Sorry I'm not going to be much help but I thought I'd get you started by saying we visited here briefly all of 28 years ago on our Honeymoon I don't remember much about the village but it's very close to Caernarvon, which has a beautiful ancient castle where Prince Charles was inaugarated as The Prince of Wales.

Hi
I have never stayed in Beddgelert but I regularly drive from South to North Wales and this is where I make my comfort stop
Plenty of B&Bs and a couple of hotels and cafe/restaurants (River Garden was nice last time) and the most fab Ice Cream parlour (Glaslyn - its my reason for pushing on for my break )
Its a busy place in the day - quiet at night as most people base thmseves for walking holidays etc
Beautiful on a sunny day but take a good mac!!
HTH
Lally

Thanks for that Lally.

We have managed to book a lovely cottage for a week with a river running past at the back.

We too will be driving up from South Wales to North Wales. How did you find the journey? Any tips to offer?

regards,

Pete

Hi Pete
Where are you setting off from ?
I leave from Swansea going to Bangor and prefer the Aberystwyth (missing Aberaeron by going the Llandewi Brefi and Tregaron way), Porthmadog, Caernarfon route but most of my colleagues prefer mid Wales ie Builth, Rhayador route
My only tip really is that it takes much longer than you think it will (around 4 hours from Swansea to Beddgelert) l and beware logging trucks and caravans
I made the mistake of flying up from Cardiff to RAF Valley about 8 weeks ago
18 seater and great going up - BUT cancelled on return so 8 hours on a coach back to Cardiff in the dark
Almost forgave the caravans ...
Lally

Lally,

Thanks for that. Good advice. We will be leaving from the Caerphilly area. I wonder which way the Satnav will go.

I was given a satnav for Xmas and I have to say that they are pretty useless around my area to use. They take you via small dangerous and narrow country lanes etc!

cheers,

Pete

We went there a couple (more like ten) years ago and really loved the place.

We had the advantage of a beautiful day though. Along the river is the dog's grave after which the village is named.

Plenty of photo's on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Beddgelert

Gelerts grave photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrdehoot/141270570/

Many thanks for that site with the pics on-- fantastic! I actually an oldish pic of the cottage we have arranged to rent for the week. It is the end one overlooking the river. That pic was taken in 2007 and I have seen more recent ones that have it cleaned up a bit and a nice decking area at the back with tables and chairs overlooking the river.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatsqueaky/3166734781/

cheers,

Pete

We`ve driven through the village several times, regretfully we`ve never stopped, it`s always been at a time when hubby was wanting to "get back"! It`s a pretty village, in the beautiful area of Snowdonia, a drive and/or a wander through the m ountains is a definite must.

My wife and I had the misfortune to eat at this place on our last evening in Beddgelert. The food was very poor and extremely overpriced.
I had the Mushroom and Peppers stroganoff. The peppers were sliced with a razor blade and the mushrooms were small and overcooked. I had only a few strands of thinly sliced red pepper. I chose it because it was on the 'specials' board. I paid £9.95 for it which was basically a thick soup with some mushrooms. No-one came to check if our meal was OK. My wife had the 'Gelert grill'. Again very poor. The so called grilled chicken tasted like dry processed chicken. Sausage was deep fried in oil as was the bacon. Honesty, for £9.95 as well. On a plus side the chips were OK.
Please don't waste your time and money eating in there. They obviously take holidaymakers for granted.
They even have the audacity to charge for using a debit/credit card!! What restaurant, worth it's salt, does that?!
Sitting outside they have metal chairs. There are about 30 odd chairs but they only have about 6 cushions for them. They really do NOT understand customer service at all!
The chips looked OK. In lieu of the vegetables(peas and carrots) and chips I asked if I could have something else as I am a diabetic and cutting out carbohydrates and root veg. In return they gave me a very very sad excuse for a salad. Very small portion indeed. In fact there was more diced red pepper in that than in my Mushroom and peppers stroganoff!!

But did you enjoy your holiday overall?

Yes, we had a truly fabulous time even if it was tainted by our 'last supper'! We actually stayed in Beddgelert in an old slate miners cottage right on the edge of the river. We had great weather-- which obviously helps in that part of the world!
We were never bored- always plenty to see and do. I am slightly restricted to doing really long, strenuous walks. I am only firing on one cyclinder. My left lung was sealed during my cancer treatment.

The highlight for my wife and I was taking the Snowdon Railway train to the top of Mt Snowdon. The new cafe had opened up a couple of months ago and is wonderful. Such spectacular views. We even decided to walk back down. Took us 4 hours as had to stop a few times etc but we did it and I am glad we did! Wasn't easy.
The Sygon Copper Mine just outside Beddgelert was also well worth a visit.

We also went on the Ffestinog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog. A great rail journey and not to be missed.

The drive or bus ride from Beddgelert to Llanberis for Mt Snowdon must be one of the most scenic routes in the UK- breathtaking!

The Welsh Highland railway is nearing completion and will soon run all the way from Caernarfon to Porthamdog to connect with the Ffestiniog Railway and British rail trains. At the moment it just goes to Beddgelert. It is a great steam railway journey. Went to Caernarfon by it and reurned by the little sherpa bus.

We also took the British rail train from Porthmadog to Barmouth along the wonderfully scenic Cambrian Coast. We got off at the station after Barmouth at Morfa Mawddach. It is a request stop so ask the guard to stop there for you. It is just across the estuary from Barmouth and you can walk back to Barmouth across the bridge. It is a wonderful walk. It is a 'toll bridge' and you have to pay 70p!! Barmouth itself is well worth a visit a lovely small resort. We also went to Llandudno by 'trains' of all sorts. Another resort well worth a visit.

There are many walks to be had in and around Beddgelert as well. Beddgelert is such a pretty little village with some good pubs as well. Pity about Lyn's Cafe!!!!

I would thoroughly recommend staying in Beddgelert. Most people are friendly in the predominantly Welsh speaking village. No cash machines in the village and no newsagent either. Also there is no signal for mobile phones-- which I found to be a blessing in disguise! There is a post office and a general store and a few souvenir sort of places. My wife loved the ice cream parlour there as well.

If the weather had not been so good it could have been alot different but who knows. Personally we are thinking of returning for a short break during the winter.

We will return!

Pete

Sounds lovely. However, must agree to disagree with you about Barmouth, we just didn`t care for the place. We stayed at a tiny place called Llanfair, near Harlech, in a lovely cottage on a farm, which I`d readily recommend.

http://www.hengaeau-farmcottage.co.uk

Surprised you did not like Barmouth. Did you write a review of it? Did you manage to walk across the toll bridge and enjoy those fantastic views? A definite for me that. Just going to Barmouth to do that is well worth the effort.

Personally, I would not stay in a place that is too isolated and where one has to use the car. In Beddgelert you have choices of trains,buses and ,of course, the car and without forgetting the walks.

I also forget to mention the Osprey viewing hide that we managed to visit just outside Tremadog, a couple of miles from Beddgelert. The only Ospreys in Wales. A family of three. The three young were waiting to fledge. Such a magnificent sight. Run by the RSPB.

No, we didn`t walk over the toll bridge, we had our disabled daughter with us, we just didn`t like Barmouth. Our cottage wasn`t THAT isolated, but we did have to use the car, apart from short walks locally. One of OUR favourite places in Snowdonia is Betws-y-coed, a beautiful village, and we did go to Llanberis to ride the train up Snowdon, but the train wasn`t going more than halfway that day because of weather conditions, so that`s a treat for the future.

Hi Pete
Glad you had a good time
I once had a "breakfast" in the place you mentioned - never again! Glad your wife liked the ice cream tho
Lally

Hi Lally,

Terrible place that Lyn's Cafe- the more the word is spread about that place the better. They take holidaymakers for granted and places like that should not be tolerated in my view. Anyway, that was the only bad experience during a fabulous week.

We will definitely return and hope that we will be lucky with the weather again. They really have thought about 'transport' in that part. The 'Sherpa' buses are so good. Also when we return the Welsh Highland Railway will run all the way from Caerfarfon to Porthmadog.

One thing we didn't do was to visit the Golden Fleece pub in Tremadog on a Tuesday evening. Apparently the locals from the area get together and have a 'jam' session in the pub. I bet that is a good evening! We were just too tired in the evenings and just sat out on the small decking area of our cottage overlooking the river and drank the odd glass of wine or two! I really miss it all now!!

Pete