Message Forums

Hi

I'm pretty new to camping (apart from 25+ years ago in the boy scouts if that counts ?) and me and the family (wife and 2 kids aged 7 and 12) have recently returned from our first and successful camp in keswick in the Lake district staying at Castlerigg hall.

I don't think we would be considered all weather camping types and so i think with dark and cold evenings closing in fast our next trip will be spring/summer 2011.

We live in the Manchester area by the way and we were considering Bala for our next adventure and i'm hoping for some tips and feedback from people who have stayed there recently please.

I've done a little bit of homework on the area and it appears that the 2 stand out parks are Pen Y Bont and Glanllyn

Can anyone please give me a bit of feedback on either or both of these camps ?

The main difference appears to be the distance away from the main town,are there any pubs/restaurants/shops within close vicinity of glanllyn ? that would be my primary concern as we would ideally prefer to be within a resonable walking distance of places to eat and drink ideally.

thanks a lot in advance.

Yes, agreed, Glan Llyn is lovely, and if you like to get away from it all and take all the supplies you need its great. If you have/need/desire to walk to any pubs/shops then maybe not so great.  see Google streetview to get an idea of Glan Llyn's splendid isolation

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=llanuwchllyn&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=18.336241,43.286133&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Llanuwchllyn,+Bala,+Gwynedd,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.878455,-3.580513&spn=0,0.468979&t=h&z=12&layer=c&cbll=52.878355,-3.646037&panoid=YLuw4pZk9m8i5S4WGxxs1Q&cbp=12,250.32,,0,13.8

I took a run out with the kids this morning and headed out to Bala and visited Pen Y Bont (78 miles away and took about 1 hour 45 mins) and was given a very warm,friendly welcome by the owners in the reception area who invited me to take a tour of their lovely site at my leisure.

I have to say i was pleasantly surprised and found the facilities to be just what we are looking for and some of the tent pitches are in great sheltered spots along with electric hook ups.

We also had a look around the town and stopped by the boat club and had a little picnic while watching the windsurfers and kayakers float by on what was a lovely day weatherwise.The town is easily within walking distance and i'm 100% sure that we will be visiting this site in 2011.

cheers !