Wild Swimming Staycations: Where to Base Yourself

Outdoor swimming has gone from eccentric to ordinary in about a decade, and Britain turns out to be unusually well supplied with places to do it. Rivers, upland tarns, flooded quarries, tidal pools and a surviving stock of Victorian lidos. What follows is about where to base a trip around it, and about being honest regarding cold water, because that is the part most write-ups skip.

Where to base yourself

Upland lakes and tarns

The Lake District is the obvious base and deservedly so, with everything from big open water to small high tarns that take a walk to reach. Keswick and Windermere both put a great deal within a short drive. The Yorkshire Dales around Malham and the Cairngorms offer the same in quieter form.

Rivers and pools

Dartmoor is among the best river swimming in England, with granite pools and a long tradition of use. Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons have similar water in the valleys, and Betws-y-Coed makes a convenient base for the former.

Sea and tidal pools

The south-west has the warmest sea and the most sheltered coves: Cornwall, north Devon and around Salcombe. For colder, clearer and emptier water, Northumberland and Pembrokeshire are hard to beat.

What the water is actually like

The sea lags the air by two months

British sea temperature peaks in late August and early September, not in June. The best swimming month is usually well after the best sunbathing month, which is why September is quietly the finest time for a swimming trip and also one of the cheapest.

Upland water stays cold all year

A high tarn in July is still genuinely cold. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to plan short swims and to have dry clothes within reach rather than back at the car.

Habits worth having

Get in slowly, get out early

Cold water shock is the real risk and it is largely managed by entering gradually and by leaving before you want to. Judgement deteriorates before you notice, which is why the sensible rule is a time limit set in advance.

Never swim alone in moving water

Rivers change with rainfall that may have fallen miles upstream, and a pool that was benign yesterday can be pushing hard today. Look at the flow before committing, and know where you are getting out before you get in.

Warming up matters more than the swim

A flask, a hat and a warm layer do more for the experience than any amount of kit. Getting properly cold and then staying cold is what turns a good swim into a miserable afternoon.

Practical points

Choose accommodation with somewhere to dry things and, ideally, a bath. Self-catering suits this far better than a hotel room. And check access rights before planning around a particular spot, since they differ between England, Wales and Scotland.

See also our guides to walking breaks, wildlife and nature and the national parks.