There's a great waterfall on one of the stream flowing into the lake, called Aira Force (force means waterfall). Aira Force has it's own car park and visitor center, but as with many other places in the Lake District, it get very very busy in the summer months. Best to visit in Spring or Autumn when there's plenty of water flowing over Aira Force, and less people on the narrow paths leading to it.

Around the east side of Ullswater is very quiet with only a few tourists. There is a road, but it more or less stops at the villages of Howtown and Sandwick, then you have to turn around and go back the way you came - to Pooley Bridge. It is worth the effort to get to Howtown because it provides a good high point to view the north end of Ullswater, in fact there are viewing benches on the side of the road as it climbs steeply out of Howtown. The easiest way to get to Howton is on the steamer - there's a jetty and a mini pebble beach. (Don't be fooled by the name, Howtown is a very small village.)