Day six would be our last full day in The Lake District, and it saw us return to Bowness-on-Windermere to again catch the yellow cruise from Windermere Lake Cruises, and take a trip to the Lakeland Motor Museum.
We boarded our Windermere Lake Cruise at Pier 1 again, which was the same as Day 1. We did the same journey down to Lakeside, but this time we jumped on the (included in a combo-ticket) shuttle bus to do the five minute trip to Lakeland Motor Museum.
Lakeland Motor Museum is a smallish museum with a whole host of motors, motor paraphernalia, and motor history packed in. Any fan of cars and motorbikes, old or new will love this place.
The main hall is basically chock full of cars. Cars of all eras. Cars of all colours. The girls were given a trail to do, where they had to find cars or motoring items and answer questions. There were a lot of questions, and some of them were quite hard to understand. They needed help with a fair bit. I think the trail is more family-friendly than child-friendly, but it’s a great activity to get you talking about specific exhibits, and adults can learn something too.
The hall really is jam packed full of cars. It is very well done. There are street scenes, and mock-up garages. There are lots of information boards so you can find out as much as you want about motoring history, or specific vehicles.
There are classic cars, famous models, and rather more worrying, a car which I used to own in the modern classics section. Yes, you can see a DeLorean and a Sinclair C5!
There is also a fantastic collection of other types of vehicles such as modern-day and classic motorcycles, bicycles, toy cars, and a hot air balloon.
Upstairs (there is a lift too) is the toy gallery. You can play vintage arcade machines on a transport theme.
Outside there are some old caravans, which the girls thought were hilarious. They asked us if this is how we used to holiday ‘when we were little’. The cheek!
The last part of the museum is the Campbell Bluebird exhibition which has its own hall, and tells the story through pictures, film, and replica vehicles of the Campbell family, and the famous fateful attempt by Donald Campbell to break his own speed record on nearby Coniston Water. If you know this story, then this exhibition is fascinating.
The total trip was around 90 minutes but we didn’t really read very much, and we were tied by the times of the shuttle bus and the boat back to Bowness-on-Windermere. I would allow more time if you’re into vehicles and motoring history.
I can’t pretend that the girls particularly enjoyed this one. They certainly would not have picked this as a perfect day out for themselves. They’re not the biggest car fans. They are still at the age where cars are for boys, but I thought this museum was great! It was friendly, unpretentious, and had plenty to look at. Dad thought it was good too.
The staff were lovely, it was in a nice location, and there was a decent-looking cafe. It is a great place of interest at the turning point for your Windermere Lake Cruise. You can buy a combo-ticket for the yellow cruise which includes entry to the Lakeland Motor Museum and the shuttle bus.
For fans of cars and bikes, the Lakeland Motor Museum is perfect. I know a few blokes who would have loved it. In fact, we found the perfect gift in the gift shop for a certain bloke’s upcoming birthday. Ssssh, don’t tell him!
For more information please visit the website of the Lakeland Motor Museum
You can see our trip to Lakeland Motor Museum on our Lake District video
Disclosure – We were guests of Windermere Lake Cruises and Lakeland Motor Museum for the purposes of this review. All opinion is our own.
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