The lit frontage of the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick at dusk

Explore Keswick’s Great Indoors

We do get the odd rainy day but Keswick is beautiful on the indoors too with a choice of unmissable museums and attractions.

Your two days

  1. Morning

    Start your day with a visit to the world-famous Derwent Pencil Museum. Did you know that Keswick is the home of the first pencil? Through words, pictures and carefully restored machinery you can trace the history of pencil making and see how Derwent Fine Art pencils are made today. Or visit Puzzling Place which houses a mind-boggling array of optical illusions, holograms, interactive exhibits and an anti-gravity room.

  2. Afternoon

    Why not visit Keswick Museum and learn more about the local area. The museum hosts regularly changing exhibitions plus displays telling the story of Keswick's landscape, history and culture.

  3. Evening

    Keswick's Theatre by the Lake presents up to nine of their own productions of classic and modern plays each year. With a 400 seat main house and 100 seat studio, Theatre by the Lake also hosts visiting theatre companies and festivals throughout the year.

  1. Morning

    Spend the morning exploring Keswick's lovely shops and galleries. The town has a range of independent shops to browse round offering local produce, clothing, gifts, jewellery, toys, food and drink, and much more.

  2. Afternoon

    Head underground! Visit Honister Slate Mine, under half an hour’s drive from Keswick down the Borrowdale Valley. The mine gives you the chance to see just what goes on in a slate mine, with their underground mine tours and adrenaline-pumping “Climb the Mine” experience, where you’ll tackle vertical climbs, rope bridges and ladders to explore the hidden passages and caverns where Honister slate was once extracted by miners.

  3. Evening

    Keswick Alhambra Cinema is an old-school theatre-style picture house, which offers mainstream movies and independent film screenings, as well as live-streamed theatre, opera, ballet and musical productions, so there’s bound to be something great on when you visit.

Where this day goes

The 5 places this day visits, with Keswick for scale. Straight-line positions rather than a route — the day above says how to get between them.

Map

  • Derwent Pencil Museum
  • Theatre by the Lake
  • Alhambra Cinema
  • Keswick Museum
  • The Puzzling Place
  • Keswick

More suggestions for a day are on the days out index. If you would rather build your own, everything in Keswick is under things to do.

Start your trip here

Plan your perfect escape with our Keswick guide. From places to stay and things to do, where to eat, explore and unwind.