Snowdonia, the national park in North Wales, is the perfect place to take a staycation. It has a fantastic range of outdoor activities, history, culture, and landscape to explore. When staying with us at West Point, you’ll be at the heart of the experience. We’re not far from all the beautiful locations.
These are a few of our favourite towns to visit whilst in Snowdonia:
Bala
Bala is well known for having the largest lake in Wales, named ‘Llyn Tegid’ or ‘Bala Lake’. Here you can find a few watersports centres, offering hire of kayaks, sailboats, and other activities to get you out on the water. You can also walk up one of the mountains in the area, which gives you an impressive view of the lake.
The walk around Llyn Tegid is a pretty long one, 14 miles to be exact, but you don’t have to do it all at once. You can take the Bala Lake Railway to get around part of it.
Dolgellau
Dolgellau is a great place to experience some of the best trails in the Snowdonia National Park – for both walkers and mountain bikers!
There are some lovely walking spots here, including the Precipice Walk and the Mawddach Trail. Dolgellau is also not far from the coast if you’re after a beach stroll.
Cadair Idris, the impressive mountain is just below the town and includes multiple routes to suit walkers of every level. There are routes for the most experienced walkers to enjoy, and an option of an easier path to take with the kids.
Just up from the town is Coed y Brenin, a forest for mountain bikers and wildlife spotters. The visitor centre has all the information you will need to have the best day out.
Llanberis
Llanberis is a town sitting at the bottom of the tallest mountain in Wales, Snowdon. This town is the pinnacle for taking in the Welsh scenery and getting involved in outdoor activities.
The lake here ‘Llyn Padarn’ has multiple choices of watersports including paddleboarding, canoeing, and kayaking. If you would prefer to stay dry, there are some interesting mountains and quarries nearby where you could try mountaineering or climbing. Dinorwic quarry is a favoured spot where you can take a look at some of the history of the Welsh slate industry.
Betws y Coed
Betws y Coed is a very popular place for visitors in Snowdonia. The town is surrounded by the beautiful Gwydyr Forest and has so many magical rivers and waterfalls to visit.
Swallow Falls and Fairy Glen are amongst these, which only require a short walk. We suggest you take your camera along, as you can get some truly breathtaking shots of the natural falls.
Just round the corner from Betws is Dolwyddelan, where a small castle lies as a memorial to Llywelyn the Great, the King of Gwynedd.