Adventure Activity Holidays Caving Pony Trekking Mountain Biking Wales

Snowdonia Outdoors Adventure Activities

Snowdonia really is a playground for every outdoor adventure activity you can think of. Some of the most popular include walking, rock climbing and scrambling, cycling and mountain biking, surfing, windsurfing, sailing and canoeing. You can either try these alone or as part of a guided group, although the more adventurous activities should be planned with local groups or clubs. You can also book yourself on a holiday with one of the activity centres based in the area. They also offer activity weekends for adventurous stag & hen party weekends.

Snowdon is probably the most popular destination for walking and there are several paths with varying degrees of difficulty. For the more adventurous the Snowdon Horseshoe is one of the best ridge walks in the country. Other popular walks are up Cadair Idris and Cwm Idwal. There are several gentler walks along the coast at Mawddach estuary and Morfa Harlech.

Snowdonia has some of the best and most varied rock climbing areas in the country. Activity centres like Plas y Brenin based in Capel Curig, run courses or activity holidays if you haven't had a go at rock climbing before. Snowdonia's Gwydyr and Coed y Brenin Forests are world renowned for their purpose built mountain biking trails which have been designed to provide a variety of surfaces for all levels of difficulty. There are also easier tracks for leisure cycling and walking.

There are several good areas for watersports. Bala Lake is renowned for its sailing and windsurfing and the National Whitewater Centre nearby provides opportunities for kayaking and whitewater rafting. Barmouth and the Dyfi Estuary are popular for sailing.

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Brecon Beacons National Park Outdoor Pursuits - Walking, Pony Trekking, Caving, Cycling & Mountain B

Walking and hiking are probably the most popular outdoor activities in the Brecon Beacons. The Offa's Dyke path skirts the eastern border of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the Taff Trail, a long distance walking and cycle route, passes through the Beacons on its way from Brecon to Cardiff. More adventurous walking can be had by way of Gorge Walking. One of the most popular walks in the East Beacons taking in some of the most well-known Black Mountains summits is one east of the mountains along the southern band of peaks Pen Cerrig-calch, Table Mountain and the Sugar Loaf.

South Wales is one of the finest caving areas in the UK. The Brecon Beacons is home to two very extensive cave systems: Ogof Ffynnon Ddu and Dan-yr-Ogof. There are many other caves in the limestone areas of the Brecon Beacons National Park such as those at Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve. South Wales Caving Club members have often been the ones discovering and exploring the cave systems in the area. They are based at Penwyllt where cottages that were once used by workers of the limestone quarry that was once here have been transformed into their headquarters and bunkhouse accommodation that can be booked by visiting cavers.

Pony trekking is popular throughout the Brecon Beacons, but is most popular in the eastern Brecons around the Black Mountains. Ancient bridleways over the hills have traditionally been the focus of pony trekking and horse riding. Nowadays there is also a network of dedicated bridleways and trails on which horseriders can travel without being disturbed by traffic.

There are sixteen well researched mountain bike routes identified by colour coding according to difficulty level. These are based around 5 bike hubs: Brecon, Crickhowell, Talybont on Usk, Talgarth and Sennybridge. The routes are aimed at offering everything from short and easy summer evening rides to full-on all day epics over a variety of terrain from challenging moorland tracks to broad, well-surfaced forest roads. There are dedicated websites - one for cycling the other for mountain biking that list the main routes or you can buy the route pack from Tourist Information and Mountain Centres throughout the National Park. Other popular outdoor activities in the Brecons include fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Check the Brecon Beacons pages on this website for more information.

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Pembrokeshire Coast Extreme Watersports

Welcome to Pembrokeshire, West Wales - an area in the UK renowned for its favoured conditions for extreme watersports including surfing, kite surfing, windsurfing and coasteering. Why is it so perfect? Well, the Atlantic swell hit the Pembrokeshire coast full on, and combine this with superb clean waters and long golden sandy beaches and you have the perfect conditions for surfing particularly. Waves that hit the Pembrokeshire coast have travelled far across the Atlantic ocean. Unobstructed South West facing beaches on the Pembrokeshire coast have the most powerful rollers, whereas more sheltered south east facing beaches are more sheltered (the slightly more sheltered beaches are favoured by windsurfers).

Other popular sports in Pembrokeshire include climbing, particularly on the south coast limestone cliffes - checkout Huntsman's Leap! If you fancy exploring the Pembrokeshire coast at sea level, combining climbing with plunging into the sea, then coasteering is the new exciting way to do it! Favourite spots for coasteering include Stackpole Quay in South Pembrokeshire and St Non's near St Davids.

Plenty of opportunity for cycling and mountain biking around Pembrokeshire too, and how about a spot of diving around Skomer marine Nature Reserve, Ramsey Island or the wrecks around Milford Haven. Pembrokeshire also benefits from numerous bridleways for horseriding, plus if you've ever dreamed of horseriding along a flat endless sandy beach, then Pembrokeshire is where to do it!

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Mountain Biking Holidays in Wales - Afan Forest Park near Port Talbot, South Wales

The Afan Forest Park just behind Port Talbot near Neath, South Wales was once an area of coal mining, but now offers a choice of prime mountain bike trails, including the renowned world class trails the Penhydd (22km/forest and road climbs/superb views/open flowing singletrack)), the Wall (23km/singletrack on the north side of the park/mix of fast, open and flowing to tight technical and rooty), Skyline (a long one at 46km, commencing at the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre, quite rocky in parts, a real challenge for the experienced mountain biker and White's Level (24km/also starting at Glyncorrwg, this is a good technical trail wiith drops/stepdowns and singletrack climbs).

With over 100km of singletrack this park is a mountain biker's paradise.Something for everyone here, from the experienced to the beginner. In fact you don't even need a mountain bike on some of the easier tracks which are suitable for all kinds of bikes.

White Water Rafting on the River Dee, Llangollen

The superb opportunity for various outdoor leisure pursuits and watersports in and around Llangollen is another factor which pulls the crowds to this area of North Wales. Several outstanding outdoor adventure centres are based in Llangollen.

The River Dee rocks all year round too for white water rafting - no dam release reliance on this river! What's more, the Dee Valley offers a superb terrain for climbing, walking, mountain biking and more!

JJ Canoeing and Rafting Ltd, Mile End Mill, Berwyn Road, Llangollen, Denbighshire, LL20 8AD. Tel: 01978 860763. This Llangollen Adventure Centre specialises in whitewater rafting - full safety briefings and training given, all you need is a real sense of adventure and be prepared to get wet! They also offer canoeing, kayaking, climbing, abseiling, laser clay and archer, paint balling, quad biking and mountain biking. Check their weblink right for details. Stag and hen party weekends are welcome, as are corporate team building groups, families and school parties.

For more Llangollen Activity Centres checkout the Llangollen pages on this website.

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