THE BEST PLACES FOR FAMILIES TO STAY IN SNOWDONIA

Planning a family trip to SNOWDONIA and wondering where to stay with your children? The following list of our favourite places to stay with kids, reviewed in the order you’d encounter them on our Snowdonia itinerary, includes converted cattle barns and traditional Welsh cottages, a vintage fairground caravan and a historic Youth Hostel at the foot of Snowdon. Accommodation can fill up fast during school holidays, particularly if you’re looking for a family room, so make sure you book well in advance.

You can reserve all of our recommended places to stay in Snowdonia through Booking.com; clicking on the hotels’ name below will take you directly to their booking page, where you can fill in your dates and secure your stay. To find out more about why we’ve partnered with Booking.com, see here.

A tastefully furnished two-bedroom holiday home in Llanberis, SNOWDON SNUG makes a lovely retreat after a busy day rambling round the surrounding mountains. Cosy but light, the house is in a quiet, residential part of this busy tourist village, less than half a mile from the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the start of the Llanberis Path up Snowdon. Bedrooms are on the small side – it’s not called Snowdon Snug for nothing – but they can still easily sleep 4 people in a double bed and two bunk beds, and the lack of wardrobe space has been cleverly side-stepped with the provision of hanging rails. The well-equipped kitchen-diner has all the amenities you’ll need for a short break, with a gas oven, microwave and fridge-freezer, and there are impressive mountain views from the L-shaped sofa in the living room, which also has flat-screen cable TV and a DVD player. There’s a small back garden, but Lyn Padarn lake is just a short stroll downhill, where you can poke around the ruins of Dolbadarn Castle, built by Llywelyn the Great in the 13th century to protect the kingdom of Gwynedd. And the village is well located for accessing Caernarfon, Pen-y-Pass and Bethesda, for a ride on the world’s longest zip line; Snowdon Snug has (free) private parking. Staying in Llanberis also means you’re within walking distance of plenty of restaurants and pubs, and the village is a good place to stock up on outdoor gear, too, with half a dozen shops on and around the High Street.

To reserve your stay at Snowdon Snug, click here

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On the eastern edge of Snowdonia, SIABOD is a newly restored 17th-century cottage that has come a long way since its original use as a shippon, or cattle barn. The cosy lounge has a couple of comfy leather sofas, a flat-screen TV and DVD player, but you’ll probably spend as much time in the lovely and light farmhouse kitchen-diner, with its flagstone flooring and chunky oak table. The range of mod-cons in here includes an electric oven, hob and microwave, American-style fridge-freezer, dishwasher and integrated washer-dryer – everything you’d need for a break in the mountains. The two en-suite bedrooms sleep 4 people in a wrought-iron king-size bed and two singles; there’s a roll-top bath in the double room and a shower in the twin. The cottage as a whole is cute and colourful, including lots of nice little touches like fresh flowers in the kitchen and bedrooms, and local goodies on arrival. It’s located in the grounds of a country house but has its own garden and patio (with BBQ), from where you can soak up views of the nearby mountains. Siabod is self-catering, but as it’s set on a small holding – sheep, cows and free-range chickens and ducks graze and scratch around in the surrounding fields – you can collect your own eggs for breakfast. The cottage is in Capel Garmon, 2 miles from Betws-y-Coed, a popular gateway to the national park (and the same distance from Zip World Fforest), and 13 miles from Pen-y-Pass, for climbing Snowdon itself. Siabod is normally a three-night minimum stay but the owners will occasionally offer two-night minimum stays if availability allows.

To reserve your stay at Siabod, click here

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With so many outdoor activities on offer across the national park, it’s not surprising that the YOUTH HOSTEL ASSOCIATION (YHA) has nine separate properties in and around Snowdonia. In many ways, they’re the perfect choice for an active family holiday: well located, geared up for hitting the trails, and with a range of good-value rooms, especially for larger families. Enjoying one of the most spectacular settings of any hostel, at the foot of Snowdon and surrounded by mountains, YHA SNOWDON PEN-Y-PASS occupies a mountaineers’ inn that was built in the 1870s. Rooms have been recently revamped and are modern but snug, with a choice of private rooms that sleep from 3 to 6 people in various combinations of doubles, singles and – the childhood favourite – bunkbeds. Some rooms are completely en suite, others have their own bathrooms with private or shared toilets just outside the door. Public spaces such as the self-catering kitchen and drying room remain closed due to COVID-19, but there is normally a buzzy, convivial vibe about the place, aided by the friendly staff, with walkers excitedly preparing for the day or celebrating with a pint in Mallory’s Bar, named after the Everest-conquering climber who practiced in these peaks. With two of the paths to Snowdon’s summit starting from just outside the door, it’s a busy spot (book well in advance) and parking can be tricky; there’s free parking for four or five cars in a lay-by in front of the hostel, and paid parking in the National Park car park opposite, although this can fill up quickly. A good option for exploring southern Snowdonia, the more basic YHA KINGS is set on the slopes of Cadair Idris, 4.5 miles southwest of Dolgellau. It’s currently open on an exclusive-hire basis only, due to COVID-19, but normally offers private en-suite rooms for 4, 5 or 6 people. The Mawddach Trail runs through Penmaenpool, just 2 miles away, and the mountain-bike centre at Coed-y-Brenin is also within easy reach. There’s no TV or mobile-phone signal at either hostel, making them good places for a family digital detox, although both do have (intermittent) wi-fi (available for a fee at Kings).

To reserve your stay at YHA Snowdon Pen-y-Pass, click here

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Finding a good B&B when you’ve got children in tow can be tricky, but there are several great options for families at welcoming COED CAE. Located in the rambling village of Taicynhaeaf, 3.5 miles from Dolgellau, the traditional Welsh cottage has just three rooms, the pick of which is the generous family suite on the first floor. This comes with an en-suite bathroom and shower, a TV and DVD player, tea- and coffee-making facilities and, for cold autumnal nights, hot-water bottles, and sleeps 4 people in a double and two (large) single beds set either side of a stone fireplace. Bigger families (of up to 6) can also take the adjacent en-suite twin room – the two rooms are on their own corridor, which leads off the guest lounge and can be locked. Guests staying at the B&B can order a packed lunch and flask of coffee or hot chocolate, as well as excellent two- or three-course evening meal, where everyone sits down together to eat; a hearty, locally sourced breakfast (the granola and jams are home-made, the eggs come from the chickens next door) is included in the price. For something a bit more unusual, a lovingly converted 1950s fairground caravan sits in its own enclosed paddock within Coed Cae’s wooded grounds. The centrally-heated “ShowMan’s Wagon” sleeps up to 4 in a double bed, a fold-out single and a Pod-e micro-caravan just outside. The colourful kitchen-diner is full of characterful touches (bunting, fairground signs, wallpaper made from old circus posters) and there’s also a lounge, galley kitchen, bathroom and separate bedroom. Outside seating is in a vintage Waltzer Chair by way of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. All in all, this is the perfect spot for enjoying southern Snowdonia. Coed Cae overlooks the Mawddach Estuary – the Mawddach Trail (and the George III pub) are a 15-minute walk away, across an old wooden toll bridge – and it’s 6 miles to Barmouth and, in the other direction, 10.5 miles to the start of the Minffordd Path up Cadair Idris.

To reserve your stay at Coed Cae, click here

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Looking very plush after a stylish revamp, the GEORGE III hotel in Penmaenpool enjoys a fantastic setting on the very edge of the beautiful Mawddach Estuary. It was built in 1650 as a ships chandlery, supplying sail-cloth, tar, rope and tools to the local boat-building industry, before being transformed into a hotel. There are six rooms in the main part of the building, one of which is a spacious Family Room, which is comprised of two connecting rooms – one with a double bed, the other a fold-out double sofa bed – that can sleep 4 people, and an en-suite bathroom. There’s a large flat-screen television, plus tea- and coffee-making facilities with fresh milk. In the adjacent lodge, itself a conversion of what was once Penmaenpool’s train station and the old Station Master’s house, is another room that can sleep 3 people in a king-size bed and single sofa bed. This room can also take a four-legged friend [£10 dog charge per night]. Rates include an excellent cooked breakfast, and you can have lunch and/or dinner at the pub’s restaurant, which serves a seasonal menu of local produce such as Welsh lamb burger, smoked haddock and chickpeas, and steaks from Brongain Farm in Llanfechain, and has lovely panoramic views across the estuary. The George III is well run and the super helpful staff are great with children. It also makes a great base for exploring the surrounding area – the hotel is literally sat on the Mawddach Trail, numerous walks lead off from the front door or you’re about 15 minutes’ drive from the start of the Minfford Path up Cadair Idris, and it’s just 50 yards or so to the wooden toll bridge heads across the water to connect with the road to Barmouth.

To reserve your stay at the George III, click here

For more images of the George III, see Booking.com