HOSTELS IN NORTH WALES, SNOWDONIA, CAERNARFON

• Introduction, Hostels, Transport, weather
• North Coast, Conwy, Bangor, Caernarfon
• SNOWDONIA MOUNTAINS
• South fringe, Porthmadog, Harlech
• Lleyn Peninsula
• Anglesey
• Go to MID-WALES
• Go to SOUTH WALES

INTRODUCTION

North Wales is hilly and green, and the Snowdonia mountains have scenes as beautiful and impressive as any in Britain, with magnificent walks ranging from gentle forest trails to exciting knife-edge ridges. There are also beautiful beaches and several interesting towns with imposing castles.

North Wales is conveniently placed on the way to Ireland, so if you are trying to see as many areas as possible, take it in after Chester or Shrewsbury and before Ireland.

Many scenes in North Wales are just as nice as in the Lake District, and the mountains are more impressive than in the Lakes, but the beauty is not so consistent or concentrated. The best way is to choose one or two spots, and take walks or excursions from there. We will describe spots based on hostels.

Brief visit

If you are restricted to a brief visit, our suggestion is: Either: spend 2 nights at Bangor, Conwy, Caernarfon or Porthmadog and take a day trip into Snowdonia; Or: stay at one of the hostels in the heart of Snowdonia for at least one night.

Weather

The weather in the hills is usually worse than in England. If the coast is sunny, the valleys may be cloudy and there'll be drizzle on the mountains; or cloud in England turns to drizzle in the lowlands and driving rain on the heights. Fairly often, though, the tables are turned and the west coast can have glorious weather; the north coast often has fine weather when the mountains are shrouded in cloud.

Transport to the area

Trains: frequent trains run from Chester (good connections from Liverpool and Manchester) along the north coast, stopping at Conwy and Bangor, to Holyhead where they connect with boats to Dublin. Many trains have a connection to Llandudno.

Express buses: There are 2 buses a day from London and Birmingham, and one a day from Hull, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. These will take you to Conwy, Bangor, Caernarfon & Porthmadog. There is one bus a day from Cardiff & Swansea to Caernarfon & Bangor.

Transport within the area

An excellent printed timetable is available from Tourist Information Centres and most hostels in the area, or visit www.gwynedd.gov.uk . A useful day Rover ticket is the Red Rover for £4.80 (2002), valid on most buses in Snowdonia and south to Aberystwyth; buy it on the first bus of the day.

Hostels

The hostels on the North Coast at Conwy, Bangor and Caernarfon, and on the south side at Porthmadog, are easily accessible and are suitable bases, so if you want to walk in the mountains, allow 2 nights here. Better is to allow an extra day and stay at one of the hostels in Snowdonia itself.

Best to book well in advance (ie weeks). If you contact hostels a day or two in advance, you should find one or two with spare beds, but if you don't have a car they may not be ideally placed to get to. But most of the hostels are nicer than almost any in London. Many of the hostels are called bunkhouses, which may be of hostel standard or may be cheaper with self-catering only and you bring your own sleeping bag or pay for bedding.

NORTH COAST

The rail and bus routes along the north coast are impressive and varied. By train you pass through the resorts of Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, starting tacky and ending up more tasteful. Llandudno is the pleasantest of these resorts, with a high-standard hostel:

A good place to stay on this approach to Wales is Conwy with its imposing castle and town wall. Conwy hostel is 10 mins uphill from the town with great views and hill walks from the hostel door, although if you are short of days you are likely to just use this as a staging post.

An alternative place to stay near here, in real peace, is the small homely hostel at Rowen. You can get there by a 5-mile walk from Conwy over hills, or you can take a bus (hourly) then walk a mile up a very steep hill, but you are rewarded with fine views:

A little farther down the broad Conwy valley (frequent buses from Conwy, rail station near) is a bunkhouse on a farm:

Continuing along the coast, you reach the small university city of Bangor, with a hostel on the edge of town:

If you have only time for a brief visit to Snowdonia and want a day's walking in the mountains, a useful base is a hostel in Bethesda, reachable by frequent bus from Bangor:

Caernarfon is a small interesting town with an impressive castle. There is a hostel here, well located for everything including a surprise view:

SNOWDONIA

The main mountain massif of Snowdonia has many lovely spots, and lots of hostels from which you can climb mountains or take low-level walks from the hostel door. The view from the top of Snowdon is stupendous -- but be warned, on many days the summit is shrouded in cloud!

Snowdon

If you particularly want to climb Snowdon, any of the following hostels are suitable:

Llanberis (frequent buses from Caernarfon and Bangor) is a touristy village with limited shops and the start of the easiest and most boring path up Snowdon, or you can cheat and take the railway. Snowdon is the only British mountain with a cafe on top! The hostel is a 15-minute uphill walk, in a quiet spot away from the tourist centre:

There is a bunkhouse 4km from Llanberis at the foot of the impressive Nant Francon valley and right beside Snowdon:

Boulder Adventures near the High Street in Llanberis sometimes has beds available in its bunkhouse; they provide breakfast but have no guest kitchen.

Pen-y-Pass has 8 buses a day from various points, and if you start here you are already a third of the way up Snowdon. The hostel has impressive facilities:

The valley from Caernarfon to Beddgelert has two routes up Snowdon, one from Rhyd Ddu, the other from Snowdon Ranger. 7 buses a day (5 Sun) run along this valley through its fine and varied scenery, passing right by a camping barn, a bunkhouse and a hostel, or you can climb Snowdon on a day trip. All these also have good parking. The camping barn is cheap but you need sleeping bags; the comfortable HI hostel is right by the start of a track up Snowdon; and Rhyd Ddu bunkhouse also has camping on a beautiful site beside the lake. Outdoor activities (eg kayaking, climbing, mountain biking) are available if arranged in advance. There is also a volunteer-run narrow-gauge train from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu, but its prices make it a splurge rather than a means of transport!

Nant Gwynant is a beautiful valley, with 3 buses a day (icl Sun) from Betws-y-Coed and Porthmadog. Bryn Gwynant hostel has good facilities and a superb situation above the lake, and you can walk up the hill in their own grounds to an even better view. The route up Snowdon is near but starts with 3km road and paved track.

Other peaks and walks

Idwal and Capel Curig are ideal bases for mountain walks. You can get here from Bangor or Betws-y-Coed (several buses a day, but poor connections). There are plenty of mountains accessible from the hostel doors, or you could hitch a ride to Snowdon.

Betws-y-Coed is a tourist village which you can reach by train (several per day) from Llandudno on the north coast. There are many local walks by forest, lakes and rivers, and it's a short bus ride to the mountains. There is a new hostel, the Vagabond, in the centre of the village. The YHA hostel is part of a pub 3km from the village but right by one of the attractions, Swallow Falls.

In a delightful 'hidden valley', yet with 6 buses/day from Betws-y- Coed or Conwy, is the lovely classic Welsh village of Penmachno with high-class budget accommodation in the Eagles Inn. They have only private rooms, but they told me they don't charge more for single travellers, although on the booking engine single travellers have to pay twice as much as anyone else.

The train line from Llandudno (5 per day, 3 Sun) gets you close to Lledr Valley, with access to mountain walks.

The next bunkhouse is an excellent base if you come with a car, or frequent buses from Bangor will bring you within walking distance of here. This bunkhouse has dorm accommodation with all required facilities, and also private apartments with moderate or higher luxury. It's on the edge of Snowdonia, with fine views and hill walks from the hostel door. Do consider it if the more central hostels are full:

SOUTHERN FRINGE OF SNOWDONIA

Gentler but very varied scenery here, with magnificent beaches, a majestic castle at Harlech, the fantasy Italianate village of Portmeirion near Porthmadog, and plenty of varied walks. The scenic rail line from Shrewsbury traverses this area (6 per day, only 3 Sun), as does the wonderful Ffestiniog narrow-gauge line. There are a few buses a day between all these places.

Hostels

Porthmadog is nothing special but a good base (1 bus a day from London, 1 from NE England; 4 local buses per day incl Sun to the mountains). Unfortunately the former hostel Snowdon Lodge is now only open to groups.

There is a new bunkhouse, part of an outdoor centre, in a valley 10 km from Porthmadog, but not easy to reach by public transport (infrequent buses Pothmadog-Golyn, then 2km walk):

Criccieth, a small town with castle and beach, has a small budget guest house at 11 Marine Terrace. Near Criccieth is a bunkhouse on a campsite:

Inland from Harlech is an area of open country with wide vistas of hills, a lake and a closed nuclear power station. The village of Trawsfynydd lies here, and in the centre of the village you can stay at:

LLEYN PENINSULA

Lleyn is good for easy car or bike touring, with lots of walking tracks, moorland walking, good beaches and widespread views. You can have a real relaxing time here, or take part in various outdoor activities from horse riding to surfing. There is a bunkhouse deep in the countryside, which hires bikes and runs Hovercraft courses (Train to Pwllheli then 3 buses per day, none Sun):

Or you can stay in the hostel in Caernarfon and visit the area for the day by bus, but check the times first.

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ANGLESEY

You will see the two Menai Bridges as you cross the strait. You could take a day trip here from Bangor or Caernarvon, but don't do this in preference to Snowdonia unless the weather in the mountains is vile. Anglesey has some lovely beaches in the south, but otherwise there is nothing to stop here for, and you usually see its flattish pastoral country as you speed through by train or road on the way to Holyhead and the boat to Ireland (about 6 boats per day).

Holyhead is not very impressive, and the countryside around is pleasant but unexciting. If sailings are disrupted by severe weather and you are forced to stay the night, there is a modest hotel 300 metres from the shipping office, and several b&b's about a mile away at the sea end of town.

There is a new YHA hostel just outside Holyhead, 3 km from the rail station and ferry terminal. This could be a useful stop on your journey, but you need to book ahead. We do not yet know whether it qualifies for our listing.

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