The Royal Victoria Hotel Snowdonia
This well-established hotel sits near the foot of Snowdon, between the Peris and Padarn lakes.…
Our View
Cwm Idwal was the first National Nature Reserve to be created in Wales in 1954, and is one of the finest places to see how glacial processes have shaped the Snowdonia landscape. The slopes of the magnificent amphitheatre (or cwm) are home to rare arctic-alpine plants at the southern extremities of their range in Britain. These include purple saxifrage, starry saxifrage, moss campion, Welsh poppy, globe flower and the rare Snowdon lily. On the screes parsley fern grows, while on the ridges tough plants like dwarf willow and stiff sedge survive in the harsh, exposed conditions. A variety of butterflies and moths, including the marsh fritillary and the netted carpet moth, are found, and Cwm Idwal and Snowdonia also has its own beetle – the Snowdon or rainbow leaf beetle. Upland birds in spring include wheatear and ring ouzel, while the raven, chough and peregrine falcon frequent the crags throughout the year. Mammals include brown hare, fallow deer, badgers, foxes, and the elusive pine marten and polecat, and there are several well-established herds of feral goats.
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Discover Gwynedd
The county of Gwynedd is home to most of the Snowdonia National Park – including the wettest spot in Britain, an arête running up to Snowdon’s summit that receives an average annual rainfall of 4,473mm. With its mighty peaks, rivers and strong Welsh heritage (it has the highest proportion of Welsh-speakers in all of Wales), it’s always been an extremely popular place to visit and live. The busiest part is around Snowdon; around 750,000 people climb, walk or ride the train to the summit each year.
Also in Gwynedd is the Llyn Peninsula, a remote part of Wales sticking 30 miles out into the Irish Sea. At the base of the peninsula is Porthmadog, a small town linked to Snowdonia by two steam railways – the Welsh Highland Railway and the Ffestiniog Railway. Other popular places are Criccieth, with a castle on its headland overlooking the beach, Pwllheli, and Abersoch and the St Tudwal Islands. Elsewhere, the peninsula is all about wildlife, tranquillity, and ancient sacred sites. Tre’r Ceiri hill fort is an Iron Age settlement set beside the coastal mountain of Yr Eifl, while Bardsey Island, at the tip of the peninsula, was the site of a fifth-century Celtic monastery.
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