Coniston Water has no car ferry, but its launches do the job of one for Brantwood. Until Sunday 1 November a direct boat leaves Coniston at 10:00 and reaches John Ruskin's house in ten minutes; after that, on listed winter days, one launch circles the lake four times a day and still calls at the Brantwood jetty.
Coniston Launch summer timetable to 1 November 2026 and winter timetable 2 November 2026 – 5 March 2027, read on 15 October 2026 (all four jetties shown as active that day). Coniston Launch — summer and winter times · 2026-10-15
Does Coniston Water have a ferry? Not one that carries cars, and not one that bills itself as a crossing. Yet the company that runs the lake's launches trades formally as Coniston Ferry Service Ltd, and the job it was set up for in 1992 was exactly that: carrying people from Coniston village across to Brantwood, the house on the eastern shore where John Ruskin spent the last 28 years of his life.
That link is still the heart of the timetable. Until Sunday 1 November the launch leaves Coniston every day at 10:00 as the Brantwood Direct, and any red or yellow boat brings you back in ten minutes, the last at 16:30. The rest of the day the boats work two loops round the northern half of the lake, calling at Torver and Sunny Bank as well as Brantwood, so you can use them as a ferry or as a cruise.
From 2 November a single launch keeps going on listed winter days, four sailings a day on the yellow loop.
Single fares depend on which way round the boat goes. Coming back from Brantwood is a short hop, £6.25 for an adult on a red-route boat or £6.50 on a yellow one. Going out on anything but the direct boat is charged as the long way round: a red-route single from Coniston to Brantwood is £14.85, so if you are not on the 10:00, a round-the-lake ticket from £18.00 is better value and lets you hop off at Torver or Sunny Bank too.
Brantwood's own admission is £16.50 at the door, with £1 off for anyone showing a launch or Gondola ticket; the launch crew sell it on board at £15.50, and under-16s go free.
| Adult, Coniston to Brantwood | £ 6.90 |
| Adult, with return on any red or yellow boat | £ 11.50 |
| Child 5–15, single | £ 3.80 |
| Child 5–15, with return | £ 6.90 |
| Adult, red route | £ 6.25 |
| Child, red route | £ 3.80 |
| Adult, yellow route | £ 6.50 |
| Child, yellow route | £ 3.90 |
| Red route, adult | £ 18 |
| Red route, child | £ 8.75 |
| Yellow route (also valid on red), adult | £ 20 |
| Yellow route, child | £ 9.25 |
| Under 5 or dog | Free |
Coniston Launch fares page, undated, read 15 October 2026; 15% off when booked online Coniston Launch — fares · 2026-10-15
Coniston village and Brantwood face each other near the head of the lake, about 1.2 km apart in a straight line. By road you have to drive round the head of Coniston Water and down the eastern shore; by boat the direct crossing takes ten minutes. The circular routes stretch that out: the red route runs south to Torver on the western shore before crossing to Brantwood, and the yellow route continues further south to Sunny Bank, passing the island the operator calls Wild Cat Island after the Swallows and Amazons films.
Turn down Lake Road beside the petrol station in Coniston village and the landings are just past the Bluebird Cafe. Tickets are sold here; there are public toilets, a little free parking and a larger pay-and-display field, with overspill at John Ruskin School (the operator suggests a donation). The jetty is a floating pontoon that stays level with the launch's gunwale. The National Trust's Gondola boards from Coniston Pier on the same road.
The jetty is built on two levels because the lake rises and falls with the rain. Beside it is the little harbour Ruskin made for his rowing boat, the Jumping Jenny, now kept in Brantwood's carriage house. From the shore a path climbs through the lower gardens to the house; the National Trust describes it as steep, and Brantwood offers the gentler harbour walk created by Joan Severn.
The house opens daily until mid-November, then Wednesday to Sunday from Monday 16 November, 10:30 to 15:00. Winter launch days do not always match.
The Brantwood Direct includes a free hot drink at the Brantwood cafe before 11:00, one per adult.
Tickets are sold at Coniston and on board, but the operator discounts online sales.
A dog may come into the cabin with you, though it has to stay on the floor. At Brantwood it can walk the gardens on a lead but must wait outside the house.
Coniston and Torver have level floating pontoons and the crew will carry a small folding wheelchair, but full wheelchair access is not offered.
The service grew outward from Brantwood. The founders, Gordon and Margaret Hall, began with one boat, the Ruskin, and a stop at Monk Coniston; walkers' demand added Torver, a second boat came in 1994, and jetties at Lake Bank, Park a Mor and Sunny Bank followed in 1999 once landowners agreed. Monk Coniston gave way to Waterhead in 2005 and Park a Mor to Water Park in 2006. Today's main boat, Campbell, was bought from a Portsmouth ferry company as Exonia and rebuilt, all but the hull, by Patterson Boatworks of Hawkshead into a lake launch for 63 passengers; the smaller Cygnet seats 30 in a heated cabin.
Ruskin's estate is worth the trip on its own: 250 acres and eight gardens made by him, by his cousin Joan Severn and by head gardener Sally Beamish. If one Lakeland launch whets your appetite, Derwentwater's boats from Keswick and the Ullswater steamers follow similar hop-on, hop-off patterns, and on the Cumbrian coast the Piel Island ferry crosses to a castle instead of a country house.
Take the 10:00 Brantwood Direct from Coniston Boat Landings on Lake Road, which arrives at 10:10, daily until 1 November. Later boats also call at Brantwood but go via Torver first, taking 35 to 50 minutes.
In the summer timetable, the 16:30, which reaches Coniston at 16:40. On winter days from 2 November the last is the 15:20.
The Brantwood Direct costs £6.90 for an adult or £11.50 including the return; children pay £3.80 or £6.90. A single back from Brantwood is £6.25 on the red route.
Yes, on listed days: daily 2–22 November, on selected days in December, every weekend in January, and daily from 1 February to 5 March. Four sailings leave Coniston, at 10:40, 12:00, 13:15 and 14:30, all calling at Brantwood.
Yes. The National Trust's Gondola lets passengers off at the Brantwood jetty on its sailing days, which run until 31 October this year. It was cancelled on 14 and 15 October because of the weather forecast.
Yes. The launch sells house and garden tickets at £15.50 for an adult, which is Brantwood's £16.50 door price less its £1 discount for boat passengers. Children aged 16 and under are free.