Windermere Lake Cruises attraction sees numbers more than double in a year

The attraction has made a strong comeback after the pandemic Credit: ITV Border

New figures show Windermere Lake Cruises officially returned to the top ten list of 'paid for' visitor attractions in England in 2021 despite the ongoing disruption caused by the global pandemic.

It is ranked 4th most visited "paid for" attraction nationally in the VisitEngland list.

It attracted over a million visitors in 2021 despite the year beginning with a third national Covid lockdown.

The figures show a strong recovery following the disruption of the global pandemic in 2020.

Nigel Wilkinson, Managing Director of Windermere Lake Cruises said: 'We are very pleased to have been able to return to a Top Ten ranking after being particularly hard hit with the onset of Covid in 2020.’

The latest Annual Visitor Attractions Survey collated by VisitEngland, the national tourism body, shows the company's 17-strong fleet of "steamers", modern and wooden launches carried out a total of 1,065,707 passenger journeys during 2021.

In the North West region, the attraction is ranked as the second most popular 'paid-for' attraction just below Chester Zoo.

Its sister attraction the Lakeland Motor Museum is ranked at number 18 on the list.

Other Cumbrian 'paid-for' attractions featuring in the regional top 20:

  • The Ullswater Steamers (8th)

  • The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (11th)

  • Sizergh Castle (13th)

  • Hill Top (16th)

  • Lake District Coast Aquarium (20th)