Snowdonia, GB

A Welsh tapas and gin bar in the middle of Betws-y-Coed, plating small sharing dishes that mix Spanish style with Welsh produce. It is the most contemporary place to eat in a village otherwise full of pubs and tearooms.

A friendly village pub beside the old bridge over the Afon Llugwy in Betws-y-Coed, doing hearty plates and local ales after a day on the hills. It is the reliable, unpretentious dinner in the village's busiest corner.

A legendary climbers' cafe in Llanberis, all bright walls, mountains of food and mugs of tea the size of pints, where generations of walkers have refuelled. It is an institution as much as a cafe, with a noticeboard of conditions and partners-wanted notes.

A well-regarded Indian restaurant on Llanberis high street, the village's go-to for a proper curry after a day on Yr Wyddfa. It is a welcome change of pace from pub food and reliably busy with locals and walkers alike.

A family-run real-ale pub in tiny Rhyd-Ddu, right at the foot of the quieter western paths up Yr Wyddfa, with an open kitchen and a roaring fire. It is the classic Welsh mountain inn, walkers' boots and all.

A mountain inn in Capel Curig with big windows framing the Snowdon range and a kitchen that takes its food more seriously than most hill pubs, with a strong vegetarian streak. It is a comfortable base in the heart of the climbing country.

A 15th-century stone cottage tearoom by the old bridge in Llanrwst, swathed in Virginia creeper that turns fiery red in autumn. It does proper Welsh teas, bara brith and cakes in one of the most photographed buildings in the valley.

A Beddgelert institution making its own ice cream on site, with a long counter of flavours that draws queues onto the riverside pavement in summer. It is the sweet stop after a walk through the Aberglaslyn gorge.

The longest but most gradual route up the highest mountain in Wales, shadowing the mountain railway from Llanberis to the summit. It is the path most first-timers choose, a long, steady plod rather than a scramble, with the cafe and train at the top.

The classic loop up Yr Wyddfa from Pen-y-Pass, climbing the rugged Pyg Track past Glaslyn lake and descending the gentler Miners' Track. It is shorter and far more dramatic than the Llanberis path, with the finest mountain scenery of any route.

A flat-ish loop around a glacial lake cradled by the cliffs of the Devil's Kitchen, in a hanging valley that is one of Britain's oldest nature reserves. It is short, jaw-dropping and accessible to anyone happy on a rocky path.

A bare rock pyramid in the Ogwen valley that is less a walk than a hands-on scramble to a summit crowned by two monolith stones called Adam and Eve. It is one of the few British mountains you cannot reach without using your hands.

A steady, mostly gentle walk up a wooded valley to a single dramatic ribbon of water plunging over a cliff at the northern edge of the park. The path is well made and the falls are spectacular, especially after rain.

A flat, family-friendly loop around the lake at Llanberis, with the slate-quarry slopes on one side and the Snowdon massif reflected in the water on the other. It is the easy, low-level walk for a rest day or with small children.

A riverside path through a steep, tree-hung gorge below Beddgelert, following the rushing Afon Glaslyn along the route of an old railway. The Fisherman's Path scrambles over rocks beside the water and is one of the prettiest short walks in Wales.

A peaceful reservoir hidden in the forest above Betws-y-Coed, reached by a climbing woodland path that pops out at a memorial viewpoint over the water and the surrounding peaks. It is the quiet alternative to the busy village waterfalls.

An adventure complex built into a former slate mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog, with underground zip lines, a vast cavern of bouncing nets and deep-mine tours. It is the headline rainy-day-proof activity of the area and turns the slate heritage into a playground.

The oldest surviving narrow-gauge railway in the world, built in 1836 to haul slate and now carrying passengers thirteen miles from Porthmadog harbour up into the mountains at Blaenau Ffestiniog. The little steam trains climb through forest and past lakes on a genuinely scenic line.

A free museum in the original Victorian workshops of the Dinorwig quarry at Llanberis, where the machinery still runs and craftsmen demonstrate splitting slate by hand. It tells the human story behind the landscape of spoil heaps and quarry terraces all around.

The only public rack-and-pinion railway in Britain, climbing from Llanberis to a station just below the summit of Yr Wyddfa. It is the way to the roof of Wales for anyone who cannot or would rather not walk the mountain.

A restored Victorian copper mine near Beddgelert that you tour on foot through tunnels and chambers hung with stalactites and copper-stained walls. It is a compact, atmospheric underground experience and a good option with older children.

One of Edward I's ring of conquest castles, perched on a crag that once had the sea at its foot, with a famous gatehouse and a near-vertical 'way from the sea' stairway. The ramparts give some of the widest views in Wales, across Cardigan Bay to the Llyn Peninsula.

An Italianate fantasy village built over fifty years by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis on a private wooded peninsula, best known as the set for the 1960s series The Prisoner. It is part folly, part garden, part film set, and unlike anywhere else in Wales.

A Welsh-built round tower from the era of the native princes, standing above Llyn Padarn at the mouth of the Llanberis Pass. It is free, romantic and far less visited than the great Edwardian castles, with the lake and mountains as a backdrop.

The most famous waterfall in the area, where the Afon Llugwy tumbles through a wooded gorge just outside Betws-y-Coed. A short stepped path leads down to viewing platforms, making it an easy stop rather than a hike.

A lopsided cottage of huge rough boulders beside the A5, supposedly thrown up overnight as a 'ty unnos' to claim squatter's rights. It now houses a small cafe and a bee-friendly woodland garden run by the Snowdonia society.