Best Art Galleries in Windermere — Where to Buy Art in the Lake District
Last updated: April 2026
The Lake District is somewhere I’ve been visiting my whole life. I’m from the North West and Windermere has always been the go-to when the kids need a day out and I need a break from a screen. My two, Zach and Nancy, have been coming here since they were small enough to fall asleep in the car on the A591 and not wake up until we hit Bowness. They know the pier, the Beatrix Potter attraction, the ice cream spots. We usually stay at Fallbarrow Caravan Park right on the edge of the lake — waking up to that view across the water never gets old, no matter how many times we’ve done it. They probably know Windermere better than most people who actually live there.
But something I’ve always loved about Windermere that doesn’t get written about enough is the art scene. For a relatively small tourist town it has a genuinely impressive collection of galleries — from contemporary fine art spaces that would look at home in Manchester or London, to traditional Lake District landscape galleries that capture the area’s extraordinary light and landscape in ways that make you want to buy something and put it on your wall immediately.
I’ve spent 16 years in the UK art industry and I know a good gallery when I walk into one. Here’s my honest guide to the best art galleries in Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere in 2026.
1. Cookhouse Gallery — Windermere and Bowness
17 Crescent Road, Windermere, LA23 1EA and 4 Grosvenor Terrace, Bowness-on-Windermere, LA23 3BS
Mon–Sun: 10:00am–5:00pm
Tel: 015394 48009 | [email protected]
Cookhouse Gallery is the one I keep coming back to. It has two locations — one in Windermere town and one in Bowness — and across both spaces they stock an outstanding collection of contemporary Lake District art alongside work from artists further afield. The style sits comfortably between accessible and genuinely ambitious — not tourist tat, not intimidatingly exclusive. Just really good art at prices that feel fair for what you’re getting.
The artist roster is impressive. David Renshaw, Doug Hyde, Cally Lawson, Edward Hersey — a mix of established names and emerging artists whose work shares a warmth and quality that makes the gallery feel cohesive rather than random. They also ship nationally, which is worth knowing if you fall in love with something and can’t fit it in the car alongside Zach and Nancy’s stuff.
The staff are friendly and genuinely knowledgeable — the kind of gallery where you can have a proper conversation about the work rather than feeling like you’re being appraised as a potential buyer from the moment you walk in. That matters more than people realise when you’re choosing somewhere to spend real money on original art.
They also have locations in Ambleside and Keswick, so if you’re doing a Lake District tour the Cookhouse trail is worth following.
Who it’s best for: Anyone looking to buy original Lake District art or contemporary prints. Accessible price points, friendly approach, genuinely excellent stock.
→ Visit Cookhouse Gallery online
2. Windermere Fine Art Gallery — Bowness
Bowness-on-Windermere
windermeregallery.co.uk
This one genuinely surprises people who expect the Windermere art gallery scene to be all rolling hills and pastoral watercolours. Windermere Fine Art Gallery is a bold, contemporary space stocking work that is conspicuously not traditional — street art, pop art, digital art, abstract, neon sculpture, figurative work from artists who are deliberately pushing against the grain of what you’d expect to find in a Lake District gallery.
Artists like Dirty Hans, JJ Adams, Pure Evil, Ghost — names that reference Banksy, Basquiat, Lichtenstein and Keith Haring as influences rather than Constable and Turner. Against the backdrop of Windermere’s fells and lakes that contrast is striking and it works. The gallery describes itself as being about that unexpected tension between cutting-edge contemporary art and one of England’s most traditional landscapes.
If you’ve been to Windermere a dozen times and feel like you’ve seen the same pastoral scenes in every gallery window, Windermere Fine Art is the antidote. Interest-free finance is available on purchases which is a useful option if you fall for something significant.
Who it’s best for: Contemporary art buyers, collectors with modern interiors and anyone who wants something that doesn’t look like every other piece of Lake District art.
→ Visit Windermere Fine Art Gallery online
3. Lucy Pittaway Gallery — Bowness (Brand New in 2026)
Lake Road, Bowness-on-Windermere, LA23 3BJ
Tel: 01539 234 330
This one opened in January 2026 — Bowness is Lucy Pittaway’s seventh gallery and her second Lake District location. If you don’t know Lucy Pittaway’s work, she’s a Yorkshire-based artist who has built one of the most recognisable and genuinely beloved art brands in the UK — her sheep paintings, cycling landscapes and colourful countryside scenes have a warmth and personality that makes them immediately identifiable and almost universally loved.
Opening a gallery in Bowness makes obvious sense. The Lake District is exactly the kind of place Lucy’s audience — people who appreciate beautiful, uplifting art that reflects the British countryside — come to visit. It’s a well-chosen location and based on the reception her other galleries have received I’d expect this one to become one of Bowness’s most visited art destinations quickly.
Nancy in particular will love it — Lucy’s work has that quality of being genuinely appealing to all ages which is not something every gallery can say.
Who it’s best for: Anyone who loves Lucy Pittaway’s distinctive style, gifts and prints, and people who want joyful, colourful art that captures the spirit of the British countryside.
→ Visit Lucy Pittaway Gallery Bowness online
4. The Lakes Gallery — Bowness
5 St Martins Parade, Bowness-on-Windermere, LA23 3DY
The Lakes Gallery is the one TripAdvisor reviewers consistently rave about — phrases like “warmly welcomed,” “no hard sell,” “the perfect Lake District picture” come up again and again. It’s clearly a gallery that understands its audience and what they’re looking for, which is no small thing in a tourist town where plenty of gallery owners seem to forget that friendly, relaxed browsing is the best possible sales environment.
The stock focuses on Lake District landscape art at accessible price points — watercolours, oil paintings, prints — the kind of work people come home from a holiday wanting to remember the place by. Whether that’s your thing or not, the gallery does it very well and the reviews suggest a level of customer care that’s genuinely impressive.
One reviewer mentioned spending over a year looking for the perfect Lake District piece for their front room and finding it here. That’s the kind of gallery experience worth having.
Who it’s best for: Anyone looking for a Lake District landscape piece at an accessible price point, bought from people who actually care about matching you to the right work.
5. Blackwell — The Arts and Crafts House
Bowness-on-Windermere, LA23 3JT
blackwell.org.uk
Blackwell is technically more of a historic house and museum than a commercial gallery — but it would be wrong to write about art in Windermere without including it, and it absolutely earns its place here for artists specifically.
Designed by M.H. Baillie Scott and completed in 1900, Blackwell is one of the finest surviving examples of Arts and Crafts architecture in the UK. The house overlooks Windermere from a spectacular elevated position and every room is a lesson in how craft, design and interior space can work together in perfect harmony. The fireplaces, the stained glass, the furniture — it’s extraordinary.
For artists, visiting Blackwell is genuinely educational. The Arts and Crafts movement’s philosophy — that beautiful, well-made objects should be accessible and integrated into everyday life rather than confined to galleries — is something that resonates strongly with anyone who makes things. It changed how I think about the relationship between art and the spaces it lives in.
There’s also a gallery space with changing exhibitions and a shop. Worth half a day easily, particularly with children who respond surprisingly well to the quality and scale of the building.
Who it’s best for: Artists, designers, anyone interested in the Arts and Crafts movement, and families who want something genuinely beautiful to look at with a bit of space to breathe.
Thinking About Selling Your Own Art?
Walking around galleries like these — seeing how artists present their work, how it’s priced, how it’s curated — is one of the most useful things a practising artist can do if they’re thinking about selling their own work. It’s market research in one of the best possible settings.
If visiting Windermere’s galleries has sparked that thought, we have a whole section on how to sell your art online — covering everything from choosing the right platform to building an audience. Whether you’re looking at Shopify, Etsy or print on demand, there’s a guide there for wherever you are in the journey.
Practical Information
Windermere and Bowness are easily accessible from the M6 at Junction 36, about 30 minutes on the A590 and A591. There’s a train station in Windermere town on a branch line from Oxenholme on the West Coast main line — useful if you’re coming from Manchester or London.
Bowness is about a mile from Windermere town centre, downhill toward the lake. Most galleries are within easy walking distance of each other once you’re in Bowness. Parking in Bowness can be expensive and busy in peak season — Windermere town car parks are usually better value if you’re happy with the walk down.
And if you’re stocking up on art supplies before or after your gallery visits, check our live deals page — we track the best prices from UK art retailers updated throughout the week.
Have you visited a gallery in Windermere we haven’t mentioned? Let us know in our Facebook community — we’re always looking to keep these guides as useful and up to date as possible.
