Six sailings a day each way until 24 October, then a winter timetable of three: from 25 October the Ullswater boats leave Glenridding at 09:45, 11:05 and 13:40, and the first of them turns back at Howtown. It is a sightseeing service with stops rather than a ferry, but a single between two piers works perfectly well as transport, especially for walkers doing the lakeshore path one way.
Lilac timetable until 24 October 2026; winter green timetable 25 October – 23 December 2026 and 26 December 2026 – 3 January 2027. Read on the operator's timetable page and its 2026/2027 leaflet on 1 October 2026. Nothing is published yet for after 3 January 2027. Ullswater 'Steamers' — Timetable and Fares · 2026-10-01
The boats on Ullswater began as a working line. According to the company, the Ullswater Steam Navigation Company started sailing in 1859, carrying passengers alongside the Royal Mail, provisions, slate from nearby mines and lead from the Greenside mine above Glenridding. Its oldest surviving boat, the Lady of the Lake, was launched on 26 June 1877 at Rutherglen, near Glasgow, carried in three sections by rail to Penrith and assembled on the lake near Pooley Bridge; National Historic Ships UK records her as thought to be the UK's oldest passenger vessel still at work.
The cargo has gone, but the route has hardly moved: boats still run the length of the lake between Glenridding at the southern end and Pooley Bridge at the northern end, calling at Howtown on the eastern shore. What has changed is the purpose. Today Ullswater 'Steamers' sells lake cruises, and most tickets are bought for the view.
For anyone treating it as transport, the single between two piers is the ticket that matters, and the timetable is the thing to watch. On 25 October the service drops from six sailings a day to three, and the timetable published so far runs only to 3 January.
If you want to get from one pier to another, buy a single: those are the transport tickets. Glenridding to Howtown is £12.75 for an adult and takes 35 minutes; Pooley Bridge to Howtown is £11.75 and takes 25; the full length from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge is £17.50. Tickets are open for the day of travel, so any boat that day will do.
The round the lake ticket, £26.00, is the sightseeing product: start at Glenridding or Pooley Bridge, ride the length of the lake and back, and get off along the way if you like. Children aged 5 to 17 pay less, under-fives travel free, and dogs are £1.50.
| Glenridding – Howtown, adult | £ 12.75 |
| Glenridding – Howtown, child 5–17 | £ 8.25 |
| Pooley Bridge – Howtown, adult | £ 11.75 |
| Pooley Bridge – Howtown, child 5–17 | £ 8 |
| Glenridding – Pooley Bridge, adult | £ 17.50 |
| Glenridding – Pooley Bridge, child 5–17 | £ 11.75 |
| Glenridding – Howtown return, adult | £ 18 |
| Pooley Bridge – Howtown return, adult | £ 16.50 |
| Round the lake, adult | £ 26 |
| Round the lake, child 5–17 | £ 16 |
| Round the lake, family (2 adults + 2 children) | £ 76 |
| Child under 5 | Free |
| Dog | £ 1.50 |
| Bicycle (space permitting) | £ 3 |
| Paddleboard (space permitting) | £ 4 |
Ullswater Lake Cruise Fares 2026, as published on the operator's timetable page and read on 1 October 2026. The printed leaflet carries no prices, so no second source confirms these figures. Ullswater 'Steamers' — Ullswater Lake Cruise Fares 2026 · 2026-10-01
Measured in straight lines between the piers, Glenridding to Howtown is about 6 kilometres and Howtown to Pooley Bridge about 5, with the lake bending north-east away from the Helvellyn end. The whole length is about 10.5 kilometres pier to pier. This is one of the few services on this site that runs on an inland lake rather than across salt water; the closest in spirit is the Inchcailloch boat on Loch Lomond, another short hop inside a national park, although that one is a seasonal boat.
Glenridding, a former mining village at the foot of Helvellyn, is the southern end of the line and the company's base. The pier house has a café and shop, free wifi, an 11 kW charger for electric cars, accessible toilets and a hearing loop. There is a pay-and-display car park at the pier, with a machine at the bottom of the ramp that takes coins and contactless cards, plus four disabled spaces outside the pier house; a larger car park is in the village.
The lakeshore section of the Ullswater Way to Howtown, about seven miles, starts from here, as do short circuits such as the climb to Lanty's Tarn.
Pooley Bridge is the northern end, about ten minutes from junction 40 of the M6. The pier has no car park of its own: use the pay-and-display car parks on either side of the bridge or the signed field in the village, about five minutes' walk away. The pier house has accessible toilets and a hearing loop.
Between the two ends the boats call at Howtown Pier on the eastern shore, which has no road parking at all and is meant to be reached by boat or on foot. It is the start of the lakeshore walk to Glenridding and the way into the Martindale valley.
The classic plan is a boat to Howtown and the seven-mile lakeshore path back to Glenridding, or the five-mile section from Howtown to Pooley Bridge. With only three winter sailings, check the last departure from your finishing pier before you set off.
The operator plans its timetable around Stagecoach's 508, which links Penrith, Pooley Bridge and Glenridding all year. Penrith is the nearest railway station, on the West Coast Main Line, and there is a combined bus-and-boat ticket.
The waymarked Ullswater Way circles the lake for 20 miles and links all four piers. Five pounds from every season ticket goes to the Lake District Foundation for path repairs.
Dogs pay £1.50 and must stay on a short lead. They are not allowed on the seats in the saloons or on the upper decks.
Gangplanks and lake levels decide whether a wheelchair can board, so ring ahead. Motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters cannot be carried.
The Aira Force pier is not in use and the operator expects those sailings to return in 2027. Stagecoach buses still reach the waterfall.
The company's own history is a series of near-misses. The Lady of the Lake sank at her moorings in 1881 and was refloated by divers from Liverpool, was badly damaged by fire in 1965 and did not return until 19 May 1979. The company says it was saved from being wound up in the 1950s when Sir Wavell Wakefield, later Lord Wakefield of Kendal, bought control; his family still runs it. It also credits Lord Birkett with defeating Manchester Corporation's plan to turn Ullswater into a reservoir in 1962.
Winter sailing is a recent idea by comparison: the company dates it to 2001, when the Lady Dorothy arrived from Guernsey. Companies House still lists The Ullswater Navigation and Transit Company Limited, incorporated on 13 February 1904, as a dormant company.
Yes. From 25 October to 3 January, apart from 24 and 25 December, three boats a day leave Glenridding, at 09:45, 11:05 and 13:40, and two leave Pooley Bridge, at 12:10 and 14:45. The operator has not yet published times for after 3 January.
Yes. A single from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding costs £17.50 for an adult and takes about an hour, calling at Howtown.
The 14:45 from Pooley Bridge, which calls at Howtown at 15:10 and reaches Glenridding at 15:45.
No. Howtown has no car parking and the operator asks people to arrive by boat or on foot. Park at Glenridding pier or in Pooley Bridge village instead.
A single if you are walking one way: £12.75 Glenridding to Howtown, £11.75 Pooley Bridge to Howtown. The round-the-lake ticket at £26.00 suits people who want to cruise the whole lake and return to where they started.
Not for now. The operator suspended Aira Force sailings from 18 July and says the route will reopen in 2027; the waterfall can be reached by Stagecoach bus.
Yes, for £1.50. Dogs must be kept on a short lead and are not allowed on saloon seats or the upper decks.