Carlisle Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Carlisle is Cumbria’s main transport hub. Direct National Express buses travel to London (£30.50, six hours, two direct daily, with extra buses via Preston and Birmingham), Glasgow (£15.60, two hours, 13 daily) and Manchester (£22, three hours, six daily).

Local buses include bus 554 to Keswick (one hour, three daily), where you can catch the 555 LakesLink into the central Lake District. The 104 bus operates to Penrith (40 minutes, hourly Monday to Saturday, nine on Sunday), and Bus AD122 (the Hadrian’s Wall bus; six daily late May to late September) connects Hexham and Carlisle.

Train

Regular trains operate from London Euston (£111, four hours, nine to 12 daily).

Carlisle is the terminus for the following five scenic railways (call 08457 484950 for timetable details and information on Day Ranger passes) :

Cumbrian Coast Line This follows the coastline to Lancaster (£21, 3½ hours), with beautiful views over the Irish Sea.

Glasgow–Carlisle Line The main route to Glasgow passes through spectacular Scottish landscape (£30.50, 1½ hours).

Lakes Line This line branches off the main north–south line at Oxenholme near Kendal for Windermere (£17.50, 1½ hours).

Settle–Carlisle Line Cuts southeast across the Yorkshire Dales (£14.45, 1½ hours).

Tyne Valley Line Follows Hadrian’s Wall to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (£10.60, 1½ hours).

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