Bowness-on-Windermere is a town on the eastern shore of Lake Windermere, and is the model for Rio in the Swallows and Amazons series. Bowness-on-Windermere and the larger Windermere are twin towns about half a mile (1 km) apart, with the town of Windermere up the hill from the lake. Although the towns merge into each other, there are two distinct town centres.