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Anyone got tips for an easy place to spend a night nearby before my triathlon in June? Would probably be just a place to sleep but needs to be bike friendly and could do with somewhere decent to eat with my mate the night before.
We were there in February, the food in The Heights was better than I expected it to be. Not fancy, but decent pub food standard.
I looked a couple of weeks ago and the YHA in llanberis had rooms free. Not sure about a bike store (most of them do) but it would tick the other boxes
Would prefer my own room though 🙂
They do private rooms in most of their hostels even before covid. They havent yet reopened the shared dorms as far as I am aware.
This place was great when we stayed there for the Slateman tri, the run route goes past the bottom of the garden so the rest of the family can cheer / heckle as appropriate.
Only a short walk from transition.
and could do with somewhere decent to eat with my mate the night before.
Have you been to Llanberis before? Anyway. I've stayed at the Lake View Hotel.. About 2 miles outside Llanberis before. It wasn't awful
Have you been to Llanberis before?
Yes, that's why I meant Llanberis 'area' 🙂 I don't mind staying in Bangor or Caernarfon.
Stayed in the Heights years ago and it was perfect for us, had a nice store room for bikes etc.
The Heights still exists? Strewth. I remember when it opened as a private members club. Much more select than the Pad or the Vic. None of those nasty visitors!
Dol Peris is a guest house opposite the heights with its own parking and large en-suite rooms big enough to share with a mate.
Decent to eat? Pete’s Eats!
Pete's Eats has gone downhill imo. Accomodation-wise the heights is v basic. YHA's are always a good bet and I walked past a nice looking hostel in Caernarfon, near the castle.
I think this was it:
https://www.hostelworld.com/pwa/hosteldetails.php/Ty-Glyndwr/Caernarfon/284666?from=2022-04-12&to=2022-04-15&guests=2
Actually stayed in the Travelodge nr Bangor recently and that was an ideal bed for £25.
It's out of town though so local restaurant is Burger King or the Garage!
Friends of mine stayed overnight at The Heights last year on a 2 day out and back. They said it was awful (rooms and food).
Pete’s Eats has gone downhill imo
Its up for sale currently.
Decent to eat? Pete’s Eats!
When I went there in the 90s it was the same greasy spoon stuff as everywhere else but optionally large portions.
Decent to eat? Pete’s Eats!
Pete's Eats has a reputation that has always, always been far from the reality.
Friends of mine stayed overnight at The Heights last year on a 2 day out and back. They said it was awful (rooms and food).
Dunno about rooms, but when we went in February (a weekend in Llanberis in February, it was her idea...) we needed somewhere for lunch and it was basically the only place open that we could take a dog. There was no-one in it apart from us, we expected it to be crap, we were genuinely pleasantly surprised. I had a burger, she had a pizza, both were decent. Not mind-blowing, but very much not rubbish.
Pete’s Eats has a reputation that has always, always been far from the reality.
Hasn't it always been a steamy, middle-ground, climbers'-ish caff with very large mugs aimed primarily at people escaping the endless rain. I'm not sure it's ever had a reputation for anything more than that. I certainly wouldn't be going there in search of fine dining.
Has Llanberis changed a lot in the last ten years? You know, artisan bakeries, cool little coffee shops, alternative therapy hubs and sophisticated wine bars?
middle-ground, climbers’-ish caff with very large mugs aimed primarily at people escaping the endless rain
That's my recollection of the place from a lot of trips there in the 90s/2000s. You could happily wait out the rain there then nip over to the Vivian when it stopped. The large breakfast was too large though. Standard one was the wise move.
We always camped at Nant Peris fwiw. Opposite the pub.
Hasn’t it always been a steamy, middle-ground, climbers’-ish caff with very large mugs aimed primarily at people escaping the endless rain. I’m not sure it’s ever had a reputation for anything more than that.
Well, yeah, it's always been (IME) a very average caff. And theres nothing wrong with that, I'm not a caff-snob, but it has always had an, I dunno, 'status' as something other than a very average caff, which it isn't.
Has Llanberis changed a lot in the last ten years? You know, artisan bakeries, cool little coffee shops, alternative therapy hubs and sophisticated wine bars?
No.
Decent to eat? Pete’s Eats!
Eurk.
As above, Pete's Eats has always been the epitome of branding over substance. It was always the only cafe in llanberis that most people knew the name of and it had "that scene thing" going on. Eg "Haston's comment above about stting there waiting for the rain to stop before nipping over to do the FA of the Dervish.
In reality it was just a base greasy spoon with huge queues, mediocre food and not particularly friendly staff.
But everyone wanted a bit of the legend, so went there.
Has Llanberis changed a lot in the last ten years? You know, artisan bakeries, cool little coffee shops, alternative therapy hubs and sophisticated wine bars?
Mostly not, thank god.
It's a much nicer place though, as much has been spent on the lakefront and basic infrastructure.
There's a lot more places that offer decent, local, well cooked food - Dinorwic Lodge, Y Caban etc......
However, there aren't that many places that cater to the snobbish middle class.
If you really need organic climbing rope, 12 different kinds of coffee and hand - ****ed otter's milk try Abersoch.
There’s quite a few places that offer decent, local, well cooked food.
Not in February there weren't. Although we did have dinner at the Peak, which was good.
It's one of the most exploited, deprived and poorest places in Northern Europe.
It has a huge percentage of second/holiday homes (there are less than 130 permanent residents in Betws, for instance).
In the winter, most people who go are there for the mountains.
In my opinion, it's one of the finest outdoor playgrounds in Britain.
It’s one of the most exploited, deprived and poorest places in Northern Europe.
It has a huge percentage of second/holiday homes
Undoubtedly. And, to be fair, I did think that the place that we were staying in would be better served as a starter home for someone than an AirBnB...
In reality it was just a base greasy spoon with huge queues
The story I often tell is of me and my then partner ordering food, her going to the climbing shop along the high street and trying on and buying some 5:10 and still getting back to Pete's before the food had arrived.
Mostly not, thank god.
It’s a much nicer place though, as much has been spent on the lakefront and basic infrastructure.
For the town at the base of perhaps the most well known mountain in England/Wales that must see half a million visitors a year easily, perhaps more. The general facilities, hotels, restaurants or cafes is pitiful. That the Welsh government or the local council have seemingly done nothing over the years that has had any tangible effect is on Llanberis is shameful frankly
Nothing?
They've fixed the roads, improved all the signage, improved access (paved the lakeside path on the town side this winter) put in more parking and have massively improved the Govt Web presence detailing local walks and activities.
What more do you want them to do?
If you want more places that stay open over winter, then visit over winter and spend money there.
What more do you want them to do?
Support for small business to move there?
put in more parking
So people can park there, and then what? there's nothing to spend cash on in the village apart from the wee co-op/spar (I forget) the climbing shop, and the weird little picture/local arts-farts shop
So people can park there, and then what?
Walk, cycle or climb?
Sure, but when I think of any outdoor place with as much draw as Snowdon nearly all of them don’t have a ghost town. Christ, even if you handed the lot over to the NT they’d make a better fist of it.
Walk, cycle or climb?
And when they've finished their walk, cycle or climb, and fancy a brew and a piece of cake, or something more substantial to eat, or to stay over to do some more walking, cycling the next day, their choices are very limited, which is surprising given it's location.
I'm not trying to beat the place up, like you say, for a long time it's been on it's economic arse. But, if you compare it to other towns in other similarly outdoor-centric places that are a couple of hours from major cities, the choice and facilities are poor. And I get that it's all a bit circular; you have to invest so people will come, and if people come then there's more investment, but it does feel like more could be done.
Eg “Haston’s comment above about stting there waiting for the rain to stop before nipping over to do the FA of the Dervish.
Well, yeah. Haston was right. You can almost see the Vivian drying from Pete's Eats...if you walk round the corner a bit. Yeah, we did that bit of 'legend' stuff too, but didn't nick a knife to protect it. Had RPs - like cheating probably!
Tbh - history, legend... it all played a part when I was building up to do certain routes. Petes Eats was part of that. Same for other climbing caffs all over the country.
Support for small business to move there?
There might already be, perhaps businesses don't want to set up there?
In reality it was just a base greasy spoon with huge queues, mediocre food and not particularly friendly staff.
But everyone wanted a bit of the legend, so went there.
Yeah, but that was the point. It was just part of the experience of being there. There's a lot to be said for slightly awful cafes, the mad notices at the Grindleford caff were magnificent and I had a proper soft spot for the brilliantly hostile old bat who used to run the Edale station caff and hated tourists in a nakedly obvious way. It was like staying on the right side of an unpredictable, growly dog. I found taking the mugs back to the counter went a long way. I once spent 20 mimutes listening to her lamenting the difficulties of getting a washing machine repaired when you live in Edale. With hindsight I suspect she was ironcially quite lonely.
All of which is way off topic. It was a genuine question about Llanberis btw, not been there for years, mostly because bar the location, it always felt depressingly bleak, which seemed a shame.
Yeah maybe, but I’ve looked and it’s 700,000 visitors a year. I can’t believe that there isn’t space for a couple of cafes doing cake and coffee
Sure, but when I think of any outdoor place with as much draw as Snowdon nearly all of them don’t have a ghost town. Christ, even if you handed the lot over to the NT they’d make a better fist of it.
Ffs, it's not a ghost town.
Some people still live and work there, if they can afford it.
Shall we price a few more of them out so we can turn it into a middle class theme park?
And when they’ve finished their walk, cycle or climb, and fancy a brew and a piece of cake, or something more substantial to eat, or to stay over to do some more walking, cycling the next day, their choices are very limited, which is surprising given it’s location.
A quick search finds 27 hotels and hostels in Llanberis or nearby.
How many more would you like?
Yeah maybe, but I’ve looked and it’s 700,000 visitors a year. I can’t believe that there isn’t space for a couple of cafes doing cake and coffee
We stayed in the Lleyn peninsular, last summer, and as we left, my wife said she fancied a coffee. The next place, without diverting into one of the small towns, was the Starbucks outside Dolgellau, 40 miles later. After that it was Aberystwyth, another 32 miles.
I commented on this very forum, that it can't be that difficult for some enterprising local to take advantage of this, and was told that I was condescending. 😀
We genuinely had a shit family holiday in North Wales last year, because of some of the issues mentioned above. My whole family was nagging to go home three days early - that's never happened anywhere else.
There's an empty industrial park in Llanberis, must have been built 20 or so years ago, probably with EU funding. Pristine roads linking up a number of vacant plots ready for units to be built on, sadly they're all empty, and probably will be.
I've often thought Llanberis had a load of untapped potential, try parking there on a Bank Holiday and its absolutely heaving with people, but outside of those times how busy can it be?
700,000 visitors a year busy
Six cafes I can see on Google maps for a town of 2000. How many more do you want?
There’s an empty industrial park in Llanberis, must have been built 20 or so years ago, probably with EU funding.
Are you thinking of the one in Bangor?
We genuinely had a shit family holiday in North Wales last year, because of some of the issues mentioned above. My whole family was nagging to go home three days early – that’s never happened anywhere else.
I'm sorry but it's not Wales coming out badly from that statement. 🤣
@johnnystorm most definitely Llanberis, just above the old ammo store https://www.google.com/maps/place/Llanberis,+Caernarfon/@53.1250767,-4.1425359,653m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4865083adcf9019d:0x661d4ddca71a0d79!8m2!3d53.1180329!4d-4.127549
700,000 visitors a year busy
Some random stat googling..
Compares with 15 million to the Lake District, according to Google. The Museum of Welsh Life (St Fagans) gets 600,000 visitors per year - the most visited (paid?) attraction in Wales!
Also from Google : A hike up Snowdon is a must for those who visit the area, with over 10 million people making a visit to the National Park each year, and 450,00 of those making the ascent to the top of the famous mountain.
Wikipedia says : with 9.39m visitors to Conwy alone in 2018 Another Google stat says: During 2019, there were 87,300,000 tourism day visits in Wales, which was a decrease of 8.8%
I’m sorry but it’s Wales coming out badly from that statement. 🤣
Hey, I'm Welsh and live in Wales. Thankfully not that surly part up there. 😀
There’s an empty industrial park in Llanberis, must have been built 20 or so years ago, probably with EU funding.
Are you thinking of the one in Bangor?
The one behind the Gallt Y Glyn.
Never had a satisfactory answer, though there were rumours of a pumped electric power station initially, then a bike park etc over the years.
The old first hydro visitors centre was supposed to turned into a swimming pool. The local councillors have proposed a pump track, but it looks like it will end up as another privately owned car park.
@pieface
That is poor planning as I was aware of the redundant one in Bangor from around the same time! 🤣
the most visited (paid?) attraction in Wales
It's free.
Bear in mind that Llanberis has nicer places all around, so that could be part of its problem.
The swimming pool not being built is sad, and typical of so many plaes that must have competing demands for small pots of cash. How far would a resident need to travel to go for a swim? It would also be a good money spinner for the tourists on rainy days.
The leisure pool in Keswick is one of the few family things to do when the weather is bad, and its not being refurbished as its not economically viable. I can't understand how a leisure pool and sports pool couldn't fail to make money in either Llabeirs or Keswick.
We genuinely had a shit family holiday in North Wales last year, because of some of the issues mentioned above. My whole family was nagging to go home three days early – that’s never happened anywhere else.
Tell us more about what went wrong...
It’s free.
Of course it is! It's been a few years since I was last there. (They do a mean afternoon tea in the cafe there. I'm guessing that RustySpanner might not approve because it might give some enjoyment to the non-proles. 😀 )
Bear in mind that Llanberis has nicer places all around, so that could be part of its problem.
Sitting on the shore of the lake at Llanberis on a nice is pleasant, and it was good to see that it was being used last year - plenty of people on the water in various ways.