The Mission Cafe

The Mission Cafe in Windermere sits on the corner of Queens Park, part of the Lakes Christian Centre and very much a community café rather than a glossy commercial stop. It serves locally sourced food and drinks Tuesday to Saturday, and has won a community business award in Cumbria — which tells you something about the atmosphere before you've even ordered.

Dogs are welcome inside, so nobody needs to do the pavement-waiting shuffle while someone grabs a coffee. The café runs from 9am and is a practical stop for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon break, with a menu built around locally sourced ingredients and freshly made food. In colder months, a log burner keeps things cosy; in summer, there's a terrace overlooking the park.

It's the sort of place people return to for the atmosphere as much as the flat white, and the community feel makes it a genuinely comfortable dog-friendly café stop in the Lakes.