to visit Coniston or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Coniston bed and breakfast (a Coniston B&B or Coniston b and b)
• a Coniston guesthouse
• a Coniston hotel (or motel)
• a Coniston self-catering establishment, or
• other Coniston accommodation