Hike, SUP and Wild Swim in Snowdonia
A rejuvenating weekend in Eryri (Snowdonia), a wild Welsh wonderland
What's Included?
Activities & Certified Guides
All itinerary activities with qualified open water swim coach and SUP instructorBell Tent
2 nights in bell tentsMeals
2 breakfasts & 2 lunchesTransfers
Transfers between camp and the activitiesEquipment
Paddleboard, paddle & buoyancy aid, tow floats for swimmingSmall Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 12 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people…
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What's it like?
Hike through pristine Snowdonian landscapes to reach idyllic wild swim spots such as Llyn Dinas, with friendly local guides
Paddleboard across Llyn Padarn, one of the largest glacially formed lakes in Wales, and discover hidden lagoons and inlets
Camp beneath the stars in bell tents with spectacular mountain views of the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park
Key Information
Day 1
Settle in to Snowdonia (Eryri)
Make your way to Pen Y Bwlch campsite and settle into your bell tent. Enjoy the views of the Snowdon and Glyderau mountain ranges before meeting your fellow adventurers and guides in the early evening for a chat through the adventure, which kicks off tomorrow.
Day 2
Hike to secret swim spots
Hiking
Wild Swimming
Wake up to birdsong, enjoy a camp breakfast and start the day with an easy hike to Llyn Dinas - a beautiful lake with a mountainous backdrop. This is a shallow lake, which makes it the perfect place for your first wild swim led by your friendly local swimming guides. Tuck into lunch before hiking through tranquil woodlands to a series of pools where you can take a dip in the calm section or a rush under the mountain cascades. You'll then return to camp for sunset and a well-earned bunk down.
Day 3
SUP and swim
Stand Up Paddleboarding
Wild Swimming
Enjoy your final camp breakfast before heading to Llyn Padarn, one of the largest natural lakes in Wales, carved out by glaciers pouring down the valley from the surrounding peaks of the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. Hop on your paddleboard and set off to explore the many lagoons and inlets. Grab a final wild swim before the adventure comes to end and you head home, refreshed and rejuvenated.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Bangor Station or Pen Y Bwlch campsite
18:00 at Bangor Station / Anytime from 15:00 at Pen Y Bwlch
Ends
Bangor Station or Pen Y Bwlch campsite
16:00
Transfers
Your host runs a group transfer from Bangor train station at 18:00 on Day 1 and a return transfer to Bangor train station at the end of the trip on Day 3 at 16:00. Please contact your host for more details and to sign up to the group transfer. You will need to ensure your return train ticket is for a departure after 16:30 on Day 3.
Travel options
If you are making your own way to Pen Y Bwlch campsite, you can take a train to Bangor train station and then a taxi from there to Pen Y Bwlch. There is onsite parking for any guests who drive their own car to the site.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Breakfasts at camp include locally made breakfast rolls (meat or veggie options), muesli, fresh fruit, tea and coffee. Packed lunches include sandwiches, crisps, cake and chocolate. You'll need to bring your own snacks and drinks for the activities each day.
Dinners are not included. If the weather is nice, we highly recommend bringing snacks or a picnic to have at the camp. If the weather is unsuitable for a picnic, your host will help arrange a trip to the Glyntwrog Inn – a friendly village pub in the heart of the Welsh countryside, offering a great selection of drinks and serving hearty food made using locally sourced ingredients. If arriving late on the Friday, we recommend stopping and getting food before arriving at the camp. You should budget around £20 for dinner at the Inn and a drink (or a bit extra if you fancy a few post-swim pints!).
All dietary requirements, including vegetarian and vegan, can be catered for: just make this request on your passenger information form.
What is the accommodation like?
Pen y Bwlch Off-grid Camping
Nestled in the spectacular Caernarfon countryside, Pen y Bwlch overlooks mountains and rivers on the edge of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. This is a secluded camp with lots of space and an off-grid feel, but it’s also just a 15-minute drive from Llanberis, at the foot of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). Simple facilities include eco-composting toilets, hot showers and drying facilities in the barn. You'll need to bring your own sleeping bag, sleeping mat and pillow. You'll stay in bell tents, with up to four people of the same sex sharing. Please note that sometimes, depending on the make up of the group, your host may use a combination of bell tents and standard tents in order to accommodate everyone comfortably.
Upgrades
There are not enough bell tents to offer a private bell tent, however, your host can provide a private standard tent if you prefer to sleep alone. See Optional Extras for the price.
This trip has been rated as Moderate
The hikes are very easy going and the paddleboarding is gentle as you explore the inlets and coves of a calm lagoon. The wild swims are more about being immersed in Snowdonia's natural landscapes, feeling the rejuvenating effects of cold water wild swimming. As a mixed ability group, you'll swim as far as the group is comfortable with, learning lots of skills and developing techniques as you go. You should be able to swim basic front crawl comfortably for 25m in a pool. The wild swimming sessions are not suitable for beginner swimmers, but are perfect for beginners at wild swimming. Wild swimming inherently carries some risk, but every care is taken to make sure you have a safe swim. There will be a qualified open water coach in the water, as well as a safety paddleboarder. Your host will monitor the conditions of the water and the weather to make sure that every session takes place in the safest spot. Therefore, your flexibility is required with the itinerary and swimming locations.
Daytime temperatures in Snowdonia average from 11-14 °C in the spring and 16-18 °C in the summer. It’s sunny and clear for about half of the days each month. The water temperature in the lakes and rivers will be between 12°C to 17°C, depending on the date of your trip and the prior weather conditions. It can sometimes get wet and windy in Wales!
Great fun, awesome people in the group, fantastic instructors
What a view from our tent! Snowden in all its glory! Brilliant activities with fantastic instructors, unflappable and very helpful when your wetsuit gets stuck on your foot! Great bonding experience with friends and strangers who were our best buddies for the weekend! Campsite facilities a bit basic, but we survived!
Amazing adventure weekend in Wales
We had such an amazing time on this trip. The whole team (Jim, Ash, Kat and Ryan) were exceptional. They really made the adventure so much fun, explained everything so clearly and encouraged you to try new things. The campsite was lovely and the views were stunning. I’m not a massive camping person so two nights is my maximum and this was great for me to switch off from my normal life and enjoy nature.
Invigorating!
Sometimes you just have to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone - you will feel a massive sense of achievement if you do. I certainly did on this weekend sleeping in a bell tent with 3 other like minded girls determined to enjoy the great outdoors to its full. The instructors Kat and Ryan were fabulous! Friendly, enthusiastic and so flexible to what the group wanted to achieve. The breakfasts and packed lunches were first class, delivered by Ash who transported us around, helped us to assemble our SUPs and spent the evening with us around the campfire, swapping funny stories about the days activities. Don't expect 5 star accommodation. This is down to earth wild camping with composting toilets and a tepid shower just off the breakfast table. 2 days without a shower never hurt anyone - especially when you’ve been swimming in a freezing cold lake. Bring more than one swimming cossie unless you want to put a wet one on for day 2. Also a couple of towels for the same reason. Dryrobes and your own wetsuit is a bonus. You won’t regret roughing it for a couple of days I promise you!
Very well organised trip as
Very well organised trip as described.
Lovely trip away
This trip was my first with much better adventures and was alot of fun. The campsite was really off grid and I barely used my phone all weekend (a great sign!). There was a good mix of wild swimming for those who wanted to do more and the paddleboarding day accommodated people who wanted a longer or shorter time on the lake.
Stunning scenery but very basic
The campsite is stunning but it really lacks any comfort whatsoever. There are two toilets and only one shower. The tents are really just thin pieces of fabric and there is nowhere to dry or warm up. Not fun coming back after a day of rain and swimming and have nowhere to dry wet clothes or warm up at all. I find this way below par! I felt we did way less than what we could have done during a weekend. There were no plans whatsoever for the Friday eve and the Sunday we finished early. Sat eve we got back early and there wasn’t much to do rather than go to bed early. I felt really underwhelmed by the whole experience and disappointed, especially considering the cost.
Getting out of my comfort zone with a wet and wild mountain tribe
This was just what I needed! As a mum-of-three, this trip was a chance to take some time back for me and recharge, as well as discovering new things about myself. The camp was beautifully remote and picturesque, and our host Jim looked after us really well. His energy and enthusiasm for adventure really captivated me.
The group consisted of like-minded and laidback people and I enjoyed listening to their life experiences whilst sitting around the chimenea watching the sun set. We had a super paddle board instructor called James who took us on a journey around a lake and taught us some new skills. I pushed myself on this outing, completing 4 miles on my paddle board, something I didn't know I was capable of. I felt really proud.
I also informed our lively swimming instructor El that I'd like to push myself swimming, getting my head in the water and doing some front crawl, as I hadn't done it for five years. She accompanied me into the centre of the lake and helped me make this happen. She was amazingly supportive and I felt super proud afterwards.
The great thing about this trip is everyone could do whatever they were comfortable with. I wanted to swim some distance on that day, but others were able to bob around enjoying the water in their own way. Some chose to paddle board instead. We were all given the space to be ourselves which was really lovely. It was a pretty flexible trip with no set expectations. Really chilled in the evenings too. Some people went to bed with a book whilst some had a chat looking at the spectacular mountain view.
If you're nervous about setting off on an adventure on your own, I would encourage you to push through that and join this trip. Most of the guests were solo travellers, so there is a sense of all being in the same boat. It was really liberating for me to put my needs first over those two days whilst having the company of people from all walks of life who inspired me with their stories.
Do it!
Moody Wales
Fabulous trip in beautiful Snowdonia with Sue and her brilliant team at Adventurous Ewe. Wales was looking its moody best for us. Climbing up the mountains and swimming in the waterfalls and pools - 12 deg C ;-) - on the way back down was ace. Highly recommend.
#ewecandoit
A lovely way to meet
A lovely way to meet new people in a relaxed environment in a beautiful setting.
Great weekend!
Fantastic weekend! North Wales is so ruggedly beautiful and this trip was a great way to experience it in a different way. Jim and Suze looked after us so well and James and Kat were brilliant. I was really unsure about the cold water but Kat coached us through it and even made it fun. As always with MBA I got to meet a great bunch of people that I would never have had the pleasure to spend a weekend with any other way.
The campsite was picturesque, and the weather was kind to us but not sure camping is for me but you don't need to be too intrepid for a couple of nights.
Highly recommend.
Perfect escape!
Absolutely amazing, I want to do it lol over again! Hosts, guides, location & facilities all spot on. Haven’t had so much fun and felt so relaxed in years! Don’t hesitate, just book it
Will definitely use again for future adventures!!
Amazing weekend! Our instructor was fantastic and tailored the weekend perfectly to suit all our needs (even including getting the football in at the local pub after paddle boarding!). Our campsite was amazing and we managed to get the northern lights overlooking the mountains. I would highly recommend this company to anyone who wants some real local knowledge, a thirst for adventure and an amazing location to camp!