Wales holiday student MB, Hiking, Rock climbing, Canoeing

Garbit
Garbit Posts: 54
edited April 2010 in Routes
Hi there,

I'm just looking around for advice on where's good in Wales to go for some beginner mountain biking, rock climbing etc

probably would need to camp but cheap youth hostel works :)

I have my MB but others will probably need to hire (so advice on cheap hire would be brilliant)

Does anyone have any nuggests of information about this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance for your responses,

Andy

Comments

  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    coed y brenin would be a good place to start with the mountain biking, you have bala which is about 30 mins drive away that has a huge lake and a white water rafting centre, they also do zorbing (i think that what's it called) on the lake - basically a huge blow up ball you go inside and run around on the water :D

    not sure if that helps at all? :lol:
  • Garbit
    Garbit Posts: 54
    coed y brenin, you have to love the names :D that sounds like a good start. I was looking at coedllandegla, it seems pretty extreme!

    Do you have to pay to use these trail centres? Surely they wouldn't maintain the trails just out of love

    Bala sounds tres fun, white water rafting is right up my street :D I've had a go of zorbing before but on a hill although we only got 1 go which was a bit pants for £35 each!

    These sound awesome though!

    Does anyone have any info on methods of cheap accomodation? Are there a few really nice but pretty cheap places to stay or would it be ultimately cheaper to camp?

    Also should i stear clear of youth hostels if im taking my own bike?
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,332
    All the trail centres are free, however even if you dont have a car you should buy a parking ticket. All the revenue raised goes back into the trails.

    Llandegla certainly isn't extreme, but its a bloomin good ride.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • frogstomp
    frogstomp Posts: 412
    We've just come back from a week up that way and it was awesome!

    We stayed near Bala which seemed ideal - about equidistant between CyB, Llandegla and Betws-y-coed (for Penmachno and the Marin trail).

    We went self-catering but saw quite a few 'bunkhouses' around which looked pretty reasonable.

    You can rent bikes at CyB and also in Betws-y-coed.. not sure about Llandegla..

    Plenty of rock-climbing to be had around Snowdonia, but courses may cost - check out the Plas Y Brenin centre for starters..
  • Garbit
    Garbit Posts: 54
    Ah right, they are some hefty costs for climbing courses but then again they are like 2 days.

    Bala seems to be winning the votes at the minute :)

    Would the trail centres be suited to absolute beginners, because none of us have really MB properly we've just biked about quite a bit.

    Are the courses a good idea as well? Value for money etc?
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    if you haven't done much riding i'd say that llandegla is your best bet, the routes there are a bit more mellow :D
  • Garbit
    Garbit Posts: 54
    Right inside Bala i've noticed there is a white water rafting experience you can go for, has anyone gone down there? is it worth the cost?

    I'd love to have a go :)

    Also keep suggestions of places to go!
  • tsenior
    tsenior Posts: 664
    for what you want i'd base myself in betws, capel curig or round there rather than near llandegla.

    http://www.siabodlonghouse.co.uk/ is good accom and near some good pubs if theres a few of you. moel siabods a nice hill straight out the front door, you can be up and down before breakfast!

    bike hire in betwys-y-coed (bikes betws) and options on Penmachno/Marin for a half day or head over to CyB and hire there for the full MB hit!

    if you want instructed rock climbing plas y brennin courses are good but $$$ as stated, or you could just have a play on their indoor walls, good option if the weather sets in, agin the centre is in capel curig.

    If your after a bit of adventure, scrambling up in the glyders or the snowdon horseshoe is hard to beat (altghough you dont need ropes these are exposed routes so not for the unexperienced/nervous)

    Raftings about £250 for a few hours at bala not too far away but they do deals, you get about 4 runs or you can do a cheaper taster session.

    ...if you opt for llandegla they do canoeing in the dee rapids at llangollen which is not far from llandegla: theres nice country and you can go climbing/hiking round there but it aint snowdonia; young man go west!
  • fuzzy logic
    fuzzy logic Posts: 39
    Stayed here a copule of times www.cabancysgu-gerlan.co.uk. Colse enough to Betws y Coed for mountain biking. Tryfan for a graet day on the hills and mountains and Llanberis for water sports(surflines.co.uk) and a top high ropes course.
  • Garbit
    Garbit Posts: 54
    Just banged off a price request for that place for 5 - 7 people, lets hope its cheap! The only problem with cabancysque is that its a med distance to the white water rafting in bala but considering we'l have cars its not that bad really

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