Walk Snowdonia
Walk Snowdonia are the Snowdon experts
Guided walks up Yr Wyddfa - Snowdon as well as the other incredible mountains in the National Park.
They do Map Reading Courses, Gorge Scrambling and Challenge Events such as the National Three Peaks. Get in touch...
www.walksnowdonia.com
SUMMER"S HERE!
Well, here we are in the middle of the peak season and Betws y coed is buzzing! We have welcomed lots of international, as well as British guests over the past few months and it has been good to see so many from North America and Australia in particular. It is also nice to hear of their experiences in exploring Snowdonia and appreciating the suggestions we make and the detailed directions for local walks which we provide for them. There is so much to see and do here for all ages, that we never run out of ideas!
Betws y coed voted best holiday destination in Britain!
Yes - its's true ! A recent poll by the national retail Go Outdoors puts the village as the UK's No. 1 holiday destination ..................
A Welsh village has been named the best holiday destination in the UK. Betws-y-Coed in Conwy is seen by many as the "gateway to Eryri" and boasts incredible views, fantastic walking trails, and glorious forests so we're not overly surprised it's been recognised by the team at Go Outdoors as the best place for a holiday in the UK.
The outdoor clothing and equipment company has compiled their 2023 UK Holiday Hotspots list and five Welsh destinations made the top 20. Villages, towns, and cities across the UK were judged on a variety of factors including their "natural environment," the range of activities they offer, and the quality of their bike tours, nature and wildlife tours, and hiking trails, as reported by NorthWalesLive.
Betws-y-Coed scored 8.4 out of a maximum 10 points in GoOutdoor's findings with Ambleside in Cumbria placed a close second with 8.37 points out of 10. In the bronze medal position St Ives in Cornwall scored 8.1 out of 10.
Read more: Lonely Planet names Welsh food trail as one of the best in Europe
Explaining why Betws-y-Coed was named the top destination a spokesman for GoOutdoors said: "This delightful village presents the perfect Welsh welcome. Perfect for holiday-goers, Betws-y-Coed is a gateway to [Eryri] and its neighbouring towns.
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Welcome to The Courthouse in 2022
So it's already February and we are open to welcome guests both new and especiallythose who have stayed with us before. Thankfully covid has receded although we still have some reasonable precautions in place to protect our guests. It has again been a busy winterfor us with redecoration and refurbishments. We haveinstalled asuper new pressurised hot water cylinder whichwill make showers more effective and comfortable. We have also redecoratedour luxury super king room (Lawyer's room) and are in the process or renewing the soft furnishings. Two en-suite bathrooms have had a makeover ( Fingerprint and Cell rooms) . Already we are getting lots of bookings for the Spring so don't miss out - book now on our website or by email or phone for the best prices.We look forward to welcoming you to The Courthouse in 2022!
What a summer it has been!!! After the awful stop - go lockdowns of 2020, this year in Betws y coed has so far proved to be extremely busy. The weather has been warm and sunny for much of June, July and September so that has been a bonus for visitors as well as everyone involved in the tourism sector. Restaurants have continued to struggle though - with staff shortages and the need to maintain social distancing in Wales. Some covid safety precautions are still in place here and we are taking no chances when it comes to the safety of our guests so we are still following the Welsh Government's covid safety guidelines. Our guests seem to have welcomed this in spite of a few minor inconveniences for them. We have welcomed many more British guests this year, who have decided that a staycation is preferable to risking foreign travel with its associated risks and red tape. We will be open until mid-November, when we will close for a few weeks break and open again through Christmas and New Year.
After 3 1/2 months of lockdown we are finally able to welcome guests from England, and other parts of the UK. From 26th April our local pubs and restaurants will be allowed to open for outside dining and drinking; whilst outdoor visitor attractions ( and there are lots of them in Snowdonia!) will also re-open. It's been a long hard winter but now we can look forward with hope to everything getting back to normal and to giving our guests the best possible experience of their stay at The Courthouse.
Re-Opening Update
We learned on Friday that "self-contained" visitor accommodation can re-open on 29th March for Welsh Residents . This includes hotels & B&B's where guests have private facilities and room service can be provided. Also facilities can only be shared by members of 1 household. Travel from England for holidays is scheduled to be allowed from 12th April
Once again we have just had news from the Welsh Government that the covid lockdown is being extended for another 3 weeks which takes us to 8th March. Like all accommodation venues in North Wales we are desperate to re-open and to welcome visitors back. Richard has had his 1st dose of the vaccine and hopefully by April Tanya will have had one too. We are still open for "essential workers".
Although Wales remains in lockdown, we are hoping that some measure of normality may return during March and we will be allowed to re-open. In spite of the continued uncertainty, we continue to have a steady flow of bookings for the summer with May and June now filling up. Inside The Courthouse we continue to make improvements with new towel heaters and doors in our en-suite bathrooms. As before we have been taking our exercise finding new walking trails amongst the hills and valleys of the Gwydyr forest and feel very lucky to be able to walk in such a beautiful area. I think we will be among the first hikers on Snowdon when it re-opens! We are looking forward to welcoming our lovely regular guests who we missed last year, and to meeting many new ones on the months ahead. You can book through our website or just call or e-mail us. best wishes to you all.
So here we go again! We are still taking bookings for Christmas and for 2021; although Wales is now going into ANOTHER lockdown from 28th December. Hopefully it will not be a long one especially as it is reported that covid infection rates in NORTH WALES are actually very low. There's still time to order one of our GIFT VOUCHERS which make great CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. Just call us on 01690 7120534. merry Christmas to all our lovely guests, past , present and future!
As from today e are able to welcome guests from England ( Tiers 1 an 2) once more. This is great news - especially if you are fed up with lockdown and itching to get away to the hills and mountains of beautiful Snowdonia! So go to our booking page and make your pre - Christmas getaway reservation now.
Also have a look at our fantastic 3-night Christmas break packages which include a traditional Christmas dinner on 25th December.
Looking for a great Christmas gift? Our Gift Vouchers are very popular and can be ordered for any value. You can see these on this website and order by phone or by e-mail.
Happy Christmas to you all!
Since re-opening on 9th November we have been very pleased to accommodate a number of Welsh residents from all parts of the country. We are also taking bookings for 2021 and of course for our 3-night Christmas Special which includes a traditional 4-course dinner on 25th December. As we have not been so busy, we have have had the opportunity to do some of our favourite local walks, and to compile route details for them which we make available to our guests.It now seems that contrary to last week's update, Zip World is actually closed until February 2021. This is a shame although there are of course lots of other outdoor activities available in Snowdonia as usual. The current "I'm a celebrity" TV programme is bringing the beauty and variety of these to a vast audience who know little about the amazing environment of Snowdonia.
Good news! Wales comes out of lockdown on Monday 9th November so we are open from that date. With England now in lockdown though we can only accept bookings from guests resident in Wales. Local attractions will also re-open including Zip World . Zip World Velocity, Fforest, Bounce Below and Caverns will open at weekends and every day from 31st December - 2nd January. From then until February they will be open on weekends only. We understand that local pubs and restaurants will also be open - with covid safety restrictions of course. We have lots of availibilty and special Christmas 3-night breaks including Christmas dinner. Check out our website www.guesthouse-snowdonia.co.uk
Now we are waiting for news on Monday when the Welsh Government has promised that the :Firebreak" lockdown will be lifted. We will definately re-open on 9th November although we don't yet know under what conditions. More to follow................
So tha Welsh Government have again over-reacted to the coronavirus problem by putting their citizens livlihoods at risk through this "firebreak' lockdown.
So not good news this week as we are subject to the lockdown which affects parts of North Wales including Conwy. Bizzarly, we are allowed to remain open, along with other hospitality venues, but not allowed to leave the county; and no visitors are allowed to enter it! Another cruel and senseless blow to the tourism industry upon which the economy of North Wales principally depends. The regulations are due to be reviewed on 14th October so we are hoping that they may be lifted so that we can welcome all our guests who have booked for half term.
Another week of blue skies and hot sunshine! our guests have enjoyed the fantastic walks we have locally around the lakes, waterfalls, hills and mountains. Others have just spent the day relaxing in our riverside garden.
We have just had a update about parking at Pen-y-Pass, for access to Mount Snowdon. It reads as follows:After reviewing the emergency measures put in place at Pen-y-Pass with its partners, Snowdonia National Park Authority will now build on the success of the changes by piloting a pre-booking system at Pen-y-Pass car park on weekends and bank holidays for the remainder of the summer. This short term pilot, which has been agreed with by Gwynedd Council and North Wales police, will be implemented as a way to assess possible new management models which are aligned with the long term plans for a new and innovative parking and transport system in the Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Ogwen areas.Access to the car park will be reserved for pre-bookings only. All parking at Pen-y-Pass car park must be pre-booked via the Snowdonia National Park website - which will go live at midnight on Wednesday. Booked visitors will be required to show their confirmation email on arrival to gain access to the car park. Anyone without a pre-booked space will need to use the Park and Ride facilities at Nant Peris and Llanberis to access Pen-y- Pass.
It is important to note that we expect available parking slots to sell out extremely quickly. Pre-book parking for the weekend will be made available online at midnight on Wednesday the 19th of August.
What amazing weather we have had over the past week! Hot (too hot for some at 30 degrees +) and sunny every day. We also had some spectacular but quite damaging thunderstorms which left us without electricity on one afternoon & evening as well as no broadband for a day and a half. It's all rather different at the start of this week ,sorry to say, with low cloud in the valley and rain showers and cooler too. We also had new boiler installed during the week which seems to be working well thamk goodness!
This week it has looks as though the whole country wants to come to North Wales! Betws-y-coed is very busy now even though the weather is not quite tropical as it is in the South of England! Anyway we are expecting a hot sunny weekend so our guests will be very happy!
So from next Monday 3rd August, restaurants and pubs will be able to open their indoor dining facilities. This means that we shall be able to open our breakfast room again at last - with safety measures in place of course! We have been serving breakfast to our guests on trys for room service or outside dining in the garden which has worked quite well although we have had to restrict our normally extensive breakfast menu of course.
At long last indoor attractions are allowed to re-open in Wales from 24th July - this coming weekend. Good news indeed as we have lots in North Wales! For example, the amazing Zip World "Caverns" experience - flying through cathedral sized underground caverns in semi darkness! Also Bounce Below, the Slate Caverns and Sygun Copper mine. All these amazing underground attractions are located just 20 minutes drive from The Courthouse.
So now we know when pubs and restaurants will be allowed to open for inside dining and imbibing. The date announced for this is 3rd August - much to the dismay of many local businesses here who complain that they can't afford to lose another 3 weeks trade. The Welsh Government still hasn't got a real understanding of the damage it is doing to the regional tourism economy!
It's 11th July and from today we are open for "self contained" guests - Hooray!!! We are eagerly awaiting our firsy arrivals this afternoon. Even the weather has changed for the better and we have a fine weekend in prospect!
We have now had confirmation that we meet the "We're Good to Go" industry standard, which means we are following government & industry Covid-19 guidelines, have a Risk Assessment in place, and processes for cleanliness and social distancing. If you have any questions on our Covid-19 policies then please have a read of our updated Covid-19 page, or get in touch.
We are looking forward to welcoming our first post-lockdown guests on 11th July. More good news is that we understand Snowdonia National Park is opening up mountain tracks and walking routes on 6th July.
So at last Wales is opening up! Travel restrictions are due to be abolished on 6th July (hooray!!!) and on the same day outdoor attractions are opening. The Snowdon railway is taking bookings ( you have to book on www.snowdonrailway.com) and is re-opening on 9th July. We are on track to welcome our guests from Monday 13th July.Also pubs & restaurants with outdoor facilities will be allowed to re-open on that date.
We have recentlybeen working hard to put Covid-19 safety precautions in place so that guests can book with peace of mind knowing that we are Covid secure. have a look at the Covid sub-page on this website for details. More news & updates to come. Best wishes to you all Richard & Tanya
Some good news at last from the Welsh Government. We can re-open on 13th July provided that our guests are "self-contained". All our rooms are en-suite and we will have all the required Covid - related safety measures in place but we have yet to decide where to provide breakfast. We are considering a number of options and will let you know after the Government's new guidelines are issued. A big thank you to all our lovely guests who have had to cancel and have re-booked for later in the year.Best Wishes Richard & Tanya
So, we just learned the good news that Zipworld are re-opening their main attraction - Velocity at Penrhyn Quarry; and Zipword Fforest on 6th July. Both are within easy reach of The Courthouse, Betws-y-coed. Velocity is 20 minutes drive and Fforest is just over a mile from here. More to re-open soon we hope ............................
