Pick your direction before you queue. The Keswick launch circles Derwentwater both ways, and from Keswick the clockwise boat reaches Lodore in 20 minutes while the anticlockwise one takes half an hour, calling first at Hawes End for Catbells. Until 24 October boats leave every hour in each direction; from 25 October the last ones go at 15:00 and 15:30, and after 8 November the launch only sails on listed winter days.
Summer timetable 21 March – 8 November 2026 and winter timetable 9 November 2026 – 19 March 2027 (listed days only), as published by Keswick Launch Co.; read on 13 October 2026. Keswick Launch Co. — Summer Times and Winter Times · 2026-10-13
Check the direction first, then the time. Clockwise boats leave Keswick on the hour and run down the eastern shore to Ashness Gate and Lodore; anticlockwise boats leave at half past and cross straight to Hawes End before working south along the western side. Both take about 50 minutes to complete the loop.
Plan around the season, too. October is the last full month: the 16:00 and 16:30 departures stop after 24 October, and the summer timetable ends on 8 November. After that the launch sails only on a short list of winter days and not at all in December or January.
Leave the car in Keswick if you can. Most jetties have no parking, which is precisely why walkers use the launch to start a route at one landing and finish at another.
Starting at Keswick, buy the ticket at the office on the landings; joining at any other jetty, pay on board, preferably by card. Online booking was not available when we checked.
Think of the round-the-lake ticket as a day pass: get off and on at any open jetty until you are back where you started. Single fares are priced by stages, and the company counts Low Brandelhow to Hawes End as one stage, so Keswick to High Brandelhow is always three.
| Adult (16+) | £ 16 |
| Child (5–15) | £ 9 |
| Family (2 adults + 3 children) | £ 41.50 |
| Under 5 (up to 3 per adult) | Free |
| 1 stage, adult | £ 3.75 |
| 1 stage, child | £ 1.90 |
| 2 stages, adult (also Keswick–Hawes End direct) | £ 6.95 |
| 2 stages, child (also Keswick–Hawes End direct) | £ 3.50 |
| 3 stages, adult | £ 9.95 |
| 3 stages, child | £ 5 |
| 4 stages, adult | £ 12.50 |
| 4 stages, child | £ 6.25 |
| 5 stages, adult | £ 13.95 |
| 5 stages, child | £ 6.95 |
| Adult (16+) | £ 39.50 |
| Child (5–15) | £ 20 |
Fares page of Keswick Launch Co., last updated in March 2026 and read on 13 October 2026; no end date is stated. Keswick Launch Co. — Fares · 2026-10-13
The jetties are spread round the shore of Derwentwater: Keswick at the northern end, then Ashness Gate and Lodore down the eastern side, High and Low Brandelhow and Hawes End on the quieter western shore, and Nichol End near Portinscale, which is closed. Lodore lies about three and a half kilometres south of Keswick as the crow flies.
Cumbria's other lake ferry network, on Ullswater, runs between Glenridding, Howtown and Pooley Bridge; its times are on our Ullswater Steamers timetable page. The two lakes share some history, too: a steamer bought for Derwentwater in 1898 was hauled overland from Ullswater.
Every circuit begins and ends at the landings on the foreshore, about ten minutes on foot from the Moot Hall along Lake Road past Hope Park. The ticket office, a small shop and the boat hire desk are all here, with pay-and-display parking at Lakeside car park three minutes away.
A ramp leads down to Pier One, but the launches themselves are boarded by four steps and a handrail, so wheelchair users need to contact the company beforehand.
Lodore is the landing at the head of the lake, below the falls of the same name and next to the B5289. It is one of only two stops with parking and cafés close by, the hotels at Lodore and Mary Mount among them.
From the jetty a boardwalk across the wetlands leads towards High Brandelhow, and the Chinese Bridge over the Derwent is a short walk away.
Hawes End is the landing for the main path up Catbells. There is no parking there and the nearest café is about 15 minutes' walk away, so the 09:45 direct boat suits walkers who start early.
According to the launch company, the Trust began its Lake District holdings here at Brandelhow. It also suggests the flat 1½–2 mile walk from Hawes End to High Brandelhow for families with small children.
Ashness Gate is the stop for the climb to Ashness Bridge, Surprise View and Watendlath. It has no café, and the nearest parking is a 15-minute walk.
The Lingholm jetty is out of use. For the café and gardens, land at Hawes End and follow the woodland path north for 15 to 20 minutes.
Away from Keswick, make yourself visible at the end of the landing stage as the launch approaches, and keep an eye on the weather: high wind can cancel sailings.
Boats have carried visitors on Derwentwater since at least the 1781 regatta. In 1898 the manager of the Lodore Hotel bought a 53-seat screw steamer, the Lorna Doone, and had it dragged by dray horses from Ullswater through Keswick to the lake; in 1935 the separate boatmen combined as the Keswick upon Derwentwater Launch Company.
Several of today's launches are older than the company. Lady Derwentwater dates from 1926 and appeared in the 1970s Swallows and Amazons; Annie Mellor, a 1932 houseboat, arrived in 1935 and was rebuilt in 2008. The company's status page on 13 October 2026 showed Nichol End and Lingholm closed and the other six landings in service.
The 09:45 from Keswick, a direct walkers' boat that reaches Hawes End at 09:55. It runs daily in summer and on winter sailing days.
Clockwise: the boat on the hour from Keswick is at Lodore 20 minutes later. Anticlockwise boats take 30 minutes because they go round the western shore first.
No. The winter timetable lists no sailings in December or January; it resumes on 13 February, then runs daily from 20 March.
£16 per adult, £9 per child of 5–15, and £41.50 for two adults with up to three children. It lets you hop off at any open jetty until you return to your starting point.
Not at present. The operator lists both jetties as closed; use Hawes End and walk 15 to 20 minutes to Lingholm.
Until 24 October, the 16:30 anticlockwise launch, back at 17:20. From 25 October to 8 November the last boats leave Keswick at 15:00 and 15:30, returning at 15:50 and 16:20.
Only with help: there is a ramp to Pier One at Keswick, but boarding is by four steps. Some launches can take a wheelchair if arranged with the company in advance.