Snowdonia
or the Snowdonia National Park is located in the north west of
Wales in the counties of Gwynedd and Conwy. The majority of the Park is
in Gwynedd with the north eastern section being in the County of Conwy,
particularly the beautiful Conwy Valley. The National Park is a diverse
area ranging from the snow covered mountains of the Snowdonia Range through
the lush green valleys and plains to beautiful coastal resorts with rocky
headlands sheltering sandy beaches. Whether you prefer the peace and quiet
of a holiday in the mountains or a holiday in a traditional seaside resort
you can find it in Snowdonia.
The inland resorts of Betws
y Coed, Beddgelert, Llanrwst,
Llanberis and
Dolgellau cater for climbing holidays, mountain bike holidays, and the
more serious walkers. Day trippers are also attracted by the delights
of Snowdonia, with many arriving from the seaside holiday resorts of Colwyn
Bay, Llandudno, Caernarfon
on the north coast, or Barmouth, Harlech,
Porthmadog, Aberdyfi,
or Criccieth on the west
coast.
At
Walesdirectory.co.uk we are striving to offer as wide a choice of holidays
in Wales and Snowdonia as we can find. We have recently improved
our choice of maps to include Golf Holidays in Wales including Snowdonia,
and the general holiday map below shows ancient monuments, castles, golf
courses and mountain bike trails in Snowdonia.
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The high lands of central Gwynedd offer fantastic views with mountains,
rivers, and tumbling waterfalls in abundance, making the area popular
with travelers since Victorian times. But there is more to Gwynedd than
just the high mountain landscapes. To the west there is the narrow finger
of a plateau with its striking line of extinct volcanoes reaching out
into the Irish Sea known as the Lleyn
(Llyn) Peninsula. The Lleyn has
always been sparsely populated due to its coastline of beautiful yet
steep cliffs allowing few safe harbours. From Nefyn and
Porth Dinllaen on the north of the Lleyn to Aberdaron near
the western most tip you will find it is a spectacularly beautiful area
with rocky headlands sheltering sandy beaches set in the clear blue seas
of Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea.
In the south west of Snowdonia, down from the high lands again, to the
narrow strip along the coast we have the seaside holiday resorts of
Harlech, Barmouth and Aberdyfi.
Here we have a different type of holiday
again.
If you like beach holidays you will love this coastline with some of
the best beaches in the UK. The coast from Harlech to Barmouth is one
long stretch of golden sands with massive sand dunes that the children
will love and clear blue seas you can't help but want to swim in.
Confirmation of the fantastic beaches is confirmed by the nudist beaches
between Shell Island, at Llanbedr, and Dyffryn Ardudwy. The naturists
always seem to claim the best, the warmest, and ironically the least
exposed beaches!
Barmouth, a little further south, has a beautiful estuary and a traditional
harbourside where you can fish for crabs and eat delicious fish and chips
on the harbour wall.
It is said that there is no better walk than from Barmouth through to
Dolgellau other than from Dolgellau to Barmouth and I can't disagree,
the views of the Snowdonia mountains sweeping down to the Mawddach estuary
are phenomenal.
But
then saying that you have only to travel 35 miles to the Dyfi estuary
(Aberdyfi) at the southern
most tip of the Snowdonia National Park and the views are just as spectacular.
No I can't say they are better else I will be contradicting myself, suffice
to see they are both beautiful and neither should be missed.
While travelling from Barmouth to Aberdyfi I recommend taking the long
way round via the A487 and the B4405 which takes you past the beautiful
lake Tal-y-Llyn (shown on the map
below Cadair Idris). Although only small this must be one of the most
beautiful lakes in Wales. The Tall-y-Llyn Narrow Gauge Steam Railway
also runs through this pretty valley travelling from Tywyn on
the Cardigan Bay coast through the Dolgoch
Falls to Abergynolwyn. (If you like castles then visit Castell
y Bere in the neighbouring Dysynni
Valley)
Aberdyfi itself has a beautiful setting similar to Barmouth with harbour and
estuary, but it is a smaller more sedate town that probably thinks of
itself as quite posh.
Enjoy Snowdonia, have a nice holiday !
