This year Graig Wen is taking part in Wales’s Year of Adventure: a celebration of the wide range of adventure experiences this great country has to offer, with its outstanding natural landscapes and rich and distinctive culture.
Wales is fast becoming one of the UK’s leading adventure capitals: Right here in Snowdonia you can fly by zip wire at 100mph above a slate quarry or go surfing – not just in the sea – but in the world’s first inland surf lagoon. Scale a waterfall or bounce on the world’s largest underground trampoline. Our mountain bike centre, at Coed-y-Brenin is one of the best in the world – you can hire bikes there for all ages and abilities there, including hand bikes. On our coast, rivers and lakes you can paddleboard and kayak as well as raft at the National Whitewater Centre near Bala.
Here on our doorstep in Snowdonia National Park you can gallop horses along our local beach. We have stunning mountains like Cadair Idris just behind us and coastline offering both challenging walks, hikes and bike rides for all ages, all abilities. Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, is just under an hour away.
Adventure travel in Wales also means much more than adrenaline – it means discovering new and unusual places, watching wildlife, and stargazing in our new Snowdonia Dark Sky reserve. Cregennan Lakes, one of the best locations for star-gazing in Britain, is just up the hill from Graig Wen – how about taking a trip up there for a midnight star-gazing feast?
You can watch dolphins and red kites, forage for edible foods, and decamp to celebrations like the award-winning Festival Number 6 at Portmerion – there’s nowhere else like it.
Take a 2,000 year journey through time from the Romans to cosmopolitan, modern-day Wales. Not far from here there’s an astounding ancient stone circle, hill forts and a Roman amphitheatre you can find with a bit of advice and a good map. And then there are all those castles to discover – including 3 World heritage castles close by at Harlech, Caernarfon and Beaumaris.
Maybe the biggest adventure for our younger guests will be crabbing off Barmouth Quay – like young Ernie in the photo!
So whatever your idea of adventure and ability, we guarantee you’ll find a fun and fantastic challenge here in Snowdonia!