A Day In Betws Y Coed By Bike

The gateway to Snowdonia, Betws-y-Coed is a wonderful town surrounded by woodland, mountains and cascading waterfalls. It is ideal for outdoor activity holidays including walking, cycling and water sports with a great selection of shops, restaurants and cafes and home to the famous Swallow Waterfalls…

A friend and I decided to spend a day in Betws Y Coed by bike; with Swallow falls a 45 minute walk west of the town centre and Fairy Glen a 45 minute walk south, a bike was required! We parked out of town on Ffordd Craigian off the A470 and cycled along the back road into the town centre; this is a lovely bike ride down through a quiet road flanked by trees.

Making a beeline for the Swallowfalls, we followed the road round once we got to the town centre and carried on up the A5 (it’s a little steep) straight to the falls. They are beautiful, mesmerising and when you are there, you understand why they are the most visited waterfalls in the country. There are viewing stands and it’s just lovely to sit and watch the water.

Heading back into town we parked our bikes up so we could have a mooch around the shops. There is a really good selection of outdoor clothing shops, good discounts too. I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the midst of the great outdoors, I love going around these shops and seeing what I might need… I got a hat in the end as more likely to use that that a multi tool for climbing! There is also a good selection gift shops, Anna Davies being the most notible one along with Lechyd Da, a fab deli where you will find a very good range of products, in good packaging too!

Lunchtime! we had walked past the Hangin Pizzaria by the station and apart from the fact I loved the interior, the smell as we had walked past was amazing and they are super pet friendly; it’s quite a good selling point in this neck of woods. Did not disappoint and we left feeling very full.

I had wanted to see the Fairy Glen for a long time and so this was ‘my part’ of the day. We cycled up the A5 (15 mins) and it is easy to find with sign posts. Left our bikes in the car park, paid our £0.50 honesty entry fee and made our way down to the gorge. It was as beautiful as photos show and again, just a very stunning and magical place to be. This didnt take long – 45 mins / an hour max by the time we walked down there, ooh’d and ahhh’d as to what was before us and made our way back up.

Days like this are never completed witout cake; it was another highlight of the day for me! I had heard lots of great things about the Alpine Coffee shop and again it didnt disappoint; I loved the interior, the staff were really friendly and they have a good selection of cakes (and milk for those who may be in need of dietry alternatives). I had elderflower cake topped with cream cheese.

To walk our cake off, we made our way to Pont-y-Pair Bridge and on the left is a wooden gangway that takes you on a walk through the forest along the river, it’s just a really lovely stroll and well worth a visit. Again, you can sit by the bridge on the rocks at the end of the walk and take in the sound of the water and the stunning scenery.

We arrived at 10am and the above filled our day; we left the town centre at around 4.30pm and back at the car for 5pm. Our day was very much centered around the natural beauty of the area which, in all honesty, if you have never seen it, you should make the effort to; it is really very beautiful. There are many things you can do in and around the area which are listed on another post I wrote about Betws Y Coed; SNOWDONIA INFORMATION PACK | BETWS Y COED