Bronte Sisters Tour from Windermere: Haworth & Literary Landmarks

Walk the streets where the Brontes lived and wrote, guided through their world

A private Bronte Sisters tour departing from Windermere that travels through Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire to Haworth, the West Yorkshire village where Charlotte, Emily and Anne lived and are buried. The tour includes stops at Cowan Bridge school (inspiration for Jane Eyre's Lowood) and Wycoller Hall (model for Ferndean Manor), a guided walk through Haworth village and churchyard led by Gillian, and entry to the Bronte Parsonage Museum where the sisters wrote their novels. Maximum six guests; eight hours total; pickup from Windermere, Bowness or Ambleside included.

The experience

Haworth sits in the bleakness of the Yorkshire moors, and the drive across them is where the landscape of Wuthering Heights stops being a book and becomes the place it came from. The tour picks you up from Windermere, Bowness or Ambleside and moves through three counties (Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire) stopping first at Cowan Bridge, the school the young Bronte sisters attended that became Lowood in Jane Eyre. Then comes Wycoller Hall in Lancashire, the ruinous manor that inspired Ferndean Manor in the same novel. Both stops are places the sisters knew. Both shaped what they wrote.

In Haworth itself, Gillian leads you down the High Street, hardly changed in 150 years, past the Black Bull Inn where Branwell drank and the apothecary where he bought laudanum. You walk through the church and graveyard where the family is buried, then spend time inside the Bronte Parsonage Museum: the house where Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell lived with their father, where they sat and wrote the novels that made them famous. The guide is with you throughout, and the air-conditioned vehicle means the moorland chill stays outside until you step into it.

What’s included

• Private transportation from Windermere, Bowness or Ambleside.
• small group of up to six guests.
• air-conditioned vehicle with qualified driver and live guide throughout.
• guided walk through Haworth village, church and graveyard led by Gillian.
• entry to the Bronte Parsonage Museum.
• live commentary on the moorland drive and at each stop.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 09:00

Book up to10h before

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 2 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by English Lakes Tours

Is this one for you?Pick this if you're staying in the Lake District and want a guide-led journey through the three counties where the Brontës lived. You'll start from Windermere, Bowness or Ambleside and end in Haworth with time to explore before heading back.

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Top questions

What exactly is Cowan Bridge and why does it matter to the Bronte story?

Cowan Bridge is the school Charlotte, Emily and Anne attended as children. It became the model for Lowood Institution in Jane Eyre, the harsh boarding school where Jane suffers and learns. The tour stops there so you see the real place behind the fiction.

Can I see where the Bronte sisters actually wrote their novels?

Yes. The Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth is the house where they lived and wrote. You walk through the rooms where they sat, see their desks and personal belongings, and learn how they lived in Industrial Yorkshire while creating Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

How long is the drive from Windermere to Haworth?

The full tour is eight hours, which includes the drive through three counties, stops at Cowan Bridge and Wycoller Hall, the guided walk through Haworth village and churchyard, and time inside the Parsonage Museum. The moorland drive itself is a substantial part of the journey.

What is Wycoller Hall and why do we visit it?

Wycoller Hall is a romantic ruin in Lancashire that inspired Ferndean Manor, the remote house in Jane Eyre where Rochester lives in hiding. The tour includes it because it shows another real place the sisters knew that shaped their writing.

Is the Bronte Parsonage Museum entry included in the price?

Yes. Entry to the Bronte Parsonage Museum is included in the tour price, so you don't need to buy a separate ticket when you arrive.