Best Market Towns in Cumbria Worth a Day Out, With Market Days
Cumbria has more market towns than you can shake a shepherd's crook at, and most of them are better on a market day. Here are the ones I'd send a friend to.
The short answer
The best market towns in Cumbria for a day out are Kendal (Wednesday and Saturday markets), Penrith (Tuesday), Keswick (Thursday and Saturday), Ulverston (Thursday and Saturday, plus an indoor hall), Appleby (Saturday), Kirkby Lonsdale (Thursday) and Cockermouth. Go on the market day, park early and check the times, because several have changed recently.
The best market towns in Cumbria are the ones you can wander round without needing to get back in the car, and there are lots of them. I'm from the north of the county, so I've got a soft spot for anywhere with a high street that hasn't been swallowed by a retail park. This is the list, with market days I've checked against council and tourism pages. I've made a point of saying where two sources disagree, because market days in this county have a habit of quietly moving.
One general rule. Markets change hands, change days and, occasionally, close for refurbishment. Before you drive anywhere with a particular stall in mind, look at the council or town website. I've linked them below.
Market days at a glance
- Kendal: outdoor market Wednesday and Saturday, Market Place (indoor hall closed for refurbishment at the time of writing).
- Penrith: Tuesday, with a farmers' market on the third Tuesday from March to December.
- Keswick: Thursday and Saturday, Market Square.
- Ulverston: indoor hall Monday to Saturday except Wednesday; outdoor market Thursday and Saturday.
- Appleby: Saturday, Boroughgate.
- Kirkby Lonsdale: Thursday charter market.
- Kirkby Stephen: Thursday, as of August 2026.
- Wigton: Friday, Water Street car park.
- Carlisle: Market Hall Monday to Saturday, open-air market Friday.
Kendal: the big grey one
Kendal is the biggest of the market towns in the south of Cumbria and it calls itself the Auld Grey Town because of all the limestone. The clever bit is the network of yards and ginnels, narrow passages that Visit Lake District says are the remains of medieval burgage plots that once housed textile workshops. The wool trade is why the town's motto translates as wool is my bread, and the fabric Kendal Green was worn by archers in the fourteenth century.
Kendal Market
Westmorland and Furness Council says the outdoor market is on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Market Place (LA9 4TP), and notes that the indoor Market Hall was closed for refurbishment at the time of writing. So it is the outdoor stalls for now.
For the rest of the day: Kendal Castle (built around 1200) has views over the town, Abbot Hall is the art museum, and the Brewery Arts Centre has a theatre and cinema. And it's the home of Kendal Mint Cake, so you can buy a slab from one of the local makers.
- Good for
- Yards and ginnels, a museum for the rain, Mint Cake
- Check first
- Whether the indoor Market Hall has reopened; outdoor market Wed and Sat
Penrith: red sandstone, Tuesday and a food hall
Penrith is the gateway to the Eden Valley and the main town people pass on the M6 without stopping, which is a shame. It's built of red sandstone, it has its own ruined castle and, a short drive away, a prehistoric henge called King Arthur's Round Table at Eamont Bridge. Beacon Pike, a stone tower from 1719, sits on the hill above the town.
Penrith Tuesday Market
Visit Eden says the Tuesday market runs 9am to 3pm and is free to attend, with independent traders, but the location and frequency are less clear. Its page says Great Dockray car park and that on the third Tuesday from March to December the Penrith Farmers' Market is in Market Square instead. Westmorland and Furness Council, meanwhile, lists Penrith Market as every Tuesday in Market Square (CA11 7SN). Look at the council page for the current arrangement before you go.
Cranstons Cumbrian Food Hall is the local food shop of note, and there are specialist family-run shops in the town centre. If you're going for the farmers' market, the third Tuesday of the month is the one.
- Good for
- Independent traders, a red sandstone town centre, a food hall
- Check first
- Exact market location (Great Dockray or Market Square) and the third Tuesday farmers' market
Keswick: the market with the charter
Visit Keswick says Edward I granted the town's market charter in 1276 and the market still runs over 700 years later. Cumberland Council says it's on Thursdays and Saturdays, all day, in Market Square (CA12 5JR), with around 65 to 70 stalls selling food, clothing and homeware.
Keswick Market
Market Square has the Moot Hall in it, which houses the Lake District National Park information centre. It's the middle of a town that Visit Keswick says has more shops than you'd expect, alongside Theatre by the Lake, the Alhambra cinema and the boat landings on Derwentwater.
For food, Visit Keswick's heritage blog names Keswick Cheese Deli, Keswick Brewing Company (going since 2005) and Ye Old Friars chocolate shop (96 years old in 2023). Expect it to be busy in school holidays, so go early or come by bus.
- Good for
- Market day plus a lake, a brewery and a cheese shop
- Check first
- Thursday and Saturday, all day; expect crowds in holidays
Cockermouth: Wordsworth, Georgian shops and a brewery comeback
Cockermouth sits where the rivers Derwent and Cocker meet, and it's where William Wordsworth was born in 1770. Wordsworth House on the main street is run by the National Trust. Visit Cumbria describes the independent shops, including local butchers, bakers, greengrocers and a fishmonger, and the town has been through two savage floods, in 2009 and 2015, and rebuilt.
Cockermouth town centre
Visit Cumbria lists a weekly Sunday market and car boot held at Mitchell's livestock centre, plus seasonal events including the Taste Cumbria festival in late September. Cockermouth doesn't appear on Cumberland Council's own list of council-run markets, so I'd check the Sunday market times locally.
Jennings Brewery, on the river since 1874, closed in 2022 after Marston's took it over. Visit Cumbria says local owners acquired it in early 2025 to restart brewing, and Visit Lake District says it has resumed production. Find out if it's open for visits before you plan a trip around it.
- Good for
- A literary detour, independent shops, a brewery revival
- Check first
- Sunday market details, and whether Jennings is open to visitors
Ulverston: Stan Laurel and a very good market hall
Ulverston got its market charter in 1280 and, according to Visit Lake District, has a reputation as the party capital of Furness because of the number of festivals. It's where Stan Laurel was born in 1890, and above the town on Hoad Hill is the Sir John Barrow Monument, with views over Morecambe Bay.
Ulverston Market
The council lists the Indoor Market Hall on New Market Street (LA12 7LJ) as open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, closed Wednesdays, Sundays and bank holidays, and an outdoor market on Thursdays and Saturdays on New Market Street and Market Street. That makes Ulverston one of the better bets for a day that might rain.
The Laurel and Hardy Museum is at The Roxy, Brogden Street (LA12 7AH). Visit Lake District listed adult entry at £7 at the time of writing, with children under 16 at £3, and says it welcomes dogs and has refreshments on site.
- Good for
- A rain-proof indoor market plus a quirky museum
- Check first
- Indoor hall is closed on Wednesdays; check museum prices
Appleby-in-Westmorland: the wide street with the castle at the top
Appleby's main street, Boroughgate, sweeps uphill from the church to the castle, which Visit Lake District says was built by the Normans and restored by Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century. The town is on the Settle to Carlisle railway, which makes it easy to reach without a car if you happen to be coming from that direction.
Appleby Market
Westmorland and Furness Council says the market is every Saturday on Boroughgate (CA16 6XE).
The elephant in the room is the horse fair. Appleby Horse Fair happens every June, from the Thursday before to the second Wednesday in June, with Friday to Sunday the main days for visitors according to the official visitor site. Visit Lake District says it has been held since around 1685. The town is very busy, car parks charge about £10 a day and the fair's own site advises anyone uncomfortable with crowds to avoid it. Go on a normal Saturday if you want the market.
- Good for
- A traditional Saturday market and a proper castle
- Check first
- Avoid the second week of June unless you're going for the horse fair
Kirkby Stephen and Kirkby Lonsdale: the two Kirkbys
Two different towns, and a surprising number of people mix them up. Kirkby Stephen is up at the head of the Eden Valley and, according to its town website, joined the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 2016. Visit Eden says its market received a royal charter in 1353 and that the day changed to Thursday, 7am to 6pm, in Market Square and Market Street from 6 August 2026, to help attract more traders. One older listing still says Monday, so check the town council's page. There's also a craft and food producers' market on the first Saturday of each month.
Kirkby Lonsdale Charter Market
Kirkby Lonsdale is in the Lune Valley near the Yorkshire border. Visit Lake District says it received its market charter in 1227 and the Charter Market still runs every Thursday in Market Square. The independent high street has gift shops, cafes and several AA-rosette places to eat.
The two famous sights are close by. Devil's Bridge, built around the twelfth or thirteenth century, comes with a legend about a woman who outwitted the Devil, and Ruskin's View looks out over the Lune, which John Ruskin praised as a place more naturally divine than any he knew in France or Italy.
- Good for
- A Thursday wander with a view and a bridge to look at
- Check first
- Market day is Thursday; the town gets busy in summer
Wigton, Carlisle and a few others
Wigton has a Friday market on Water Street car park (CA7 9AN) selling fruit and veg, plants, flowers and home baking, per Cumberland Council. Carlisle, my own patch and technically a city, has a Market Hall open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm, and an open-air market on Fridays. Silloth's market runs on Thursdays from Easter to October and Whitehaven's runs on the third Saturday of the month. In the Eden Valley there are farmers' markets at Orton (second Saturday), Brough (third Saturday) and Shap (fourth Saturday from March to November), all according to Visit Eden.
Rule of thumb: check the day twice, because in Cumbria the day is the thing most likely to have changed.
Which one for which sort of day
- Rain plan: Ulverston's indoor hall, or Carlisle Market Hall.
- Food-led: Penrith on a third Tuesday, Keswick for cheese and chocolate.
- Views and history: Appleby and Kirkby Lonsdale.
- Kids on board: Ulverston's Laurel and Hardy museum has a family ticket, and Kendal has a castle to climb.
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Questions people ask
What are the market days in Kendal?
Westmorland and Furness Council lists the outdoor market in Market Place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The indoor Market Hall was closed for refurbishment at the time of writing.
When is Keswick market?
Keswick Market runs on Thursdays and Saturdays, all day, in Market Square, according to Cumberland Council. It has around 65 to 70 stalls.
Which Cumbrian market town is best on a rainy day?
Ulverston, because its Indoor Market Hall is open Monday to Saturday except Wednesday, and the Laurel and Hardy Museum is nearby. Carlisle Market Hall is another indoor option.
When is Appleby market, and what about the horse fair?
Appleby market is every Saturday on Boroughgate. The horse fair is held every June and makes the town extremely busy, so avoid it if you want a quiet market.
What day is Kirkby Stephen market?
Visit Eden says it moved to Thursday in August 2026, running 7am to 6pm in Market Square and Market Street. Check the town council in case older listings still show Monday.
Sources and further reading
Facts checked against these pages on Tuesday 29 September 2026. Opening times and prices change, so confirm with the venue.
- Westmorland and Furness Council: Markets
- Cumberland Council: Markets
- Cumberland Council: Keswick Market
- Cumberland Council: Wigton Market
- Visit Eden: Penrith Tuesday Market
- Visit Eden: Farmers' markets
- Visit Eden: Kirkby Stephen Thursday Market
- Visit Lake District: Kendal
- Visit Lake District: Penrith
- Visit Lake District: Ulverston
- Visit Lake District: Laurel and Hardy Museum
- Visit Lake District: Appleby-in-Westmorland
- Visit Appleby: Appleby Horse Fair
- Visit Lake District: Kirkby Lonsdale
- Visit Cumbria: Cockermouth
- Visit Keswick: Keswick, a Lake District market town
- Visit Keswick: Keswick's food heritage
- Kirkby Stephen town website
