Llanberis

Llanberis sits on the southern shore of Llyn Padarn at the foot of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), and it is the busiest, best-equipped base in Eryri for climbing the mountain itself. The village grew up around the Dinorwig slate quarry on the hillside above the lake, which closed in 1969; its old workshops at Gilfach Ddu now house the National Slate Museum, and the quarry’s underground workings inside Elidir Fawr were later repurposed as the Dinorwig pumped-storage power station, a 1,728 MW plant that can reach full output in under 16 seconds.

Why base here

Llanberis is the standard starting point for the Llanberis Path, the longest but least technically demanding of Snowdon’s six main routes, and for the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which climbs from a station in the village to the summit building, Hafod Eryri. The Snowdon Sherpa bus also runs from Llanberis to Pen-y-Pass, the start of the Pyg Track, the Miners’ Track and the Snowdon Horseshoe, so reaching any of the main routes up the mountain does not require a car. The Llanberis Pass immediately south-east of the village is one of the historically most significant rock-climbing areas in Britain, with crags including Dinas Cromlech a short drive away.

On foot versus by car

Dolbadarn Castle and the paths around Llyn Padarn, including the narrow-gauge Llanberis Lake Railway along the northern shore, are walkable from anywhere in the village. Pen-y-Pass, the crags of the Llanberis Pass, and Zip World’s zip lines at Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda all need a short drive, or, for Pen-y-Pass, the Sherpa bus.

Practicalities

There is no railway station in Llanberis. The nearest National Rail station is Bangor, about 9 miles away, linked to the village by a bus that runs every 15 minutes through the day.