Snowdonia Wales - touring guide to Snowdon area

You can see that our hotel, Maes-y-Neuadd, is well placed for you to tour North Wales. These photos of the mountains and the surrounding area of North Wales give you some of the flavour of the area and what you can expect to see.

Now here is an extensive Gazetteer of most of the places to visit in North Wales

Bala Lake	Lake Bala, on the edge of the National Park, is 4.5 miles long and about a mile wide - it is the largest natural lake in Wales. The small town of Bala at the northern end of the lake is an excellent fishing and sailing centre. In the depths of the Lake live the rare white scaled Salmon - gwyniad. They lurk 80 feet down in the lake, and can only be caught by net. The region has some rare things to offer. As most places in Wales, Bala has a colourful Welsh history - there is the legend of a lost palace beneath the lake. Also the Welsh emigrants to Patagonia in Chile in 1865, came mainly from the Bala area - even today there are still Welsh speaking people in Chile, descended from these original emigrants. In the Andes instead of Wales.
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Bangor	Bangor is the cathedral and university city of North Wales. The city dates from a monastery in the sixth century which had a protective fence or "Bangor" round it. It is only about 15 miles from Mount Snowdon, so an easy drive to see the National Park from here. The present cathedral is 19th century, but is on the site of the much older monk's church. Bangor Cathedral was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott - who also designed among other things, the Albert Memorial. A mile to the east is Penrhyn Castle, now owned by the National Trust. The first castle here was built in the 12th century - a lot of Wales' castles were built then- but the present building was erected between 1827 and 1840 in a neo Gothic style and has a seven mile perimeter wall.
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Barmouth	Where the mountains of Wales sweep down to the sea! A seaside resort dating from Victorian times, developed because of the 2 miles of sandy beaches. The cliffs just outside Barmouth were the first property that the National Trust acquired in 1895 - in Britain, not just in Wales. Just to the east of the town, a spectacular walk (the Panorama Walk), branches off to the north of the main road, and follows a series of terraces upwards, with views over the estuary. The mountains behind you, and the sea in front.
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Beddgelert	A small village, 10 miles inland from Caernarfon, where three valleys meet. It is close to the Beddgelert Forest, and the hills tower above. There is a forest trail and a route up to the Aberglasyn Pass, with views over the Glaslyn, a mountain torrent. Park your car near the bridge.
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Bethesda	6 miles inland from Bangor on the A5. North Wales has been a synonym for slate, and Bethesda is a synonym for Welsh slate. Apart from the 1000 ft deep slate quarries, it is the starting point for the climb to Nant Ffracon Pass. A road with splendid views over the Welsh Mountains, running between the peaks of Carnedd Dafydd and the Glyders. At the head of the pass is Llyn Ogwen - a breathtaking mountain pass.
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Betws-y-Coed	A popular Welsh tourist village that stands at the junction of three rivers and their valleys. It's name means "chapel in the wood" and indeed it is surrounded by the Gwydyr Forest. It is deservedly known as a walking centre - the Swallow Falls and the Fairy Glen are each about a 2 mile walk from the town.
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Blaenau Ffestiniog	The heart of the slate quarrying country. The blue slate crags loom over the town on all sides - and there are a number of working quarries that you can visit. It is not all slate here, but you might think so after seeing this. Grand walking and fishing country, with over a dozen lakes in walking distance of the town. A path a mile to the south west, from Tanygrisiau takes you to waterfalls near Lake Cwmorthin.- some of Snowdonia's prettiest. From Ffestiniog, 2.5 miles to the south is also a good walking centre, try the 200-foot high Rheadr-y-Cwm waterfall 3 miles east of the town. And there is the 13.5 miles of narrow gauge Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog (on the coast) which was built to carry out the slate from the quarries. It is now used for passengers to view the spectacular scenery.
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Cader Idris	A little south of Mount Snowdon, Cader Idris ("Arthur's Chair" in English) is 2927 feet high. There are a number of routes to the top, the easiest being from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, 3.5 miles south west of the summit of Cader Idris. Not a mountain for beginners to attempt - there is a legend that anyone who sleeps the night on the summit will wake up blind, mad or a poet - I suppose it depends if you really want to be a poet and are prepared to take the chance.
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Caernarfon	On the northern edge , this historically important town is on the Menai Straits, which separate Anglesey from North Wales. The wonderfully preserved castle dominates the town. Edward I was born in the castle in 1284. In this century, both the Duke of Windsor in 1911 and Prince Charles in 1969, were invested as Princes of Wales in the Castle. Perhaps it owes its preservation to the fact that it was a Cromwellian stronghold during the Civil War.
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Capel Curig	Another of the mountain villages. A mountaineering centre, with also a National Nature Reserve and trout fishing in Lake Mymbyr.
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Dolwyddelan	A village on the spectacular winding road from Blaenau Ffestioniog to Betws-y-Coed. Just west of the village is the 12th century castle, the birthplace of Llewelyn the Great, which finally fell to the English King in 1283. There are a number of good walks from the village into the surrounding foothills.
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Dolgellau	South west of Snowdon, a picturesque town at the head of a long estuary. The buildings are mainly of local slate. There are a number of excellent walks ranging in strenuousness - the Precipice Walk circles a high ridge just north of the town. The Torrent Walk follows the River Clywedog for about a mile up a valley. There are other walks that will give you better views of Cader Idris in the distance.
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Harlech	The vast castle built by Edward I in 1283, to help him rule Wales. It dominates the plain below. Again lots of history associated with the castle - Owen Glyndwr's wife was taken prisoner here by Henry V. And of course there is the song, "Men of Harlech", written to commemorate the bravery of the defence of the castle during the Wars of the Roses. It was the last castle in the country to be held by the Royalists during the Civil War. Contrast Caernarfon held by the Cromwellians - not all of Wales was on the same side. Today it is very peaceful, and there are spectacular views out to sea and to the Lleyn Peninsula.
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Llanberis	The starting point of the easy way up Snowdon - the railway. It is also the starting point of the easiest path up. A narrow gauge railway also runs along the shore of Lake Padarn, which gives spectacular views of the summit.
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Llyn Ogwen	In the heart of Snowdonia, approached via the Nant Ffrancon Pass from Bethesda, it is a shallow lake about a mile long. Legend links it with Arthur - and is (perhaps) where Sir Belvidere may have thrown Excalibur. Like many Celtic cultures, Wales claims Arthur as their own. In winter the shallow waters freeze over, in a wonderland setting.
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Llyn Gwynant	The Pen-y-Gwryd pub, 6 miles north east of Beddgelert, is the base for visiting Nantgwynant and Llyn Gwynant. This pub was the training base for Sir John Hunt's team that was the first to climb Everest in 1953. Climbing here is a good limber up for Everest. The waymarked walk from the road to Llyn Gwynant takes about an hour.
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Llanrwst	An old market town in the Conway Valley, due east of Mount Snowdon. A fine stone bridge, said to be designed by Indigo Jones, crosses the river.
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Portmeirion	Portmeirion is perhaps the last place you would expect to see in Wales, surrounded by the Welsh Mountains. Built in 1926 by Clough Williams Ellis, a showpiece village based on Portofino in Italy. Williams-Ellis built a hotel, planted trees, erected many architectural fantasies including an Italian campanile, lighthouse and castle. There are splendid gardens full of exotic plants. The village has been used for filming - The Prisoner. And Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit there.
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Snowdon	Snowdon is not the highest mountain in Britain, it can claim to be the most spectacular. There are lots of walks up to the summit from villages all round the mountain, ranging from brisk walks to full climbing routes with crampons. Mind you for the less energetic, there is always the train from Llanberis to the summit. It is a rack and pinion railway that mounts gradients as steep as 1 in 5, as it winds its way 5 miles up to the top. As for walks, the easiest route up follows a track alongside the rack and pinion railway from Llanberis. Then from the top of Llanberis Pass, three other routes fan out, the easiest is the miners track ( the name dating from miners needing to get to work) which climbs from the shore of Llyn Llydaw. The Pyg Track from there is harder and the third route, over Crib Goch, is not for the inexperienced - Snowdon is not just a big pussy cat. On the west, two tracks are worth mention. Beddgelert Track which starts 2 miles north of the village, is the harder of the two. The easier is the Ranger Path starting from the shore of Llyn Cwellyn. The experienced climber might consider the Watkin Path from Nantgwynant on the south side of Snowdon. You need proper climbing gear for this ascent.
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Llyn Cau near Cader Idris	Llyn Ogwen in winter


Lake Gwynant	Mount Snowdon


Views of the mountains


Cader Idris

	The rich man in his castle (here Harlech Castle)
and the poor man in his home (Welsh stone and Welsh slate)
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. Snowdonia in Wales, where is it?	Snowdonia in Wales (note the scale - it is all in easy reach)

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Touring Snowdonia in North Wales