Stagecoach, the UK’s leading bus operator, is launching a new service to Little Langdale, one of the Lake District’s most beautiful and unspoilt valleys.

The 517 route from Ambleside runs every Saturday and Sunday throughout July and August and on Bank Holiday Monday, August 25.

There are eight buses each way with the first leaving Ambleside at 9.50am and the last returning from the Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale, at 5.15pm.

The full timetable is here.

Funded by Westmorland & Furness council, the new service has a journey time of 20 minutes and costs only £3 for a single ticket.

Stagecoach Explorer tickets are also valid allowing you to travel on any Stagecoach bus in Cumbria to connect to the new service at Ambleside.

Tom Waterhouse, Managing Director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, said: “Little Langdale is one of the most unspoilt valleys in the Lake District and we want it to stay that way.

“Our new 517 service allows people to access the valley easily without a car. There is only one road through Little Langdale with limited parking.

“Travelling by bus is the sensible and sustainable way to travel, particularly as we head towards the peak summer season.”

“Using the bus is better for the environment and allows you to sit back and admire the stunning scenery rather than focus on the road.”

“We’re grateful to Westmorland & Furness Council for supporting this service under its Bus Service Improvement Plan. We hope that it will be successful and become a regular feature of our summer timetable.”

Little Langdale is a walker’s paradise offering a gentle stroll to Slater’s Bridge and Little Langdale Tarn and serious fell walks to Lingmoor, Pike o’ Blisco, Crinkle Crags, Swirl How and Wetherlam.

It is also possible to start a linear walk in Little Langdale to the iconic Blea Tarn, then down to Dungeon Ghyll in Great Langdale for the hourly 516 bus to Ambleside.

Another fine linear route from Little Langdale takes walkers through the wooded Tilberthwaite Valley, with its dramatic abandoned quarries, to Coniston for the hourly 505 bus to Ambleside.

The Three Shire Stone on Wrynose Pass, above Little Langdale, marks the meeting point of the historic counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire, which became Cumbria in 1974.

Timetable details here

For details of all Stagecoach’s Lake District bus services, pick up a copy of the Lakes by Bus booklet or download it here.