Base Camp Snowdonia
Gwersyll Cyntaf Eryri
Our flagship hostel in the beautiful town of Betws-y-Coed.
Base Camp Snowdonia is the perfect starting point for your adventure. Explore its independent galleries, pubs and restaurants, nestled in amongst the sweeping mountains of North Wales.
Experience and access
The fastest Wifi in North Wales
Connect to world with Starlink satellites
Secure bike storage
(by arrangement)
Our awesome community
spend time at and around the hostel with other adventurers
Your dorm options
Bed in a shared dorm
Are you travelling alone or want to connect with fellow adventurers? You want to choose one of our hostel beds. You can choose from one of our mixed or female-only dorms. The choice is then yours if you want a shared or en-suite bathroom.
Private dorm
For larger groups or those who want a bit more privacy, we have 4-6 private rooms with en-suite or shared bathroom options.
Connection
You can get direct trains to and from London, Liverpool and Manchester
Nature
Minutes away from Snowdon, Wales’ highest mountain
Experience
Be part of a warm, unique culture and some of the most beautiful sights in the country
Everything you need. Right here
Welcome to Betws-y-Coed, a tranquil Victorian Welsh alpine village in the heart of the Gwydir Forest— home to 486 people and Base Camp Snowdonia.
Betws is the Welsh word for “prayer house”, and Coed means “forest” – the prayer house in the woods. Originally home to a 6th-century Celtic Monastery, it became an independent Victorian artists’ colony much later. Today, its lively streets play host to independent pubs, pizzerias and purveyors of Gore-Tex. With walking and cycling trails starting in the heart of the town, plus hourly direct bus routes to Snowdon, you’ll never be short of things to do.
Croeso i Gymru!
What to do
The Waypoint Cafe & Bar
We love to walk, scramble, climb, boulder and everything else nature offers. But we also know the best way to start the day is with a great brew and end it with a good pint, so The Waypoint Cafe & Bar was born.
Speciality espresso
Wake up with an empowering coffee for both you and the growers.
Thoughtful tea
If tea is your thing, enjoy incredible brew which is never at the expense of our environment.
Local tipple
End the day with a locally sourced beer, spirit or wine. Try them all. We won’t judge.
Explore more food and drink
Parc Eryri
Eryri (eh-ruh-ree) is a mountainous region in North Wales, known in English as Snowdonia and home to twenty-eight of the thirty highest peaks in Wales. We are fortunate that each one of these twenty-eight mountains is reachable within half an hour from our very own Base Camp Snowdonia.
What’s in a name, what’s in a language?
Eryri is derived from the Welsh word eryr, which means ‘upland region or highland’; itself related to the Latin word oriri meaning ‘to rise’.
The Welsh language is an inherent part of the country’s cultural fabric, and its continued resilience remains hard-won against a campaign of active suppression that stretched into the early 1900s. Welsh was banned in schools across Wales for the length of the Industrial Revolution, with widespread incidence of children made to wear a “Welsh Not” – a wooden sign hung around the neck as a punishment for speaking Welsh.
It was not until 1993 that the Welsh language received official status; by then, less than 20% of the population of Wales as a whole comprised Welsh speakers, reaching as low as 7% in Cardiff. Even amongst the country’s regions, Eryri is unique because more than half its population are Welsh speakers today.
So why are we called “Base Camp Snowdonia?”
We are also known as Gwersyll Cyntaf Eryri, a Welsh eponym you can see on all our signage, which carries the same meaning as our English name. However, most directories and our mailing address use our English name – why?
With so many international guests at Base Camp, English is often used as the de facto language of in our hostel. We work hard to share the beauty, language and culture of North Wales with people from across the world, and achieving this goal requires a delicate balance between being accessible to as broad an audience as possible and while being true to our roots.
So, whether you refer to us as Base Camp Snowdonia or Gwersyll Cyntaf Eryri, we are flattered that you mention us. We welcome your thoughts, comments, and opinions, which you can share by reaching out to us or through our social media channels linked below.
Diolch am wrando.
Finding Base Camp Snowdonia
Base Camp Snowdonia
Holyhead Road
Betws-y-Coed
LL24 0BN
United Kingdom
+44 7562 954604
The hostel is a 10 min walk from Betws-y-Coed Railway Station
5 min walk to town centre
What 3 Words:
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We’re always looking for adventurers to join us on our journey in Eryri. Check out our job openings!
