Betws-y-Coed is where Snowdonia gets its coat on. The village sits at the meeting of three valleys, the Conwy, the Llugwy and the Lledr, in a wooded hollow ringed by steep hills, and it has been a base for walkers, painters and tourists since the Victorian era. Stone houses and outdoor shops line the main street, and cafés serve large mugs of tea to damp hikers. The resident population is small, and in summer the village hosts many times that number.
The road through it is the A5, built by Thomas Telford as the great Holyhead road, linking London with the ferry for Ireland, and the cast-iron Waterloo Bridge that carries it over the Conwy was completed in 1815, the year of the battle it is named for. The old stone bridge of Pont-y-Pair, in the middle of the village, spans the Llugwy among rocks and pools, and a short walk upstream leads to the Swallow Falls, a noisy cascade that has drawn visitors for two centuries.
For riders this is wonderful country. The A5 climbs west toward Capel Curig and the pass beneath the peaks of the Glyderau, a road of long, open bends and big mountain views, and the road north along the Conwy valley runs fast and easy toward Llanrwst and the coast. The forest of Gwydir covers the hills nearby, with spruce and larch, and the lanes that wind through it are narrow and green. Rain is frequent and heavy, and the roads are often wet, so mind your speed and watch for sheep. In summer the traffic is thick at weekends.
Fuel is the thing to plan: the village is small, and the larger towns are some way off, with Colwyn Bay about twenty kilometres away, so fill up in advance. There are good tea rooms and pubs, and a railway line to Llandudno. Come out of season for the best of it, in the calm of a misty autumn morning, with the trees turning red and the river high.