Private Full-day Lake District Tour: 10 Lakes & Spectacular Scenery

Your day starts with a climb, all the way up to the Kirkstone Inn, the highest inhabited building in the Lake District, for a stop to take in the views back down the valley to Lake Windermere and Ambleside

The valley walls rising steeply on either side, past the church-shaped rock from which the valley gets its name and on to the viewpoint for a photo stop of the ribbon of road as it descends to Brothers Water

This lake was one of the first places in the Lakes to be acquired by the National Trust

The National Park's second-largest lake. Here you will join a 1 hour cruise to relax and see the stunning fells as the boat cruises the full length of the lake

As we pass the impressive mountains and fells, looking up at Blencathra, one cannot help but be moved by its sheer scale. Blencathra is one of the most northerly mountains in the Lakes with six separate fell tops, the highest at 868 metres

Castlerigg Stone Circle stands on a superb natural plateau commanding a superb 360-degree view over the surrounding fells. Made up of 38 free-standing stones, some up to 3 metres (10 feet) high, it is one of Britain's earliest stone circles dating back to the Neolithic period 4000 to 5000 years ago

At the head of Derwentwater, we will stop at Lakeside near Keswick for lunch

After lunch, your guide may take you for a short stroll along the shores of Derwentwater to Friars Crag. This is a promontory jutting into Derwentwater on a stretch of shore about half a mile from the boat landing stages. Ruskin described the view as one of the three most beautiful scenes in Europe

One of the most stunning viewpoints in the Lake District. From here you can see Derwentwater, one of the principal bodies of water in the Lakes. Derwentwater has four permanent islands: Derwent, Lord's, Rampsholme and St. Herbert's

We then drop down the hill to Ashness Bridge, one of the most photographed packhorse bridges in the Lakes

We move on to Seatoller, a small hamlet in Borrowdale valley next to Seathwaite which is the wettest inhabited place in England. Despite its remote location, this tiny farm settlement is a magnet for walkers.

We have a brief stop here for you to capture the view down the valley. Passing the slate sculptures of the Guardians of the Pass, we now climb slowly down the steep track as it twists and turns into the Honister Pass itself.

Beautiful, remote and desolate, the pass winds through the fells, the green-tinged slate shining in the sun and the curved rock faces looming above us

Buttermere could not be more of a contrast to the magnificent yet hard scenery of Honister. We are now entering the Vale of Lorton, one of the lushest and prettiest parts of the Northern Lakes, the valley contains the lakes Loweswater, Crummock Water and Buttermere. We see two of these, and driving down the eastern shores of the lakes with the sun glinting off the water is one of the loveliest places to be in the Lakes

A steep climb takes us up the Newlands Pass with stunning views over the adjoining valleys

We will stop again to allow you to admire the magnificent views of Bassenthwaite

We now head back towards Keswick and start the journey down towards Ambleside. On the way you will pass Thirlmere, and at the foot of the water, we head back along your fourth, and last, mountain pass of Dunmail Raise.

Now the road drops steadily down from the fells and before long, we pass Grasmere village to drive along the shores of Grasmere, your ninth lake. William Wordsworth lived here at Dove Cottage. As we continue, we pass Nab Cottage, the home of his friend and author, Thomas de Quincey

The road winds along the shore until we come to Rydal Water, your tenth and final lake. The water here is often mirror-like still with beautiful reflections of the surrounding fells. We pass Wordsworth's last and favourite home which is situated off the road at Rydal as we return to Ambleside for drop-offs.