Two Kinds of Lake District Shopping

There's what you come planning to buy and what you actually end up buying. In the Lake District, the first category is usually outdoor gear. The second is usually food, which you didn't plan on but couldn't help.

Both are legitimate. Here's how to navigate each.

Outdoor Gear: Keswick Is the Place

Keswick is recognised as the outdoor gear capital of the UK. This is not marketing — the town's high street genuinely has an unusual concentration of outdoor retailers competing for the attention of people who've just realised their waterproof jacket isn't, in fact, waterproof.

George Fisher (on Borrowdale Road) is the Lake District institution. Family-run, extremely knowledgeable staff, good boot-fitting service. A proper outdoor shop rather than a high-street chain pretending to be one. If you're buying walking boots or a serious waterproof, this is where to go.

The big chains — Cotswold Outdoor, Blacks, Millets — also have branches in Keswick, Ambleside, and Windermere. Useful for basics if you've forgotten something.

What's worth buying from an outdoor shop here:

  • Walking boots: Get properly fitted. Your feet will thank you. A good boot-fitter can tell you whether a boot suits your foot shape before you've walked 100 metres in it.
  • Waterproof jacket: If yours has failed, replace it here. Don't attempt the fells in a jacket that isn't up to the weather.
  • Maps: OS Explorer maps (1:25,000 scale) for your specific area. More detail than you'll get from any phone app.
  • Gaiters: If you're doing wet or boggy walks. Frequently overlooked, consistently useful.

Local Crafts and Gifts

Lakeland Slate

Honister Slate Mine produces and sells slate products in their mine shop. The slate is quarried on-site and turned into coasters, placemats, cheese boards, house signs, and various decorative items. These are genuinely local and made from a material that has defined the Lake District's built environment for centuries.

The characteristic grey-green colour of traditional Lakeland walls and buildings comes from this slate. Owning a piece of it is more meaningful than it sounds.

Herdwick Wool

Herdwick sheep produce a coarse, durable wool used in traditional Lakeland textiles. You'll find knitwear, blankets, and cushions in a Herdwick wool blend throughout the Lakes. Look for products that specify Herdwick wool content — Herdwick Wool's website lists approved products and producers.

Artisan Crafts

Ambleside and Keswick both have small galleries and craft shops featuring local painters and photographers. The landscape obviously dominates — fell scenes, lakescapes, misty mornings. Quality varies. Look at the work; don't buy something just because it has Blencathra in it.

Edible Souvenirs (the Category That Gets People)

Grasmere Gingerbread

Already covered in the food guide, but worth repeating: buy it. It travels well, keeps for a couple of weeks, and is a genuinely distinctive product unavailable outside Grasmere. The shop sells it boxed and wrapped.

Hawkshead Relish

Based in Hawkshead, this small producer makes an excellent range of chutneys, relishes, and preserves. The Red Onion Marmalade and various mustards are consistently good. Available in farm shops and deli shops across the Lakes, and online.

Lakes Distillery Products

The Lakes Distillery near Bassenthwaite Lake produces whisky, gin, and vodka. The whisky (The ONE) has received positive reviews. You can buy bottles at the distillery (which runs tours and tastings) and in various shops. A Lakes whisky is a more interesting souvenir than a fridge magnet.

Damson Products

The Lyth Valley south of Windermere is known for its damsons. Farm shops in the area sell damson jam, damson gin, and damson cheese (the preserve, not actual cheese). Seasonal — the fresh fruit is available in September, but preserves are available year-round.

Local Cumbrian Cheeses

Tynedale and Thornby Moor Dairy both produce Cumbrian cheeses. Look for them in farm shops. Keswick Market (Thursday and Saturday) often has cheese stalls.

Where to Shop by Town

Keswick: Best for outdoor gear, Keswick Market (Thu/Sat), a few good craft shops on Main Street and in the surrounding streets.

Ambleside: Good outdoor shops, smaller gift shops, the excellent Compston Road area.

Grasmere: Gingerbread shop. A handful of gift shops. Mostly the gingerbread shop.

Windermere/Bowness: Widest range of tourist-oriented shops, Beatrix Potter merchandise in quantity, some quality gift shops mixed in with the souvenir tat.

Kendal: More of a real town than a tourist town. Booths supermarket (a northern English institution, significantly better than any national chain) is here. Good for stocking up if you're self-catering.

The ConciseTravel Lake District guide includes more specific shopping recommendations by interest and location.