YHA Helvellyn

Great location, will definitely come again for a hule trip. Had to keep the window open as the carpet was a bit smelly, it could definutely use a cleanup. But ocerall a pleasant stay !

Excellent quality facilities for a fellside hostel. Maybe even too good! Showers were reliably hot with no time limit. Small drying room but with plenty of hanging space. The whole hostel was toasty warm and clean and tidy. Only a couple of snug nooks for relaxing space, but this didnt seem to be a problem wven on a busy evening. WiFi works well in cafe/bar area. Staff were all really friendly and welcoming despite being busy and in the process of training others. TRACK TO HOSTEL: a few other reviews have questioned the state of the track up to the hostel. As of March 2025 you can manage fine in an average car as long as you take it steady. There are no bumps or drops bigger than a usual street kerb or speedbump.

Six blokes from Manchester stayed for 1 night on Saturday 23rd June 2018. We climbed Helvelyn and then hiked down Striding Edge into Glenridding. We parked our cars in a car park near Thirlmere water not realising this was the wrong side to tackle Striding Edge the safer way on aswel. It was only when we arrived in Glenridding that we discovered it was a 3.5 hour walk back to the cars on the roads or a 40 minute taxi drive back to Swirls car park. We had already been on the mountains for 6 hours. We spoke to the local farmer who gave us MIKE the local taxi drivers details. He charged the 6 of us £45 to get back to the cars and we then drove back to Glenridding in our own cars. When driving to the hostel we were surprised how far back into the mountain of Helvelyn it was! The idea of walking back and to from the hostel to the pubs was a bit off putting after a major hike, so we paid Mikes the taxi drivers sister in law £10 to pick us up and drop us off in the village. The drive is about 6 minutes and I would guess 35 mins walk. On arriving in the hostel the computers were down and we couldn't have access to our 2 rooms. I didn't understand the full issues as they had our booking sheets and only have so many rooms. They had to keep calling head office . Anyway after 30 mins or so it was sorted. The rooms are basic but clean. The bunk beds are really comfy ,but the rooms are really hot to sleep in even with the windows open and a cold stream outside.