24 hours in Snowdonia

Tuesday 15th April 2025

Readers may recall an Explore Wales trip I did with my brother last September when we missed out on a planned journey on the lovely Sherpa’r Wyddfa branded route S1 through Llanberis and a ride on the Conwy Valley railway line from Betws-y-Coed to Llandudno Junction due to a late running arrival into Caernarfon from Pwllheli on route 12 missing a connection.

We put that right on a return visit to North Wales at the end of last week by spending a wonderful 24 hours in glorious sunny weather exploring the Snowdonia National Park by bus and train making sure my brother hadn’t missed out on enjoying this fantastic part of the country.

We arrived at Bangor railway station at 12:22 on the first direct Avanti West Coast train from Euston at a handy 09:00 off-peak departure bound for Holyhead. It was a very pleasant journey and, unlike I’d noticed from ‘realtimetrains’ on the previous few days, arrived into Bangor spot on time. Even better, a speed restriction through Purley which meant our Thameslink train from Sussex to Cambridge arrived into St Pancras 16 minutes late at 08:46 didn’t prevent our catching it thanks to a vigorous and brisk walk over to Euston.

The ten coach train (two new five coach Class 805s – 805008 and 805009 -coupled together with the rear five coach unit – 805009 – terminating at Chester) was lightly loaded too.

We walked the short distance from Bangor’s railway station to the bus station where Arriva still maintain a staff facility in the former travel shop….

… although quite a few bus routes are now run by other bus companies, and caught the 12:33 departure on route S3 heading for Caernarfon via Bethel and on to Beddgelert.

The route and timetable had changed slightly from the previous weekend with the few journeys which commence in Bangor running via Tesco’s large superstore in the town rather than the station but still double run to serve the hospital making for a bit of a convoluted exit from Bangor but we only had one other passenger on board who alighted near Bethel.

A change of drivers in Caernarfon saw the new driver bring on board a welcome supply of the very attractive bilingual brochure for the Sherpa’r Wyddfa (formerly Snowdon Sherpa) network…

… with a very clear and easy to understand map as well as timetables for all the S lettered services.

Having picked up three passengers returning home from Caernarfon (one of whom travelled just a few stops locally) we headed south eastwards on the gorgeously scenic route to Beddgelert where we and the two passengers alighted.

Connections between terminating S3 journeys with buses on route S4 passing through between Porthmadog and Pen-y-Pass are conveniently timed in the delightful popular tourist hotspot village of Beddgelert…

… but we decided to take advantage of the S4 running on its school holiday hourly frequency, rather than term time two-hourly, to spend an hour in the village…

… and soak up the charm Beddgelert offers.

After that rather lightly loaded S3 journey it was also rather sad our next journey on the S4 at 15:00 from Beddgelert to Pen-y-Pass ran empty other than for ourselves.

All the more so as this route is definitely in the Premier League of Britain’s Most Scenic Bus Routes as it wends its way up the A498 to Pen-y-Pass and as I’ve highlighted in a previous blog.

At one time this link and southward to Porthmadog ran less frequently but now it’s up to hourly it really is one of the most underused hidden gems of the bus industry. I’m pleased to report I’ve used it on other occasions and it has been well used by walkers and mountain climbers.

It was pleasing to see the small bus interchange point at Pen-y-Pass was as busy as always with many walkers catching hourly routes S1 and S2 supplemented by S5 shuttles to provide a combined 15 minute frequency to the Park & Ride car park at Nant Peris with the S1 and S2 continuing half hourly on to Llanberis.

Double deck buses on many journeys on the S1 offer amazing views as the route climbs and descends the mountain roads…

… but it’s a shame they’ve not all been given the attractive Sherpa’r Wyddfa livery and branding and many of the single decks are in plain white.

Continuing our anti-clockwise circuit around Snowdonia we caught the S1 at 15:30 towards Caernarfon with an impressive 20 on board…

… 11 of whom alighted at the Park & Ride site and another half dozen and ourselves got off in Llanberis.

We’d spotted the Llanberis Lake Railway was operating with a convenient last departure of the day at 16:10 to the terminus at Penllyn on the north bank of the lake.

It’s a charming little steam railway which appeals to all ages…

… and offers a lovely ride lasting almost an hour there and back…

… allowing you to soak up the tranquility offered by the lake in the shadow of the surrounding mountain peaks and the former slate industry.

There’s a five minute stop at Cei Llydan on the return journey…

… as well as another at Gilpaoh Ddu where there’s a handy car park and access to Padarn Country Park. It’s only £11 for a return journey (£10 for concessions).

Back at Llanberis I was disappointed to see a grossly out of date bus map with long discontinued route numbers and misleading information about the formerly named Snowdon Sherpa network. Here’s hoping Transport for Wales and/or Gwynedd Council read this and put this right before it confuses more visitors and tourists.

We caught the 17:50 departure on route S1 onward to Caernarfon and although the brand new bus, which had just entered service, deposited a large number of passengers on arrival in Llanberis…

… it only carried five, with two other passengers joining, on to Caernarfon where we stayed the night.

Our four journey Thursday afternoon circuit on the S3, S4, S1 and S1 had been achieved with a £7 1-Bws Ticket (£4.70 with English/Scottish concessions) representing excellent value for the unparalleled scenic delights on offer.

An early start on Friday morning brought us back into Llanberis for 08:05 on the 07:40, second departure of the day, route S1 from Caernarfon, with seven other passengers, so we’d be in good time to treat ourselves to a ride on the 09:00, first departure of the day, Snowdon Mountain Railway.

This truly is a wonderful scenic experience as the diesel locomotive pushes the 60 seat carriage slowly and steadily up the mountain.

As the season has only just restarted trains were only going three quarters up the mountain to Clogwyn as the end of the line at the summit and the café located there are still being prepared for the summer season.

Even so it’s a 45 minute spectacular journey with incredible views as you ascend up the single track…

… with interesting commentary added every so often from Alwyn, our train guard for the journey who sits at the front of the train car on the ascent, and which is obviously at the rear on the descent.

At Clogwyn we had time to enjoy the spectacular scenery…

… and in some ways it was a more enjoyable experience to spend time in such a desolate spot on the mountain

… rather than at the summit which naturally gets very crowded and has a busy café.

After our half hour break it was time for the journey back down and around a fifth of our otherwise full complement of passengers opted for the two hour walk back down which wasn’t surprising bearing in mind the glorious weather we were lucky to be having that day.

It’s quite incredible that this railway was built in just 14 months in 1894 and even more amazing one or two of the original steam locomotives are still retained and in use from time to time.

The journey back down is just as slow and steady and takes 45 minutes with a short pause at a couple of passing places halfway and a quarter way down as ascending trains pass by.

After that wonderful start to the morning we took the 11.10 route S1 from Llanberis to Betws-y-Coed – again doing good trade with walkers to Pen-y-Pass but only four of us continuing from there to Betws-y-Coed where we arrived just ahead of schedule at 11:50 giving time for a short break before the 12:04 TfW departure on the Conwy Valley line to Llandudno Junction.

This was showing as running a minute late only to then change to the dreaded “Delayed”. I was just preparing a Plan B as the “Delayed” tag wasn’t changing when the the two-coach Class 197 train glided into the station and the many waiting passengers boarded.

It was a very busy train up to Llandudno Junction and rather oddly continued to show ‘Delayed’ on all the online apps and stations, including the train’s next scheduled departure south from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

I wondered how many passengers might look at that information and understandably think they need to make alternative travel arrangements or whether, like the Guard on the train I spoke to about the anomaly, just think ‘oh yes, that happens a lot; it’s old technology and is susceptible to signal loss’. Hopefully that’s not signal loss as in track side signal loss.

It’s a lovely journey as the train follows the east bank of the River Conwy and we arrived into Llandudno Junction, seven minutes late at 12:42, where many of our almost full compliment of passengers alighted (and it’s only April, not the summer season), and my brother and I concluded our wonderful 24 hours in Snowdonia by heading back to Sussex with TfW, Avanti West Coast and Thameslink.

Thanks to the lovely friendly drivers at Gwnyfor Coaches for giving great service during our brief visit.

Roger French

Blogging timetable TThS with an extra bonus daily blog over the Easter Weekend (FSSuM).