Snowdonia in 4 days
Four nights through Eryri from Birmingham: in by the lakes, out by the A5. Every leg below is computed on our own road router; every stop count comes from our live map.
428 km all in, about 6h37 of driving across the week — including the run home to Birmingham.
Stops below are described by type and area, not business name — we do not name a pub or farm as welcoming campers unless they have actually said so. The counts are live from our map and honestly labelled unverified.
Your route is not the standard route
- Pen-y-Pass has no motorhome parking, full stop. The car park at the top of Llanberis Pass is pre-book only, size-limited, and full by dawn — every Snowdon plan in a van goes through the Sherpa'r Wyddfa bus instead, and the plan below is built that way.
- Llanberis Pass itself is tight — parked cars narrow the A4086 to a thread on summer weekends. Fine early, miserable at noon.
- The Ogwen valley car parks are day parking, and the lay-bys on the A5 there are clearway — the no-overnight rules through the valley are enforced.
Night 1 · Bala
In across the border on the A5 and A494 to the biggest natural lake in Wales — the gentle first night. Llyn Tegid's shore path fills the evening, and the town is a proper Welsh market town rather than a resort.
Stop type: Campsite on the lake or up Cwm Hirnant. The lakeside car parks are day parking.
Within 10 km on our map: 15 campsites & caravan sites — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Night 2 · Beddgelert
Over to the heart of the park past the Rhinogs. Beddgelert is the prettiest village in Eryri, the Aberglaslyn gorge walk starts from the bridge, and the Welsh Highland Railway steams through the garden.
Stop type: Campsite in the Gwynant or Colwyn valleys. The village car park is small and day only.
Within 10 km on our map: 11 campsites & caravan sites — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Worth the detour: Llyn Dinas at dusk, a mile up the valley.
Night 3 · Llanberis
Round under the mountain to its base town. Snowdon day: the Sherpa'r Wyddfa bus from Llanberis serves every trailhead, which beats the parking fight at any of them — or the mountain railway does the climbing for you. Dolbadarn Castle and the slate museum fill a weather day.
Stop type: Campsite in the Padarn area or up the Peris valley. Do not plan around parking at Pen-y-Pass — see above.
Within 10 km on our map: 33 campsites & caravan sites · 1 service points · 1 water points — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Night 4 · Betws-y-Coed
Down the Llugwy to the prettiest road junction in Wales. Swallow Falls on the way in, the Fairy Glen a mile south, and the A5 home to Birmingham in the morning — about two and a half hours.
Stop type: Campsite or pub stopover around the village. Betws fills early in season; book.
Within 10 km on our map: 28 campsites & caravan sites — unverified, from OpenStreetMap.
Slow section: the A5 through the Ogwen valley — clearway, and worth it.
The part that is not about driving
Eryri had the UK's worst mountain-honeypot parking problem until enforcement got serious, and the rules that resulted are not suggestions: pre-book car parks, clearway orders on the A5, and tow-aways at Pen-y-Pass. The bus network exists precisely so a van can do Snowdon without the fight — use it, book pitches in season, and the park is easy.
Wild camping in a motorhome is not a legal right in Wales — overnighting needs the landowner's permission, every time. The full explanation →