A Taste of the Lakes: The Best Local Food, Drink, Art and Pottery in the Lake District
11 November 2026 · 7 min read
The Lake District is famous for its views, but some of the best things you'll bring home fit in a suitcase. A parcel of gingerbread still wrapped in the shop's paper. A jar of relish you tasted before you bought it. A bowl made by a Cumbrian potter.
Local food, drink and craft are part of what makes a Lakeland holiday feel rooted in the place. This guide gathers the producers, shops and galleries we think are most worth your time, and where to find them.
Key Takeaways
- The Lakes have a handful of world-famous treats, including Grasmere gingerbread, Cartmel sticky toffee pudding and Kendal Mint Cake.
- Farm shops and village delis are the best places to find Herdwick lamb, Cumberland sausage and local cheese.
- A local brewery and a whisky distillery offer tours and tastings.
- For art and pottery, Blackwell, the Old Courthouse Gallery and the Heaton Cooper Studio are three of the best places to see and buy work by British makers.
- Many producers sit in small villages with little parking, so being driven makes a produce trail far easier, and nobody has to skip the tasting.
Food: the Lakeland larder
Grasmere Gingerbread, Grasmere
No trip to Grasmere is complete without a visit to the tiny Grasmere Gingerbread shop beside St Oswald's churchyard, where Wordsworth is buried. Sarah Nelson first baked her gingerbread here in 1854, and the recipe is still a closely guarded secret. It's somewhere between a biscuit and a cake: chewy, spicy and sweet. There is also a shop in Hawkshead.
Buy: a parcel of gingerbread, wrapped in its traditional paper.
Cartmel Village Shop, Cartmel
Cartmel, a pretty village with a medieval priory, is the home of sticky toffee pudding. The Cartmel Village Shop sells its famous puddings to take home, along with other local treats. While you're in Cartmel, look in at Unsworth's Yard, a courtyard of independent food and drink shops that includes Cartmel Cheeses.
Buy: a sticky toffee pudding to heat up at home, and a wedge of Cumbrian cheese.
Hawkshead Relish Company, Hawkshead
In the centre of Hawkshead, between the Kings Arms and the Queens Head, the Hawkshead Relish shop stocks more than 100 relishes, chutneys, pickles and preserves, all made in Cumbria. You can taste before you buy, which makes it a hard shop to leave empty-handed.
Buy: a chutney for the cheese board, or a bottle of their black garlic ketchup.
Kendal Mint Cake, Kendal
Kendal Mint Cake is a hard, sugary mint bar with a famous history. Romney's mint cake went up Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary's team in 1953. Today, Quiggin's, Romney's and Wilson's still make it, and you'll find it in shops across the Lakes.
Buy: the chocolate-coated version, for a walk or the train home.
Low Sizergh Barn, near Kendal
Low Sizergh Barn is a working farm with a farm shop, a tea room and a farm trail. It is one of the best places to find local meat, cheese, baking and gifts under one roof.
Buy: Cumberland sausage, Herdwick lamb and local cheese.
Yew Tree Farm and Heritage Meats, Coniston
Once owned by Beatrix Potter, Yew Tree Farm is a working hill farm of more than 700 acres in the Yewdale Valley, about 2 miles from Coniston on the road to Ambleside. You may recognise it from the film Miss Potter. Its Heritage Meats business sells Herdwick hogget and mutton and Belted Galloway beef, raised on the surrounding pastures and fells, with home delivery. Visitors can also book the Herdwick Experience, a guided farm visit that ends with meeting the flock.
Buy: Herdwick hogget, delivered to your door.
What to look for on menus
- Herdwick lamb: from the hardy native sheep that graze the fells, with a rich, slightly gamey flavour.
- Cumberland sausage: a long, coiled pork sausage, peppery and coarsely chopped.
- Damsons: small, tart plums from the Lyth Valley, used in jams, gin and puddings.
- Char: a rare fish from Windermere's deep, cold waters, occasionally found on local menus.
Drink: beer, whisky and gin
Hawkshead Brewery, Staveley
Despite the name, Hawkshead Brewery is based at Mill Yard in Staveley, between Kendal and Windermere. Its Beer Hall is open every day, with viewing areas onto the brewery and a daily brewery tour at 1pm. Mill Yard itself is worth a wander, with other small independent businesses.
Try: a tasting flight of the core range, then take a few bottles home.
The Lakes Distillery, Bassenthwaite Lake
Set in a restored Victorian model farm beside Bassenthwaite Lake, near Keswick, the Lakes Distillery makes single malt whisky, gin and vodka. It's open daily for tours, which finish with a tasting, and there's a bistro for lunch.
Try: the single malt or the Lakes Classic Gin, and pick up a bottle as a gift.
The Drunken Duck Inn, near Hawkshead
The Drunken Duck is a much-loved country inn on the hill between Hawkshead and Ambleside, with its own microbrewery and views across to the fells. It's a lovely place for an early evening drink after a day in the southern Lakes.
Try: one of the house ales, brewed on site.
Art, craft and pottery
Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere
Just outside Bowness, above Windermere and only a few minutes from our base at the Belsfield Hotel, Blackwell is one of the finest Arts and Crafts houses in Britain. Its panelled rooms, stained glass and lake views are a joy in themselves, and it holds changing exhibitions of contemporary craft, including ceramics. The shop sells work by British makers.
Buy: a piece of studio ceramics or handmade jewellery from the shop.
The Old Courthouse Gallery, Ambleside
Set over three floors of Ambleside's old court building in Market Place, the family-run Old Courthouse Gallery has shown the best of Lakeland and British art and craft since 1994. Its ceramics range from everyday mugs and bowls to sculptural pieces, alongside paintings, prints and jewellery.
Buy: a hand-thrown mug or bowl to use every day back home.
Heaton Cooper Studio, Grasmere
The Heaton Cooper family has been painting the Lakeland fells for more than a century, and their studio and gallery in Grasmere tells that story. You can see original work, and the shop sells prints, cards and art materials. It sits just across the village from the gingerbread shop, so the two make a perfect pairing.
Buy: a print of a Lakeland view, to frame at home.
Brantwood, Coniston Water
John Ruskin's lakeside home was the base of one of the Victorian era's most influential art critics. Inside are his drawings and watercolours, and the house looks across Coniston Water to the Old Man of Coniston. It's best reached by boat across the lake.
Buy: something from the shop, then lunch with a view.
Meeting the makers
Many Cumbrian potters and artists work from small studios rather than shops, and some open only by appointment or at craft fairs. If you'd like to meet a maker in person, ask us when you book and we'll look at what's open during your stay.
Local producers at a glance
| Producer | Where | Known for | Best buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grasmere Gingerbread | Grasmere | Gingerbread since 1854 | A wrapped parcel of gingerbread |
| Cartmel Village Shop | Cartmel | Sticky toffee pudding | A pudding to take home |
| Hawkshead Relish Company | Hawkshead | Relishes, chutneys, preserves | A chutney for cheese |
| Kendal Mint Cake | Kendal and shops across the Lakes | Mint cake taken up Everest | Chocolate-coated mint cake |
| Low Sizergh Barn | Near Kendal | Farm shop and tea room | Cumberland sausage, Herdwick lamb |
| Yew Tree Farm and Heritage Meats | Near Coniston | Herdwick hogget, Belted Galloway beef | Herdwick hogget, delivered |
| Hawkshead Brewery | Staveley | Lakeland ales, daily tour | A tasting flight |
| The Lakes Distillery | Bassenthwaite Lake | Whisky, gin, vodka | Single malt or Lakes Gin |
| Blackwell | Bowness-on-Windermere | Arts and Crafts house, contemporary craft | Studio ceramics |
| Old Courthouse Gallery | Ambleside | Ceramics, paintings, jewellery | A hand-thrown mug or bowl |
| Heaton Cooper Studio | Grasmere | Lakeland painting | A print of the fells |
A produce trail, without the driving
Many of the Lakes' best producers sit in small villages with narrow lanes and little parking, and some of the best tastings involve beer, whisky or gin. With a private host, you're dropped at the door of each shop, gallery and brewery, your purchases stay safely in the vehicle, and nobody has to skip the tasting.
Our tours already include stops at Grasmere, Hawkshead, the Heaton Cooper Studio, afternoon tea at the Old England Hotel and an early evening drink at the Drunken Duck. Tell us what you'd love to taste, see or bring home, and your host will shape the days around it.
Explore the Lake District tour, see our 2-day and 3-day tours, or check availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Grasmere gingerbread, Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, Kendal Mint Cake, Cumberland sausage and Herdwick lamb are the best-known local foods. Damsons from the Lyth Valley appear in jams, gin and puddings.
At the Grasmere Gingerbread shop beside St Oswald's churchyard in Grasmere, where it has been made since 1854. There is also a shop in Hawkshead.
Yes. Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley runs a daily brewery tour, and the Lakes Distillery near Bassenthwaite Lake offers tours and tastings of its whisky, gin and vodka.
Blackwell in Bowness-on-Windermere, the Old Courthouse Gallery in Ambleside and the Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere all sell work by local and British artists and makers, including ceramics and prints.
Yes. Our tours already visit Grasmere, Hawkshead and the Heaton Cooper Studio, and your host can add other producers or galleries if you let us know what interests you.
