Barmouth

Barmouth's accommodation splits fairly neatly by height and view. Down on the seafront and around Marine Parade, guest houses and B&Bs look straight out over three miles of sand, putting the beach, promenade and railway station all within a couple of minutes' walk - ideal for families who don't want to haul buckets and spades far, or for anyone travelling without a car. Up on Panorama Road and the wooded hillside behind the harbour, a smaller number of hotels and boutique properties trade that flat five-minute stroll for sweeping views down the estuary to Cadair Idris and across Cardigan Bay, along with a quieter setting once the day-trippers have gone home.

At the upper end, a Victorian gothic clifftop hotel and a boutique estuary-view B&B bring genuine style and a proper restaurant to the town, while a small self-catering apartment complex on Panorama Road suits couples or small groups who want space and a kitchen rather than room service. In the middle, a seafront hotel with its own bar and beer garden, and a recently refurbished coaching inn on King Edward Street, both combine comfortable, straightforward rooms with a lively bar downstairs and full cooked breakfasts. At the more affordable end, Barmouth's family-run guest houses and B&Bs - several of them long-standing local businesses on Marine Parade and the High Street - offer the classic seaside welcome: home-cooked breakfasts, sea or harbour views from the front rooms, private parking, and hosts who know the tide times and the best places to eat.

Whichever part of town you choose, almost nothing in Barmouth is more than a fifteen-minute walk from anything else, so the real decision is simply whether you would rather wake up looking straight at the beach, down over the harbour, or across the whole estuary to the mountains beyond.

Barmouth rewards slow exploring as much as it does a checklist of sights, but these are the things most visitors build a stay around.

• Barmouth Beach - three miles of flat golden sand backed by dunes, with a Blue Flag award and plenty of room even in August.
• Barmouth Bridge (Y Bont Ddu) - the Grade II listed timber and iron viaduct carrying the railway and a toll footpath across the Mawddach Estuary, with views towards Cadair Idris that regularly appear on lists of Britain's finest.
• Dinas Oleu - the very first piece of land ever given to the National Trust, in 1895, a short steep climb above the harbour for a panorama over the whole bay.
• Ty Gwyn - a small museum in the medieval harbourside house said to have sheltered Henry Tudor before the Battle of Bosworth, open through the summer season.
• The Mawddach Trail - a level, traffic-free cycling and walking path along the old railway trackbed from Barmouth to Dolgellau, with the estuary on one side and oak woods on the other.
• Fairbourne Railway - a narrow-gauge steam and diesel line running along the opposite shore, reachable on the passenger ferry across the estuary in summer.
• Barmouth Harbour - working fishing boats, crabbing off the quay, and short pleasure trips along the coast in season.
• Panorama Walk - the well-known viewpoint above the town, reached by road or on foot, looking straight down the estuary to the bridge and the mountains beyond.

Fresh local seafood is the obvious draw, and Barmouth's fish and chip shops - several right on the harbour or promenade - are a genuine local institution, serving cod and haddock landed along this stretch of coast alongside Welsh-made chips. Crab and lobster, caught by the town's own small fishing fleet, turn up on menus at harbourside cafes and restaurants through the summer season.

The town's pubs, including long-standing names down by the harbour and on King Edward Street, serve Welsh ales alongside pub classics, and several have decent beer gardens looking over the water. For something more polished, the clifftop restaurant at Ty'r Graig Castle and the dining room at Bae Abermaw both make a feature of local produce and sea views.

A weekly market and a scattering of independent delicatessens and bakeries sell Welsh cakes, bara brith and local cheeses, while ice cream from the promenade kiosks - a Barmouth tradition stretching back generations - is more or less compulsory on a sunny afternoon. Coffee shops around the High Street and harbour make a good base for planning the day's walk, and many double as breakfast spots for visitors staying in self-catering accommodation.

Barmouth is superbly placed for camping and touring caravans, with the Mawddach Estuary, three miles of beach and the Rhinogydd hills all within easy reach of a handful of well-established parks just outside town. Two of the closest sites sit along the coast road into Llanaber, a mile or so north of the centre, putting pitches within easy walking or cycling distance of the beach, the shops on the High Street, and the railway station, while still feeling like a proper countryside stay rather than a car park with a view.

Further along the estuary towards Bontddu and Dolgellau, a smaller and more secluded site trades proximity to the seafront for direct access onto the Mawddach Trail and the estuary shoreline itself - a good choice for walkers, cyclists and anyone after a quieter, more back-to-nature stay with fewer facilities and a lot more birdsong. Its wooded, waterside pitches and simple cottages suit couples and families happy to drive or cycle the few miles into Barmouth for the beach and the shops.

All three sites here are well-reviewed, family-run operations offering a mix of touring pitches, tent camping and, increasingly, glamping options such as pods, shepherd's huts and yurts for those without their own kit. Electric hook-ups, showers and small on-site shops are standard at the larger parks, dogs are welcome at all three, and each makes a sensible, well-placed base for exploring both the Cambrian coast and the southern edge of Eryri National Park, with Cadair Idris and the Mawddach Trail on the doorstep.