Snowdonia

Northern Snowdonia

Legend and history fuse together in this wild and romantic landscape. The 845 square mile National Park with its forbidding craggy mountains, high sided valleys and scattered castles is home to the legend of King Arthur.

Indeed, Llyn Llydaw on Snowdons eastern flank is reputedly the lake from which excalibur was raised aloft. Internationally famed as rock climbing country, visitors can enjoy less strenuous pursuits like the numerous mountain, lakeside and forest walks or experience a steam train trip on one of the many narrow gauge railways.

Caernarfon castle has watched over its busy little town for 700 years. Built by Edward 1, who proclaimed his baby son Prince of Wales, the site saw the investiture of Prince Charles in 1969.

Southern Snowdonia

The southern part of the Snowdonia National Park reveals a gentler landscape than the north, broken up with rivers, streams and lakes, which provide excellent picnic and fishing possibilities. Especially popular are pony trekking and walking utilising the old drover routes.

Huffing and puffing up the wooded vale of Festiniog, the narrow gauge railway is a reminder of the days when slate was the carge to markets overseas.

Just north of the tranquil Dyfi Valley the busy stone built market town of Dolgellau makes a perfect base for walks up the steep northern face of Cader Idris. Its name is from the Welsh meaning the seat of Arthur and its goldmine supplies the roal wedding rings.

Lake Bala, at 4 miles long and 150ft deep, is the largest natural lake in Wales and in whose waters lurks the Gwyniad, a deep water type of land locked herring found only here!