The Llanberis Pass cuts across the heart of northern Snowdonia, dividing mighty Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) from the boulder-strewn Glyderau. It carries the main A4086 road and has a handily placed car park at Pen y Pass, which is the perfect starting point for an ascent of Wales’ highest peak. Unfortunately, everyone knows it. Pen y Pass is notoriously busy, and the car park often hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons. These days, getting a parking space at Pen y Pass in peak season entails pre-booking from 5th April right through to 2nd November. Space is limited to 68 cars, and will cost you between £20 and £40, depending on how many hours you wish to stay.
Fortunately, there is another way. The solution? Simply book yourself a cosy room at the venerable Pen y Gwryd Hotel, which lies on the southern foothills of Snowdon, at the junction of the A498 from Nantgwynant and the A4086 to Pen y Pass. As well as free parking for residents, you can also opt for a wonderfully stodgy five-course dinner, full Welsh breakfast the next morning and a walkers’ packed lunch thrown in too. Then all you need to do is start planning your memorable mountain weekend, with zero hassle guaranteed.
There’s plenty to pick from. From the hotel, an open access trail connects directly to Pen y Pass and the start of the popular Miners’ and Pyg tracks up Snowdon. This 1km trail from the hotel to the car park is completely off-road and much safer than walking along the busy A4086. Of course, in addition to Snowdon itself, the whole of the Glyderau and even Moel Siabod are also in easy reach from Pen y Gwryd, and likely to be much quieter than Snowdon.
However, the P-y-G offers much more than its superb location. For anyone with a love of big mountains, it is a place of pilgrimage. This hotel is where the 1953 Everest team, including Sir Edmund Hillary, stayed while training for their Himalayan expedition. You can see their signatures, along with those of many other illustrious mountaineers, on the ceiling of the Everest Room, on your left as you walk through the front doors of the hotel.
Opposite is the boot room, named for the leather walking boots of varying vintages that are strung from the ceiling. And behind the bar is the residents’ only Smoke Room, which features an alcove of fascinating artefacts brought back from Everest, replete with everything from oxygen bottles to string vests.
The hotel also boasts its own tiny garden sauna, a bracingly chilly natural swimming pool, charming if occasionally brusque service, and archaic plumbing that clanks and gurgles into life should you decide to soak in one of the antiquated but luxurious roll-top baths. In short, staying at the P-y-G is an experience that you will never forget.
The PyG Hotel sits perfectly positioned for some of Snowdonia’s finest walks. You could climb Snowdon via the Pyg Track or Miners’ Path, both starting from nearby Pen y Pass. Alternatively, explore the dramatic Glyderau range, including Tryfan’s famous jumping stones. Or the gentler Llynnau Mymbyr circuit offers stunning reflections of surrounding peaks for easier rambles. Here are some other favourite routes…
This comparatively quiet route into the heart of the Glyderau sets out from behind the Pen y Gwryd, making use of the old miners’ track that snakes up the mountainside to reach the rocky, crested ridge above the pass. Follow it west to bag the two summits of Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, stopping en route to pose on the famous cantilever rock and scramble among the shattered crenellations of Castell y Gwynt. In high season it will be busy up here, but given that most walkers come up from Ogwen, you can soon leave them behind as you work your way down the broad shoulder of Glyder Fawr, with fabulous views towards Crib Goch and the Snowdon horseshoe. To your left, look for the lake of Llyn Cwmffynnon, with the little-visited minor summit of Moel Berfedd perched above. The ground gradually gets boggier as you lose height, but fortunately the path also becomes clearer, eventually terminating at the stile beside the YHA. Then it’s just a case of crossing the A4086 to the car park at Pen y Pass and sauntering along the permissive path beneath the road, back to the reward of a crisp pint and a hot bath at the hotel.
An exposed but exhilarating Grade 1 scramble along arguably the finest and certainly the most famous ridge route in Snowdonia, Crib Goch is widely known, very popular and often frustratingly busy. All too often you’ll be slowed by inexperienced walkers shuffling along the ridge, inch by tortuous inch. This can reduce what should be a memorable day out to a grim ‘once and never again’ experience. To avoid this, plan ahead.
Book into the P-y-G midweek, early on or late in the season. Pray to the mountain weather gods for a dry, calm day and get up early or, if you’re a more experienced scrambler, hold off until early evening. Fortunately, having the hotel as a base ensures you can easily get a good night’s sleep and still be up with the lark or happily while away the afternoon hours in the residents’ lounge before setting out for Pen y Pass. From here, follow the Pyg Track until you reach Bwlch y Moch and look for a low slate sign marked ‘Crib Goch’. The initial climb towards the ridge is a little loose, but you soon get the chance to put hands on rock.
The crossing itself narrows considerably, forcing you to stick to the crest, which is by far the best line to follow. The bravest and most comfortable ridge walkers just stride along the top, but most use the crest as a handrail while moving along just below it on the left-hand side. Don’t forget to take in the staggering views, which rank among the best in Britain. Cross the Pinnacles to reach Bwlch Coch, then on to Garnedd Ugain before you reach the trig pillar at Crib y Ddysgl and ultimately, gain the summit of Snowdon. To complete the horseshoe, descend south east from the summit via Y Lliwedd before following the path down to Llyn Llydaw, where you can pick up the Miners’ Track to return to Pen y Pass.
The view from the window seat of the residents’ lounge in the P-y-G looks out across the manmade trout lake of Llyn Lockwood to lonely Moel Siabod, which rears up, proud and distinct, perfectly framed like a landscape painting. It is an almost irresistible target for a day walk from the P-y-G’s doorstep, and although the route out from here to Siabod’s summit is often thankless and undoubtedly squelchy, it’s the sort of thing that you do simply, as Mallory famously said, ‘because it’s there’.
The walk starts from the stile opposite the hotel, following a faint path that peters out as you climb gradually to a series of rocky outcrops, following a tributary of the Nant y llys. It’s a bit of a slog but try to avoid the boggiest ground – and perhaps take your mind off your wet feet by looking across the valley to jaw-dropping views of Snowdon. At Bwlch Rhiw’r Ychen, where four fences converge, cross the stile and ascend Siabod’s grassy western flanks, following the fence line that rises above Llynnoedd Diwaunydd to Moel Gîd.
The trig pillar that marks the 872m summit of Moel Siabod – the highest point of the Moelwynion range – is further on, with far-reaching views down the spiny ridge of Daear Ddu. Descend past the summit shelter along the summit ridge before heading left to clamber down to the path that leads back into Capel Curig. The going gets easier here, and winds down through forest to emerge at a footbridge to Plas Y Brenin. From here, the Snowdon Sherpa S2 bus route will take you straight back to the Pen y Gwryd.
It might seem a little perverse to stay somewhere within sight of Snowdonia’s most famous 3,000ft-peaks and instead climb a mini mountain that is marked on the Ordnance Survey map at just 482m. But diminutive Moel Berfedd offers far more than its modest spot height suggests. It’s easy to plan a short, brisk circuit straight from the front door of the P-y-G that climbs quickly to the summit, loftily perched above Bwlych y Gwyddel and the busy A4086, before heading down to Pen y Pass and then picking up the very handy footpath that leads pretty much straight back to the hotel.
Leave the P-y-G and cross a stile, then pass through a gate to climb the boggy grass slope. Aim for the stone wall and then veer right slightly to negotiate a craggy section before heading back towards the wall, where there are some small, murky pools. The summit of Moel Berfedd is just over the brow, a unique vantage point that lies at the head of three valleys. But the most impressive landscape features are undoubtedly the hulking Snowdon massif and the dark, brooding Glyderau. Leave the summit and follow a rough ridge, dotted with outcrops and patches of boggy ground. On a clear day, the glassy waters of Llyn Cwmffynnon reflect the crags and clouds above like a giant mirror. Descend to a col and then pick your way downhill to the YHA at Pen y Pass.
The Pen-y-Gwryd is located 4 miles west of Capel Curig on the junction of the A4086 and A498. The nearest train stations are Bangor mainline station or Betws-y-Coed. Book a taxi if travelling via Betws-y-Coed. The Snowdon Sherpa S2, S4 and S6 bus routes also stop at the P-y-G.
Well, obviously – but for the full experience book a room in the main hotel with the shared bathrooms rather than the newer en suite rooms, and don’t miss the three or five course evening meal, served when the dinner gong sounds.
If you can’t stretch to the P-y-G, the YHA hostel at Pen y Pass offers affordable dorm rooms or private rooms, with Mallory’s Restaurant & Bar on site, serving food and drink all day.
