ATTRACTIONS: Snowdonia from Borth-y-Gest

For the visitor coming here for the first time, you will find our harbour village is a sleepy backwater, nestling on the shores of the Glaslyn Estuary.

You will find views across the estuary to majestic mountain ranges; lovely sandy beaches and coves hugging the shoreline below breathtaking cliffs.

The village is ideal for both young and old and attracts many people who like to walk along its gentle winding paths, criss-crossing along scenic coastal cliff tops and diverting into cool shady woodlands. Also, many people enjoy a relaxing stop on the beaches, to rest and enjoy the sun.

Borth-y-Gest sits at the gateway to the Snowdonia National Park with its variety of activities. From walking through low level wooded valley to high level mountain passes, all designed from the beginner to the advanced walkers, to climbing.

From gentle rock faces to serious mountain terrain, rambling, taking scenic walks through wooded valleys, gentle slopes of the lower mountains and along cliff paths with magnificent views wherever you are of mountain and sea. Cycling, which is becoming a very popular activity throughout the park, with many of its forest areas laid down with special cycling tracks especially for this.

And whether beginner or experienced there is always help and advice on hand from expert guides.

The park offers magnificent views, spectacular waterfalls, babbling brooks to swift flowing glacial rivers, serene lakes orcraggy mountain outcrops. All to a backdrop of the Snowdonia Mountain ranges.

Small narrow gauge railways take you to the mountain summit or meander through beautiful valleys and gentle mountain ranges, taking in pretty villages, scenic waterfalls, tranquil reservoirs. All at a pace which has long since been forgotten.

This pace is reflected throughout your stay as you leave the hub-bub of the city behind and unwind to become apart of the rural community.

Many of Snowdonia's attractions include the renowned Sygun Copper Mine, at Beddgelert. Come and see how the men used to work, in cramped, cold and dark conditions. A running commentary offers a true insight to the hardships they had to endure.

You start at ground level and meander up through the mine tunnels and stairwells to emerge halfway up the mountain from where you can make you way down the gentle walkways to the bottom. On your way down why not go panning for gold just like they would have done in olden days.

The Welsh Slate Museum at Llanberis offers you an insight to how the slate is produced and worked. See the newly renovated slate workers cottages, which have been transported stone by stone and put back together from a nearby slate village. Look inside and see how they lived from day to day, all set out during three decades of time. I don't think we could live like it today.

See the tools and equipment they used. See the new age use for the slate in the workings for slate place names and pictures inscribed and coloured onto the slate. See them being produced and orders can be placed while you are there.

Travel on the small narrow gauge railway that runs along the side of Lake Padarn. Take in the views of Snowdon and its sister peaks. Why not take a picnic lunch to have beside the lake? Or stop at one of the trains halts on its journey and have your picnic at a shady nook also on the shores of the lake.

Don't forget the slate miners hospital, clinging to the side of the mountain above the lake. See the gruesome medical implements used at the turn of the last century, and before. The poor inmates were lucky to come out of there alive let alone in one piece. And to think this hospital was still in operation in the 1950's.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway takes you through lovely countryside as you climb up and up passing by waterfalls and glacial lakes, craggy outcrops, until you meet its summit and feel you are 'standing on top of the world'. Remember to write and send a post card from the highest post box in Wales.

On a good clear day take in the views across the Irish Sea to the Black Mountains of Ireland. Look north and see the rugged coastline of Scotland.

Look inland to the borderlands and England and of course coastal and land views of Wales. If you are planning a trip up to the summit of Mount Snowdon it is advisable to pick a day when the weather forecast says it is going to be a clear day. Because if the day is not perfectly clear, you can find yourself in a cloudbank and unable to appreciate the fantastic views from the top.

It is also advisable when visiting the summit that you take a jumper or light jacket with you. The temperature at the top can be remarkably cold, even when the temperature at the bottom is unbearably hot. When staying with us, if you are here for a few days, then it can be advisable to book your trip ahead to ensure that you will have a place on a train.

If you leave the planning and go straight to the station you can be disappointed because all the seats are full, due to the large amount of tourists around. You can even book your ticket from home if you so wish to save time when you arrive. Booking is advisable so as not to be disappointed

Back in Llanberis why not drop off at Electric Mountain visitors centre and see how our electricity is made using hydro-electric power, then hop on a tour bus to the dam. Go inside and a guided tour will take you through the works and into the heart of the dam, inside the mountain. Certainly a tour not to be missed.

Travel to Betws-y-coed and take in the famous Swallow Falls. Walk right to the edge of the waterfall, down walkways from its top to its bottom where you can experience its misty spray as it tumbles and falls over rocks down the mountain. Go down into the town and follow the signs for the fairy glen, where seen on a sunny day, it appears mystical and dreamlike as the sun dapples and plays through the woodland.

The Ffestiniog Railway starts on the quayside in Porthmadog, where in the 19th and 20th centuries slate was transported by train from the mines high in the mountains to be shipped out to the four corners of the world.

The railway crosses the 'cob', a feat of engineering by William Maddocks, who constructed the causeway to drain the lands and create Porthmadog and Tremadog. The train trundles across giving you magnificent views of Snowdon, Cnicht and the Rhinnog mountains, and out along the harbour to the estuary and the open sea beyond.

You sedately travel through small pretty villages, to open green valleys and through wooded mountain sides to Blaenau Ffestiniog 10 miles away. The Ffestiniog railway alights here from its journey from Porthmadog.

The narrow gauge railway was rebuilt by volunteers in the 1960's and is maintained and run also by them. You can combine your train trip with a tour of Llechwedd Slate Caverns also in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Llechwedd is at the latter end of the village and can be reached by bus or on foot.

There are two mine tours; the first to its deep mine, way underground. Here you travel by train and wind your way through the old tunnel workings and into gigantic caverns with their deep lakes, all highlighted with a superb light show making the experience seem mystic and mythical.

The other tour takes you to the top of the mine to where the men can be seen cutting the slate to make roofing, as all the houses in North Wales have slate roofs made from slate mined within the local area. See their old homes and the old and new style mining equipment.

Tickets for going on the Ffestiniog railway can also be booked in advance by telephoning: 01766 516 024

Why not enquire about the steam train driving days? Here you can book a day's tuition and actually take the controls and drive and engine. A must for the steam enthusiast.

There is also the slate caverns at Llanfair, near Harlech where some of the filming of First Knight was made. These are quite deep mine workings andt you descend through the tunnels by stairwells cut into the rock.

Portmerrion is an unusual village based loosely on Italian architecture, famous for its pottery and glass wear, and also the cult television program 'The Prisoner'.

Portmerrion is quaint and relaxing, set in tranquil surroundings and gardens, with lovely sandy bathing beaches. There are a number of woodland walks, meandering through acres of land. See the ghost garden, where when the wind blows through the undergrowth makes it seem very spooky, or the dog cemetery, to name but a few attractions.

It has quirky little shops and restaurants. Book a table at either the Hotel or Castle Deudraeth for lunch or dinner and enjoy first class food served by warm and friendly staff: a true taste of opulence.

See the castles of Harlech, Criccieth and Caemarfon, where Prince Charles was invested by the Queen as Prince of Wales, Beaumaris & Conway, all built by Edward the 1st to uphold his position in Wales, on the seaward side.

Borth-y-Gest offers you a good central base for exploring these and many more sights and attractions too numerous to elaborate on.

We hope this had whet your appetite to come and explore this unspoilt part of Wales, in a truly memorable holiday, to which you will return again and again.

But if all these attractions seem a little hectic, then take to the beaches at Borth-y-Gest, or Black Rock Sands, at Morfa Bychan, and just soak up the sun and refresh in the clear sea, before you return to Velog.

When you come to stay at Velog you will receive one of the warmest greetings in Wales. With excellent home cooking, in a relaxing, peaceful atmosphere

The house is spacious and fully centrally heated, and sympathetically maintained to a very high standard. Come and experience the splendour of North Wales from Velog, and just see why our visitors return.