The Keswick Launch Company -

Taylor Longden

Have used this service multiple times and it never disappoints. For a very reasonable price (£14.75/pp), you can experience a long, scenic trip around Derwentwater surrounded by fells including Catbells and Skiddaw. The cruise makes multiple stops, giving you the opportunity to disembark and easily access other notable landmarks.

Lindsey Cunliffe

What a great service, much needed after a 9 mile walk to get back to the car. Staff were really helpful & friendly. Excellent!

Femi Adesina

We went there without much information or experience, but we were able to navigate through. There's a large parking space and space designated for buses and coaches. Small shops and restaurants nearby. You can buy a ticket for a boat cruise - paddle boats, self driving auto, and touring boats that can seat almost 200 people available. Your ticket can be for a single destination or round journey. A round trip takes about 45-60min. You can get a map to help you with navigation on site. There's a waterfall on one site. Hotels and other accommodations are around but could be expensive if not booked earlier on. There's a hotel and spa near the waterfall. You can bring your own boat to the lakeside and ride into the lake, with no restrictions or payment. There's a beautiful garden around. You can feed the duck and take pictures (duck food 50p). Overall a lovely experience

Sarah Petty

Amazing views from the whole trip round.

Inner peace and a sense of calm can be found on the lake.

Really good prices for a day ticket. Can hop on or off and any other dock but we stayed on for the full hour. We booked for 1 adult and 2 children and they loved it.

Can also buy duck food for 50p which my boys loved doing before boarding.

Just perfect!

Rebecca Louise

This was one of my higlights, of my week, in the Lake District.
Dog friendly and free.
It was a reasonable price of 12.50 for hop on hop off. We went round the lake once which takes 50 minutes and then went round again and got off to explore.
Staff were very friendly and approachable.
A beautiful and safe way to exore the Lake.
There is a car park a 3 minute walk from here.
I would recommend this boat than the others as more of a hidden gem and quieter than Windmere Lake.

Paige Goodwin

Done whilst on holiday, only downside is the stops are just walks not anywhere to shop or eat and also no ramp into boats, extremely hard to get larger dogs on and off and disabled family members

M&C Reynolds

Great launch operating on Derwentwater from Keswick. Boats leave from the lakeside every half hour until 3.30 pm in the summer, alternating between clockwise and anticlockwise routes. Stopping off at various jetties around the lake with terrific views of the fells.

If you sit outside at the front you will get splashed!

Erin J

First morning of our family holiday, with two little girls aged 5 and 8, we went down to Hope Park.

We saw that there was duck food for sale from the little Keswick Launch Co shop/booth. We began feeding the eager duck and geese on the launch pad right by the little shop. There were dozens.

A van driven by one of the young men who works on the boats came along and we stepped out of the way. He did not stop his van for the geese nor slow down. One was nudged out of the way by the bumper but another unfortunate goose had its head and body violently run over.

My little girls screamed. Other families shouted for him to stop. My girls continued screaming and sobbed as the poor creature began to flail about and blood began pouring.

The van still did not stop. It drove further along to one of the jetties and parked up.

I confronted him. There was no apology from the young man. He kept deflecting and saying we should have moved along, there were too many geese, and he didn’t know he had done it (despite the significant bump he would have felt and the shouts of many).

Some of the other workers from the shop came out and put the goose (barely alive) in a bin bag before taking it around a corner to end its suffering and dispose of it.

I’m honestly shocked by the whole incident. It completely stained that first day of our holiday, albeit we still made the most of it. But my two little girls are what I am most upset by, as this incident will stick with them for a long time.

I’m also surprised and disappointed that I haven’t had a response from Keswick Boat Co despite two emails and forms submitted in the past two weeks.

Please provide some training for your staff and consider signs about where to feed the geese if this is a problem, or stop selling the food altogether.