Snowdonia is the part of Wales most people picture. Beddgelert is a village where two rivers meet, with the mountains going straight up behind the houses. Bala has the largest natural lake in Wales in front of it, nearly four miles of it.
502 places to stay · showing 1–10
Benllech, Anglesey
A 5-star boutique apartment in the centre of Benllech Bay with unrivalled sea views, sleeping 2.
Llanfairpwll, Anglesey
A dog-friendly self-catering cottage near Llanfairpwll, sleeping 7 (ideally up to 5 adults), with Snowdonia views.
Talybont-on-Usk, Brecon Beacons
A 4-star eco farm barn at the head of Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons, sleeping 10 across four bedrooms, with hydro power, mountain paths and…
Port Eynon, Swansea & Gower
A 4-star cottage in Port Eynon on the Gower, sleeping 8, just 200m from the beach and walkable to the village. Dog-friendly.
Bodedern, Anglesey
A group of welcoming self-catering holiday cottages at Bodedern, sleeping up to 12 in total. Dog-friendly.
Benllech, Anglesey
A 5-star adults-only self-catering apartment on Benllech beach, sleeping 4 — a stylish seafront sanctuary.
Brynsiencyn, Anglesey
A magnificent single-level 5-star luxury cottage at Brynsiencyn, sleeping 4, with breathtaking Snowdonia views.
Port Eynon, Swansea & Gower
A 4-star cottage just 150m from Port Eynon beach on the Gower, sleeping 8, walkable to the pub, surf shop and shops. Dog-friendly.
Southgate, Swansea & Gower
A five-star luxury holiday cottage at Southgate on the Gower, sleeping 5 — dog-friendly, close to Three Cliffs Bay.
St Davids, Pembrokeshire
A beautifully secluded holiday cottage just a short walk from the centre of St Davids, sleeping 2 — a peaceful romantic retreat.
The coast west of Snowdonia runs through Porthmadog, Criccieth and Pwllheli. South of them Barmouth sits at the mouth of a river, and the trains cross it on a half-mile wooden bridge you can walk over yourself.
It is not all mountains. Anglesey is flat and green, with wide beaches along its eastern shore. Cardigan Bay curves away to the south, the Brecon Beacons rise inland north of Cardiff, and the far south-west corner is all cliff and coast path.
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in the middle of Snowdonia, the mountain country of north-west Wales, and the hills round it were split open for slate. The quarries, the tramways and the villages that grew beside them went on the World Heritage list in 2021, which is the list the Pyramids are on.
Getting the slate down to the sea was the problem. In 1836 a railway was cut thirteen miles from Blaenau to the harbour at Porthmadog. The slope was so exact that loaded wagons ran the whole way down on their own. Horses pulled the empties back up, and rode down in wagons of their own.
Another line carried slate to Tywyn from 1865. The quarry closed, the trains stopped, and in 1951 volunteers took the railway over and ran it themselves. Nobody anywhere had done that before. One of them wrote the Thomas the Tank Engine books.
Twelve little steam railways like these still run, and they are spread across the whole country. One climbs the valley from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge. Another runs out of Merthyr Tydfil in the south, and the old slate line from Blaenau, the Ffestiniog, still leaves from Porthmadog harbour.
The slate is still everywhere once you start looking. Hillsides above Blaenau are stepped in grey waste and the roofs shine after rain. Field walls run for miles in split slabs stood upright, like fences.
And the walking starts where you park. Paths run straight out of Beddgelert, and you can follow the river down through the Aberglaslyn Pass, which is about as pretty as Wales gets.
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Cardiff to Caernarfon is about four hours by road, and you pass the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia on the way. Booking direct with the owner is usually the better price.
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