719 walks across Wales

• Eryri: Ffestiniog and the Moelwynion

  Cwm Bychan and the Aberglaslyn Pass

  Up a hanging valley past the pylons of an abandoned aerial ropeway, returning through the gorge on the Fisherman’s Path.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Eryri: Ffestiniog and the Moelwynion

  Cwmorthin

  Hanging valley of ruined barracks, chapel and quarry buildings around a dark lake, known locally as the slaughterhouse for its accident rate.

  3.7 mi2 hr 20 Demanding
• Conwy Valley and the North Coast

  Conwy Falls and the Fairy Glen

  Two gorges within a mile of each other where the Conwy and the Lledr cut through hard rock, both worth the short walk in.

  2.5 mi1 hr 30 Moderate
• Eryri: Cadair Idris and the Mawddach

  Cadair Idris by the Minffordd Path

  The finest way up the mountain, climbing into the cwm above Llyn Cau and round the rim to the summit, with the lake below the whole way.

  5.9 mi5 hr Strenuous
• Eryri: Rhinogydd and Harlech

  Nantcol Waterfalls

  A run of falls and pools on the Nantcol river below the Rhinogydd, on private land with a small charge and a good deal of rock to sit on.

  1.9 mi1 hr 10 Moderate
• Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy

  Llyn Tegid Circuit

  A full circuit of the largest natural lake in Wales, on lanes and paths with the Aran ridge rising to the south.

  8.4 mi4 hr 10 Demanding
• Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy

  Arenig Fawr

  Isolated mountain between Bala and Ffestiniog, with a lake below and a memorial on top to an American bomber crew who died there.

  6.2 mi4 hr 10 Strenuous
• Eryri: Cadair Idris and the Mawddach

  Rhobell Fawr

  An extinct volcano north of Dolgellau, rarely climbed, with a summit of broken rock and a view over most of southern Eryri.

  5.0 mi3 hr 20 Strenuous
• Eryri: Yr Wyddfa and Llanberis

  Llyn y Gader

  Short flat walk to a lake under the western flank of Yr Wyddfa, with the mountain reflected in it on a still morning.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Easy
• Eryri: Ffestiniog and the Moelwynion

  Llyn Llagi

  Lake under a dark crag in the Moelwynion, reached across rough ground, with almost nobody there on any day of the year.

  5.0 mi3 hr 10 Demanding
• Eryri: Yr Wyddfa and Llanberis

  Coed Dinorwig and Ceunant Mawr

  Oak woodland above Llyn Padarn with a waterfall in a ravine and quarry inclines running up through the trees.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Eryri: Yr Wyddfa and Llanberis

  Moel Eilio from Waunfawr

  The western approach to the grassy hills above Llanberis, longer and quieter than the direct route with the sea behind you all the way up.

  6.2 mi4 hr Strenuous
• Eryri: Yr Wyddfa and Llanberis

  Llyn Cwellyn

  A level lakeside track under Mynydd Mawr, with Snowdon’s western flank across the water and the forest behind.

  2.8 mi1 hr 35 Easy
• Eryri: Yr Wyddfa and Llanberis

  The Nantlle Ridge from the west

  The far end of the ridge above the slate valley, climbing from a quarry village onto grass and rock with the whole ridge running east.

  5.0 mi3 hr 30 Strenuous
• Eryri: Ogwen and the Carneddau

  Pen Llithrig y Wrach

  The witch’s slippery hill on the southern edge of the Carneddau, with Llyn Cowlyd below and hardly anyone on it.

  6.2 mi4 hr 10 Strenuous
• Eryri: Ogwen and the Carneddau

  Llyn Eigiau and the Broken Dam

  A level track to a reservoir whose dam burst in 1925 and drowned sixteen people in the village below, with the breach still gaping.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Moderate
• Eryri: Cadair Idris and the Mawddach

  Tal-y-llyn Lake

  Circuit of the lake in the fault valley below Cadair Idris, on lanes and paths with the mountain wall rising directly above.

  3.7 mi2 hr Moderate
• Dyfi Valley and Machynlleth

  Aberllefenni Quarries

  Slate workings at the head of the Dulas valley, worked for six centuries and among the last to close in Wales.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Dyfi Valley and Machynlleth

  Llyn Barfog

  The bearded lake in the hills above the Dyfi estuary, where Arthur is said to have dragged a monster out of the water.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Dyfi Valley and Machynlleth

  Pennal

  A village on the Dyfi with a Roman fort site, a church where Glyndŵr wrote to the King of France, and hill paths above the valley.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• Cambrian Mountains

  Llanbrynmair and the Wynnstay Hills

  Hill farmland on Glyndŵr’s Way between the Severn and Dyfi watersheds, in country that empties out fast once you leave the road.

  5.0 mi2 hr 55 Demanding
• Severn Valley and Newtown

  Carno and the Battle Site

  Hill paths above a village where three battles were fought in the Welsh medieval wars, with wind turbines on the tops and long views west.

  4.3 mi2 hr 35 Demanding
• Severn Valley and Newtown

  Caersws and the Severn

  Flat riverside meadows around a village built on a Roman fort, with the Severn looping through and the hills rising either side.

  3.7 mi1 hr 55 Easy
• Montgomery and the Border

  Llanfair Caereinion and the Banwy

  Riverside and farmland around the terminus of the Welshpool and Llanfair light railway, with steam trains running down the valley.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy

  The Vyrnwy Dam and Straining Tower

  Across the first large masonry dam built in Britain, with the Gothic straining tower standing in the water like a small castle.

  3.1 mi1 hr 40 Easy
• Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy

  Dyfnant Forest

  Large conifer forest between Vyrnwy and the Banwy, crossed by Glyndŵr’s Way, with red squirrels and very few people.

  5.0 mi2 hr 45 Moderate
• Berwyn and Lake Vyrnwy

  Bwlch y Groes and Pistyll Gwyn

  The highest public road in Wales, and a hidden waterfall in the valley below it, in country that empties out completely.

  4.3 mi2 hr 45 Demanding
• Radnorshire

  St Harmon and the Marteg

  Quiet farmland and riverbank in the upper Wye country, where Francis Kilvert was vicar and wrote about walking these lanes.

  3.7 mi2 hr 10 Moderate
• Upper Wye Valley

  Disserth Church

  Church on the Ithon with box pews still in place and no Victorian restoration, in a field with no village anywhere near it.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Radnorshire

  Llanbister and the Ithon Hills

  Hill paths above the Ithon on Glyndŵr’s Way, from a village with a church that sits oddly above the road on a steep bank.

  4.3 mi2 hr 35 Demanding
• South Pembrokeshire Coast

  Stepaside Ironworks and Pleasant Valley

  The ruins of an ironworks in a wooded valley, with the tramway that carried anthracite down to Saundersfoot harbour running through it.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• South Pembrokeshire Coast

  Manorbier Dovecote and Precipe

  Inland from the castle to a thirteenth-century dovecote that once held 250 birds, with a detour to a fossil-rich beach below the cliffs.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• North Pembrokeshire Coast

  The St Davids Peninsula Circuit

  The full round from the cathedral city, out past the holy well and along the cliffs to Whitesands, returning across farmland.

  6.6 mi4 hr 10 Demanding
• North Pembrokeshire Coast

  Solva and the Gribin Circuit

  Over the ridge above the harbour, along the cliffs past hidden beaches, then inland by a burial chamber and back through a wooded glen.

  3.7 mi2 hr 10 Demanding
• North Pembrokeshire Coast

  Garn Fawr and Garn Fechan

  Two rocky tors on the Pen Caer peninsula, with hut circles, field walls and ramparts spreading out across the moorland between them.

  3.7 mi2 hr 15 Demanding
• Preseli Hills

  Nevern Castle and the Pilgrims’ Cross

  A tenth-century Celtic cross in a churchyard of ancient yews, with a bleeding tree, a pilgrims’ cross cut into rock and a castle in the woods above.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• North Pembrokeshire Coast

  Newport Parrog and the Nevern Estuary

  Level walking round the estuary from the old quay, with limekilns on the shore and Carningli rising directly behind the town.

  3.1 mi1 hr 40 Easy
• Preseli Hills

  Llys-y-Frân Dam and Shore

  The accessible section of the reservoir circuit, surfaced and level along the dam and the nearest shore, with the Preselis behind.

  2.5 mi1 hr 25 Easy
• South Pembrokeshire Coast

  Canaston Woods

  Ancient oak woodland on the eastern Cleddau, with a corn mill at the bridge and paths running deep into the trees.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• South Pembrokeshire Coast

  Minwear Woods

  Oak woodland running down to the tidal Cleddau, on the quiet estuary that Pembrokeshire visitors almost never find.

  3.1 mi1 hr 50 Moderate
• South Pembrokeshire Coast

  Llawhaden Castle

  Bishop’s castle above the Cleddau, more comfortable residence than fortress, with field paths down to the river below it.

  3.1 mi1 hr 45 Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  Cardigan and the Teifi Marshes

  From the castle where the first eisteddfod was held, along the river to a wetland reserve with hides over the marsh.

  3.7 mi2 hr Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  St Dogmaels to Poppit Sands

  The northern end of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, from an abbey ruin and working watermill down the estuary to the beach.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  Llandysul and the Clettwr Valley

  Woodland, farmland and a disused railway above the Teifi, with views over the Clettwr valley and the Carmarthenshire hills.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Ceredigion Coast

  The Aeron Valley from Aberaeron

  Inland from the Georgian harbour up the Aeron valley, on field paths and lanes with views back to the coast.

  4.3 mi2 hr 25 Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  Tregaron and the Drovers’ Hills

  Out of the drovers’ town onto the hills that carried cattle east to England, with the bog and the Cambrians spread out behind.

  4.3 mi2 hr 30 Demanding
• Teifi Valley

  Pontrhydfendigaid

  The bridge of the blessed ford, with paths along the Teifi and out towards Strata Florida in country the monks farmed for four centuries.

  3.7 mi2 hr 10 Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  Llanwenog

  Quiet farmland in the lower Teifi valley, with a church holding remarkable carved bench ends and a breed of sheep named after the parish.

  3.7 mi2 hr 5 Moderate
• Teifi Valley

  Mynydd Llanybydder

  Open common above the Teifi with ponies grazing and a view that runs from the Cambrians to the Preselis when the air is clear.

  4.3 mi2 hr 35 Demanding
• Tywi Valley and Carmarthen

  Brechfa Forest

  Large forest in the Cothi valley with waymarked walking trails, red kites overhead and very few people once you leave the car park.

  5.0 mi2 hr 50 Demanding

These are route guides, not turn-by-turn directions. Take the relevant OS Explorer map, check the weather, and tell someone where you are going.