Experience the best of Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed lies where the Conwy, Llugwy and Lledr rivers meet, in a wooded valley at the edge of Snowdonia, or Eryri. The stone Pont-y-Pair bridge crosses the Llugwy among boulders, Thomas Telford's cast-iron Waterloo Bridge of 1815 carries the London to Holyhead road, and Victorian painters came by railway to sketch the falls and woods.

Swallow Falls, a few kilometres west on the Llugwy, tumbles down a rocky chasm, and the Fairy Glen on the Conwy is a small gorge. The Gwydir Forest paths climb above the village to lakes and viewpoints, and Capel Curig and the route towards Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, lie west up the valley. Conwy Castle and the coast are a short drive north.

Tea rooms and cafés serve Welsh rarebit, cawl, bara brith and cakes to walkers coming off the hills, and the pubs pour local ales; the Conwy Valley railway still runs up from Llandudno Junction. Rain is frequent, which keeps the falls full and the woods green, and autumn colours the valley in October.