Many of my holidays as a kid involved packing up the car and getting the ferry to Britain or France. So it was coincidental that one of the only holidays I've taken with my parents as an adult involved a ferry.
As a child, I hadn't experienced the long, arduous queues in airports so had no appreciation of the convenience of sea travel. With no queues for check-in or security, it was hard to believe that three hours later we were in another country at all.
The destination was Wales to climb Mount Snowdon. Its tallest peak reaches 1,085 metres (3,560ft) and is the highest in England and Wales. This is where Edmund Hillary trained before he climbed Everest. Situated in the north of the country in Snowdon National Park, it provides one of Britain's most beautiful landscapes. Last year 540,475 visitors walked on one of the mountain's seven routes.
The northeast routes are rockier and steeper than the slopes on the south and the west. The paths are all marked and some join and cross each other, allowing a combination of a few different routes on one hike. The local Sherpa bus travels around the bottom of the mountain connecting the different hiking paths and will bring you back to your staring point if you choose to go up one route and down another.
Llanberis, Watkin and Snowdon Ranger are considered to be the easier paths and even they have steep sections with rough terrain. It's important for hikers to wear suitable footwear and clothing and not to be misled by good conditions on the ground. This often leads to rescues from the mountain-side.
On the day of my hike high winds and torrential rain helped me to decide on taking the easiest path. The five-mile walk each way makes Llanberis Path the longest, but it has a steady incline which means it's not the steepest.
The starting point is in the town of Llanberis. We walked along a well sign-posted path from the Royal Victoria Hotel at the south end of the town. The path follows a track parallel to the railway line which goes to the summit. It's well marked out and is not so steep until the last mile.
Views periodically peeped out from behind the clouds and were stunning. The mountains, valleys and lakes form breathtaking scenery and on a clear day you can see the Wicklow Mountains - a small coffee shop which marks the halfway point is a good place to take it all in.
Last month (June 2009) the new £8.35m visitor's centre on the summit of Snowdon opened. The centre has been built to withstand extreme weather conditions of 150mph winds, annual rainfall of over 5m and temperatures of -20 degrees. The centre surprisingly fits in quite well to the landscape, perhaps due to a curved roof which doesn't block the view from the summit. I arrived there wet and cold. The centre was packed with hikers taking a well-earned break. After a very long queue I had a big cup of the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted.
Thanks to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the peak of the mountain is accessible to non-walkers and last year 124,000 passengers used this service. The train departs from Llanberis and runs from May to October. It is expensive at £23 return but worth it for its views on a clear day. The journey takes an hour both ways, although many opt to get the train up and walk back. It's often booked out in summer so it's advisable to book ahead.
We stayed at Y Goeden Eirin and this made the weekend in Wales very special. The guest house is situated at the edge of Snowdon National Park; about a 20-minute drive from Llanberis, it makes a great base for climbing Snowdon. It's the home of academics John and Eluned Rowlands, whose Welsh hospitality gives guests the feeling that you're staying with friends rather than proprietors.
The environmentally responsible couple are passionate about the Welsh language and culture and gave us an education in both. The house has an excellent library and an interesting art collection that Eluned is only too happy to tell you the stories behind. Other homely touches are the Aga-warmed kitchen and John playing the piano. To top it all off they cook delicious food using many of the ingredients from their garden. It's no wonder that Y Goeden Eirin has won numerous awards including The Observer Magazine's 'The 20 Best Kept Travel Secrets 2007' and a Cesar Award from The Good Hotel Guide as 'Green Guest House of the Year'.
Deirdre Mullins
For information on climbing Snowdon, visit: www.eryri-npa.co.uk.
To book a train up Snowdon, visit: www.snowdonrailway.co.uk.
To stay in Y Goeden Eirin, visit: www.ygoedeneirin.co.uk.
For more information about Wales, visit: www.visitwales.com.
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