Boats to Catbells Today
Working out today's boats…
From Keswick Launch's timetables (summer to 8 Nov 2026, then winter), checked 12 Oct 2026. Boats don't sail in rough weather: check today's service before you set off. All the boat and bus times.
By Boat: The Keswick Launch
The launches leave from the boat landings at the lake end of Keswick, five minutes' walk from the Lakeside car park and about fifteen from the bus station. For Catbells, get off at Hawes End. From the jetty it's about 10 minutes up through the trees to the foot of the ridge.
Summer timetable, 21 March to 8 November 2026 (every day):
| Times | |
|---|---|
| Keswick to Hawes End, direct (10 minutes) | 09:45 walkers' boat, then 10:30 and hourly to 15:30. Also 16:30 until 24 October |
| Hawes End back to Keswick (10 minutes) | 10:40 and hourly to 15:40. Also 16:40 until 24 October, and 17:40 in July and August |
| The long way round | Boats also circle the lake the other way: from Keswick on the hour, reaching Hawes End 40 minutes later |
- Last boat back from Hawes End: 16:40 until 24 October 2026, then 15:40 until 8 November. In July and August it's 17:40.
- From 15 July to 31 August the Launch adds extra boats when it's busy.
- The Nichol End jetty is closed at the moment and the Lingholm jetty isn't in use, so boats don't call there.
Winter timetable, 9 November 2026 to 19 March 2027: the launch runs on selected days only.
- November: 9 to 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29.
- December and January: closed.
- February 2027: 13 to 21, 27 and 28.
- March 2027: 6, 7 and 13 to 19. The summer timetable starts again on 20 March.
- On those days boats leave Keswick for Hawes End at 09:45, 10:30, 12:30 and 13:30, about ten minutes across. Boats back from Hawes End to Keswick leave at 12:10 and 15:10, with a 16:10 from 13 February. Check the Launch's winter timetable for the day before you go.
Fares (single, Keswick to Hawes End): adults £6.95, children aged 5 to 15 £3.50, under-5s free. The Launch doesn't list a return, so allow twice that for there and back. A round-the-lake ticket, which you can use as a hop-on, hop-off day ticket, is £16.00 for adults, £9.00 for children and £41.50 for a family of two adults and three children. Well-behaved dogs travel free. You buy tickets at the booking office at the Keswick landings.
Boats don't sail in rough weather, and the Launch posts each day's service on its website: look before you set off.
Checked 12 Oct 2026 · source: keswick-launch.co.uk (times), fares, Hawes End jetty
Park and Sail
Park at Keswick Rugby Club and you get 15% off launch tickets. The National Park Authority says the discount tickets come from the car park's ticket machine. It's 10 to 15 minutes' walk from there to the boat landings.
By Bus
77 and 77A, the Honister Rambler (spring to autumn). This Stagecoach bus runs a loop from Keswick round Catbells, Borrowdale, Honister and Buttermere. The 77A goes out past Catbells first: it leaves Keswick bus station from Stand 3 and reaches the Hawes End Cattle Grid stop, right at the foot of the path, in about 11 minutes. The 77 comes back past the same stop on its way into Keswick.
- When: every day from 23 March to 1 November 2026. It doesn't run in winter.
- How often: roughly every two hours. On the timetable we checked, 77A buses left Keswick at 09:00, 10:30, 12:30, 14:30, 16:30 and 18:30, and weekday 77 buses called at Hawes End for Keswick at 09:14, 11:15, 13:15, 15:05, 17:05 and 19:05.
- Fare: Stagecoach caps single fares in Cumbria at £3.
78, the Borrowdale bus (all year). Runs from Keswick bus station (Stand 3) down the east side of the lake to Seatoller, every day of the year and at least hourly in the daytime. Get off at Grange Bridge, 17 minutes from Keswick, for the walk up from Grange. It's the way to do Catbells by bus when the 77 has stopped for the winter.
Times change with the seasons: check Stagecoach or Traveline on the day.
Checked 12 Oct 2026 · source: cumberland.gov.uk (77), cumberland.gov.uk (78), stagecoachbus.com (fare cap), lakedistrict.gov.uk. The 2026 start date of the 77 is as reported by scenicbuses.co.uk; the last day, 1 November, is in Stagecoach's timetable data as published by bustimes.org (read 14 Oct 2026).
On Foot from Keswick
The National Park Authority's signed route from Keswick to the foot of Catbells is 4 km (2.5 miles) each way, mostly on footpaths through fields and woods, by way of the footbridge to Portinscale and the Lingholm estate. It takes about an hour. Our Catbells from Keswick walk follows it, goes over the top and ends at the Hawes End jetty for the boat home.
Getting to Keswick
Keswick has no railway station. The nearest is Penrith, on the West Coast Main Line, and the X4 and X5 buses run from Penrith to Keswick. The 555 comes from Lancaster and Kendal via Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere (Keswick Tourism Association, read 14 Oct 2026). Check Traveline for times.
By Car
Drive to Keswick, not to Catbells: the lane to Hawes End is narrow, has double yellow lines and ends in a layby with eight spaces. Where to park.