The most gorgeous house to visit. Surrounded by beautiful hills and Lake Windermere. We booked our tickets via the National Trust in advance as this was recommended and were given a timed slot. Whilst there is parking on site the car park does get very busy. We did arrive 15 mins before our allotted slot and luckily were able to park but otherwise it appears you are sent away to return nearer to your timed entry. The house itself is a short walk away from the ticket office up the main road. Once you arrive at Hill Top itself, we were met with a very knowledgeable guide who spoke a bit about Beatrix and the House and then you are really left to explore her beautiful home and contents. There are 4 rooms upstairs and at least 3 downstairs all beautifully in tact with original furnishings. Lovely to see drawings from her books and then the actual part of the house or a specific view from within that it relates to. Outside, you are free to roam the beautiful gardens and see where Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck escape from Mr McGregor. There is a lovely shop on site selling lots of books and magnets and other toys and also good toilets. Whilst these were down some steps there was an accessible toilet by the ticket office. All in all I would definitely recommend a visit if you happen to be in Ambleside. Such an amazing woman.

This was one of the must visit places on my wife's list whilst in the Lake District. We arrived at the small car park to be greeted by a pleasant member of the National Trust team who asked if we'd booked... we hadn't. He informed us that we'd need to book, and maybe we'd find a place to park further up the road. Forget it, there's no where to park, especially on the rather small winding roads. Whilst driving around my wife managed to secure the last two slots for the next available time slot. We returned immediately to bag the very last parking space. You have to pop in to a building connected to the car park, where they will give you tokens which you will have to produce upon entering the house. To get to the house you have to leave the car ark and walk along the side of a road, no pavement. We'd driven through some rather testing roads to reach Hill Top, and by the time we'd left wondered if it really was worth it. I'm glad we are National Trust members because if we'd have had to pay £15 each to enter, we'd have said it really wasn't worth the admission fee. The house is quaint, and it's lovely to see that it's been maintained and kept as it was when Beatrix Potter lived there. It is small, and it was packed with visitors which made it quite uncomfortable to walk around, and you felt as though you couldn't take your time soaking up every room. Don't misunderstand, we did enjoy the house, but we were in and out in less than half an hour. The gardens, also small, had children running around, and there's really not room for families to run around. We were in and out in under 45 minutes, which add to the fact that the £30 we would have paid if not members would definitely have not been worth the money. I'm glad my (adult) sons declined to go otherwise that would have been £60. I believe the visit would have been more enjoyable if we'd have visited off-peak, not when it was so crowded.

Well, it's a house on a hill (ish) in the Lake District. It's in a beautiful part of the world and offers some lovely views. If you are a real Beatrix Potter fan then this is probably worth a visit for you but book an early slot, get there as it opens and march up to the house first otherwise it's going to be too busy to really see anything. The car park is about 2 minutes walk down the road. Make sure you pre-book otherwise they won't let you in. You then need to go to the ticket hut in the car park area even if you have a ticket to collect a token (they don't tell you this so we'd walked up to the house and had to walk back down), the token seems to serve no function, you just give it to the person at the house when you enter. Token in hand you can then enter Hill Top. Whether you want it or not you get a little welcome talk by the volunteer at the entrance (and if you do manage to get past her she will track you down and make you come back to the entrance so she can give her speech). The house itself if full of things that did actually belong to Beatrix Potter - although not necessarily things that were in the house when she lived there. It was nice to wander through and see some of the physical space that is described in some of her stories. However, it very quickly gets too busy to actually be able to linger and look at items. We spent maybe 10-15 minutes in the house. The garden is lovely and we spent a bit of time in the kitchen garden and then bought a coffee and sat by one of the fruit trees. We are National Trust Members so it didn't costs us anything to visit but I think otherwise it would be 16 pounds per adult for something that will maybe take 45 minutes tops even if you spend more time in the house than we did. So if Beatrix Potter really is your thing, then go and enjoy. Otherwise there are plenty of nice and cheaper coffee spots around the Lake District

Hill Top, one of the former homes of British children's book author Beatrix Potter in the Lake District, is now open to the public as a museum. I. Traffic 1. By car: About a 30-minute drive from Windermere, the village of Near Sawrey can be reached by following the B5285 road. 2. Public transport: From Windermere or Bowness-on-Windermere, take a ferry to the western shore of the Lake District, then take a local bus or walk to Near Sawrey. You can buy a railcard if you come from another city, I bought a raildcard from trainpal, it's a bit of a hassle, but it's a lot cheaper. Enter RC777E on trainpal to get a 20% discount. II. Attractions and activities 1. Hill Top House: The interior of the house remains as it was when Beatrix Potter lived, with Impressions of her personal effects, furniture and paintings. Guides in each room present her story and creative inspiration. 2. Garden: The house is surrounded by a beautiful garden full of flowers and plants where many of her storylines take place.

This is a fabulous place to visit if you are at all a fan of Beatrix Potter. The highlights for me were seeing the veg garden that many of her illustrations were based on, and speaking to the well informed volunteer staff inside the house. Points to note: - If you have not prebooked, you will NOT be allowed to use the car park - The car park is really only big enough for about 20 cars max, so you mean need to park a short walk away so plan for this time when pre booking tickets. - The house is small and pokey and you have to remove any large-ish rucksacks from your back -If I were to go again, I would choose an off peak time, as the house is so small, each room is easily filled with just a few people. -The exhibition of her artwork at nearby town Hawkshead has had to be shut in 2023 due to problems with the building. National Trust are hoping to rehouse this exhibition....I hope they do! -Hill Top farm is closed in winter months, (there is no central heating and still single glazed to preserve as Beatrix lived in it) -You have to register arrival at the hut near the car park, pick up your wooden token and then walk (a few mins) up the road to the entrance via the shop and hand over your token upon entrance to the house. You can visit the shop/garden only without a token I believe.

Such a lovely place to visit, with friendly staff on hand and lots of interesting items to see and fun facts to read. Seeing Beatrix’s world come to life, how her surroundings inspired her writing and drawings was lovely. So nice that these treasures are being so well cared for. We had pre-booked our visit which seems a good way to allow smaller numbers of people to enjoy their visit in turn rather than being over run with too many all at once. Woujd thoroughly recommend visiting.

Lovely lake district village suffering from property not being owned by locals. Post office now shut and a bit of an empty feel to the place. More people living in the village would help and less 2nd homes and company owned rentals. Ive been visiting for years and love the village but over tourism might just see the place off. Car parking charges should be scrapped to increase footfall.

It was a wonderful experience to see Hill Top house, where Beatrix Potter wrote so many of her stories. I especially love how the museum had copies of her books laid out in locations throughout the house so that we could see how strong of an influence the location had on her stories and drawings. I loved seeing her antiques, collections, and to learn more about her. It was so easy to see her being able to create those stories while living in this environment.

We visited on a beautiful afternoon having booked in advance. We got a slot in the car park and sauntered up the road to the house. We had looked around most of the house and I was puzzled that I hadn’t seen any information about Beatrix Potter, her life, when she lived in the house etc. A very knowledgeable volunteer, Tim, totally transformed my visit with a very engaging explanation of Beatrix’s life and her works. The house doesn’t really come to life unless you know this story - I guess real fans may know it before they go, but for me the visit would have been nowhere near as enjoyable without the story of Beatrix’s life. A good cappuccino and cake in the garden, and a couple of nice bits from the shop finished off the visit perfectly.

The weather on the day we visited Hill Top was unforgiving but once we entered the house it was all forgotten. It was so magical to see the property and belongings of such an amazing artist, author and woman. It was a gift to the soul to walk around the rooms knowing that Beatrix had been here before us. The doll house is an added bonus. I am surprised at the negative comments regarding parking as all of the Lake District villages are the same which respectfully is due to the heritage of the land. If you are a Beatrix Potter fan this site is a must and the gardens are delightful.