Book Direct | Self Catering & Holiday Cottages in Bala

Holiday Cottages in Bala — your questions answered

How much do holiday cottages in Bala cost?

The lowest here is £69 a night and the largest house runs to £526, so read the sleeping numbers alongside the price before you compare them. Two of the six are under £100. Summer goes by the week, short breaks appear out of season, and the weeks either side of the school holidays are the best value.

Do we need a permit for the lake?

For sailing, paddleboarding and other craft, yes. Permits are sold from the machines at the lakeside car parks the park authority runs, so you can sort it out on arrival rather than in advance. Swimming needs no permit. Llyn Tegid is four miles long and over forty metres deep in places, and it stays cold well past midsummer, so go in with somebody else.

Can we bring the dog?

Five of the six do, and each house sets its own rules on its listing. Gwynedd’s seasonal dog bans cover beaches, and Llyn Tegid is a lake, so the foreshore stays open to dogs all year. The hill walking here is about as dog-friendly as Wales gets, though leads on near sheep.

Where is the nearest shop?

If you are staying in Bala itself, a few minutes’ walk. There are two food shops on the high street along with a butcher, a bakery and a chemist, and the SPAR opens from seven in the morning until eleven at night. From a farmhouse out in the hills it may be a twenty-minute drive, so stock up on the way in.

How many will they sleep?

Between four and seventeen. Three of the six take eight people or more, and all six are marked as family friendly, so this is a page that suits a gathering rather than a couple. Two have a hot tub and one has an open fire. Nothing here is a one-bedroom bolthole.

Is there a swimming pool if the weather turns?

There is a twenty-metre pool at Byw’n Iach Penllyn on Pensarn Road, but check the dates first. It is shut from the 4th to the 21st of August 2026, and the sports hall from the 21st of July, which covers most of the school holidays. Otherwise there is the library at Campws Godre’r Berwyn, the bookshop Awen Meirion, and a good run of pubs.

Bala has six holiday cottages and farmhouses on this page, sleeping from four up to seventeen, and every one of them is marked as family friendly. Five take dogs and two have a hot tub. Prices open at £69 for a night. The lake runs four miles south-west below the town. Behind it the Aran hills climb towards Aran Fawddwy at 905 metres, and the walking on that side is among the quietest in the park. If you would rather have dinner and a drying room laid on, look at the town's hotels and inns, or go back to everything in Bala.