Snowdonia Accommodation

More About Snowdonia

Yr Wyddfa stands 1,085 metres high. You can climb it on foot or ride the Snowdon Mountain Railway from Llanberis. In 2026 its diesel trains run from 28 March to 25 October. Until 1 May they stop at Clogwyn station, three-quarters of the way up. The National Park grades all six walking paths to the summit as hard.

With children, start with the little trains. The Ffestiniog Railway runs from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, and the Talyllyn runs inland from Tywyn. Then give them the sand at Harlech or Barmouth. None of these beaches has lifeguards and the river mouths pull hard on a falling tide, so keep children at the water's edge.

The Mawddach Trail follows an old railway line for nine miles from Dolgellau to Barmouth, with the estuary beside you all the way. At the Barmouth end you can walk over the timber viaduct. Beddgelert is a village of stone houses at the foot of the Aberglaslyn Pass, a narrow river gorge.

Accommodation in Snowdonia near Bala puts you beside Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), where you can sail, kayak and canoe. You can raft the Tryweryn river at Frongoch and learn to surf at Tywyn. Birdwatchers can see ospreys at the Cors Dyfi reserve near Machynlleth until early September, and painters can follow the artists who came to Betws-y-Coed. On a clear night the park is a Dark Sky Reserve, so the stars show clearly.

The slate story

Snowdonia was not built for visitors. It was built for slate. At the end of the nineteenth century the Penrhyn quarry above Bethesda was the largest in the world, and Welsh slate roofed the cities of the industrial age.

On 22 November 1900 the men at Penrhyn walked out, and stayed out for three years. It was the longest industrial dispute in British history. Families put cards in their windows reading Nid oes bradwr yn y tŷ hwn: there is no traitor in this house. When a card came down, the street knew the man inside had gone back.

The National Slate Museum at Llanberis is closed for redevelopment, so check before you plan a day around it. Instead, from Snowdonia accommodation near Blaenau Ffestiniog you can go deep underground on a slate tour. At Zip World you can fly across the old Penrhyn pit on a zip line billed as the fastest in the world.

Snowdonia guides: things to do in Snowdonia (Eryri) · the best waterfalls in North Wales · a walking tour of Caernarfon