Beddgelert

Beddgelert sits where the Afon Glaslyn meets the Afon Colwyn, in a valley enclosed by Moel Hebog to the west and the Nantlle hills and the Yr Wyddfa massif beyond. Despite the well-known story of the faithful hound Gelert, the village is actually named after an early Christian missionary, Saint Gelert, who settled here in the eighth century. Gelert’s Grave, the mounded stone visitors are shown beside the river, was built in the late eighteenth century by the landlord of the Goat Hotel specifically to draw tourists, and it has worked ever since.

Why base here

Moel Hebog rises directly above the village to the west, and the National Park car park in the centre is the standard starting point for climbing it. Three of Yr Wyddfa’s six paths start close by: the Authority’s start points for the Watkin Path, Rhyd Ddu and the Snowdon Ranger are about 4.5km, 5km and 7.5km from the village in a straight line, which makes it an alternative base for Yr Wyddfa without Llanberis’s crowds. The restored Welsh Highland Railway runs through the village on its way between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, with its own station here acting as the line’s principal intermediate stop, so some days out are possible without a car even though the village itself has no National Rail service.

On foot versus by car

The walk to Gelert’s Grave and the Aberglaslyn Pass both start from the village on foot, along flat, well-made paths beside the rivers. Moel Hebog also starts from the village car park, while Cnicht starts at Croesor and is a drive rather than a walk. Reaching Rhyd-Ddu, the Snowdon Ranger path, or the Nantlle Ridge needs a car or the seasonal Sherpa bus network.

Practicalities

There is no National Rail station in Beddgelert; the nearest is Porthmadog on the Cambrian Coast Line, about eight miles away. The village has a small range of shops, cafes and pubs around the river bridges, built to serve visitors since well before the railway era.

With children

Gelert’s Grave, the mounded stone an easy ten-minute walk from the village centre, comes with a story about a faithful dog that most children under ten will want told before they see it, and the path there is flat the whole way. Beyond it, the Fisherman’s Path through the Aberglaslyn Pass continues the riverside walking for about two kilometres each way, on rock in places but nothing that needs climbing, and dogs go too. The village’s own Welsh Highland Railway station puts a steam train ride within a level walk of most front doors, useful on a day when small legs have had enough of paths altogether. Moel Hebog is the other story entirely: 758 metres of ascent with short scrambling sections near the top, a half-day mountain that does not suit anyone after a gentle outing, six-year-olds least of all. Save it for when the children are old enough to ask for it themselves.