WALK THE TRAIL...
Distance 134km (83 miles)
Total ascent 5237m
Time 5-8 days (or 3 like this!) Start/finish The Snowdonia Slate Trail guidebook describes the journey in an anti-clockwise direction from Porth PenrhynBethesda, but your start point could be SH592726 (Porth Penrhyn) or SH623666 (Bethesda High Street), depending on direction chosen.
Nearest town/village Bangor, Bethesda, Llanberis, Betws-yCoed – many! Terrain
Good tracks, forest and mountain paths, open moorland.
Maps OS Explorer (1:25,000) OL17 and OL18, Harvey British Mountain Map (1:40,000) Snowdonia North, GPS route available from www. snowdoniaslatetrail.org
Public transport See www.traveline.cymru/
for up-todate information. The Snowdon Sherpa bus serves a number of local villages, but times and days of operation can vary over the seasons. Check Gwynedd bus timetables for local village services.
Guidebook Snowdonia Slate Trail by Aled Owen, pb Rucksack Readers.
Pubs & grub
There are lots of options en route for refreshments, more so than a high mountain route – bonus if you like coffee and cake! Check out Moel Siabod Café, Capel Curig for THE best scones in the area. Conwy Falls Café, just outside Betws-y-Coed, offers a handy mobile phone charging device. Antur Stiniog ‘Y Siop’ in Blaenau Ffestiniog boasts good coffee and excellent local information. Beddgelert has lots of options, but don’t miss the very tiny but excellent The Real Coffee Stop. Blas y Waun café at Antur Waunfawr is an excellent, volunteer-operated social enterprise hub. Don’t pass by Lodge Dinorwig Café, above Llanberis – always worth a visit.
Accommodation
We stayed at The Rocks at Plas Curig hostel, Capel Curig, 01690 720225, and Royal Goat Hotel, Beddgelert, 01766 890224. There are hostels, B&Bs and hotels to suit all budgets in Bangor,
Bethesda, Llanberis, Nantlle, Rhyd Ddu, Beddgelert, Llan Ffestiniog, Penmachno, Cwm Penmachno, Betws-y-Coed, and Capel Curig. If you’re thinking of wild camping along the way, be sure to act considerately, and stay high and well out of the way of communities and valleys – leaving no trace of your stay. Keep your pack light for ease of travel.
There are some valley camping options, some of which may require a short departure from the trail itself. The closest are:
Hafod Lydan, Llanberis, www.campinginllaberis.com Cwellyn Arms, Rhyd Ddu, www.snowdoninn.co.uk
Dolgam, nr Betws-y-Coed, www.
dolgam-snowdonia.co.uk