Cambrian Way 3 day trip - campsites and things to see

[SlightlyDisturbed]

With a shiny new van, a reasonable weather forecast, and a long weekend, Mrs Disturbed and I are planning on heading into Wales to drive the Cambrian Way this weekend.

The route is looking broadly as follows

Pontypridd
Brecon
Llanidloes
Dolgellau
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Betws-y-Coed
Llandudno
Colwyn Bay

The current plan is to drive from Herts to Pontypridd on Friday evening - arriving around 7:30ish - and pitch up somewhere for a quick overnight; Saturday, a gentle bimble from Pontypridd, via Brecon up to somewhere in the middle of the route; Sunday spent in and around Snowdonia, finally on Monday head towards Llandudno & Colwyn Bay before heading back down to Herts in the late afternoon.

Any recommendations on sites and things to see, places to eat, etc. en route (accepting that 3 days is not enough time to appreciate fully).

 

[Kind of Blue]

I can not recommend sites, I do not use them. Plenty of lovely countryside, rivers wooded valleys and slopes mountain moorlands. Some lovely B roads away from the A470 if you become bored with it. It really depends in what you are looking for. Some of the townships mentioned can become busy any time of the year. Historical castles away from your intended route perhaps not your thing but worth visiting if it is. Have a great outing I hope it goes well for you, weather should be good.

 

[SlightlyDisturbed]

Thanks, we're self-sufficient, so happy to go off the beaten track. Castles, streams and mountains are definitely on the list

 

[Kind of Blue]

Streetmap.co.uk have maps at a number of scales including OS mapping. They are a little old and might show some things like pubs that are no more. However they give a very detailed look at the country. Worth having a brief look in advance perhaps to see what might be of interest. I do not think that they are able to be saved or not I only look at them at home but I could so easily buy the whole UK OS mapping in paper they are so interesting to me and show phenomenal detail as I am sure that you know. Perhaps cheaper and more convenient to way is download onto some sort of device from OS I guess.

 

[Craig B]

Hello Croeso I Gymru, welcome to Wales when you get here, enjoy the scenery on your Bimble around this great Principality

Cymru am Byth

Craig

 

[SlightlyDisturbed]

Well, we're back. We'd done a bit of South Wales in the past and knew that the scenery was fantastic; however, this was our first time heading into the Brecons and northwards. All I can say is Holy S**t, what an absolutely stunning drive, every bend in the road revealed the most amazing views, Eryi National Park is one of the most beautiful parts of the world I've been to - I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit.

We pretty much followed our basic itinerary avoiding the main road as much as we could, pitching up at a very basic site on Friday evening after the motorway run, then heading off fairly early on Saturday pointed very roughly towards the Elan Valley area; taking random turns whenever something caught our interest (with me stopping every 10 minutes to take photos of the van )

Saturday saw us pitch up at a beautiful site in the Elan Valley (next to a very lovely Indium Grey 4motion Kombi (a member on here, I believe!) and a walk up to the visitor centre and Elan village.

Sunday was more of the same - heading in to the heart of the Eyri National Park, mrs Disturbed took us on a gentle walk to view a(nother) waterfall - I do love a waterfall - which turned in to a mammoth hike up up what felt like the North Face of the Eiger, followed by an amazing Sunday lunch and a (well deserved) pint in a random village overlooking a river. We finally arrived at our last overnight, a few miles from Betws y Coed, after many, many u-turns as we'd spotted something new to go and have a nosey at.

Today was an earlyish start, heading first to the Ugly House tea rooms for breakfast, then on to Llandudno and Colwyn before sitting in traffic on the A55 to come home.

 

[Kind of Blue]

I am happy that you enjoyed your visit.

 

[Bav]

You couldn't move for Bank Holiday tourists, I see.

 

[MorkC68]

That looks a cracking road trip!