Beddgelert is a village of grey stone houses at the meeting of two rivers, the Glaslyn and the Colwyn, in a green valley surrounded by the mountains of Snowdonia. An old stone bridge crosses the river in the middle of the village, and the houses, pubs and cafes cluster around it, with steep wooded slopes rising behind. It is one of the prettiest villages in Wales, and in summer it is busy with walkers, families and tourists.
The village name means Gelert's Grave, and it is attached to a famous legend. Prince Llywelyn came home from hunting to find his cradle overturned and his faithful dog Gelert covered in blood. Thinking the dog had killed his baby son, he drew his sword and killed it, only to find the child safe under the cradle and a dead wolf nearby, killed by Gelert. Overcome with grief, he buried the dog with honour. A grave with a stone marks the spot in a field near the river. The story is probably a later invention, promoted in the eighteenth century by a local innkeeper to attract visitors, but that has not stopped generations of people from visiting the grave and feeling the sorrow of the tale.
South of the village, the river Glaslyn runs through the Aberglaslyn Pass, a narrow, wooded gorge with rocks and rapids, where a footpath follows the old railway line along the river. The Welsh Highland Railway, a narrow-gauge steam railway, runs through the village on its way between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, and there are copper mines in the hills nearby, one of which can be visited.
The roads around Beddgelert are some of the best in Snowdonia. The A498 runs north past the lakes of Llyn Dinas and Llyn Gwynant toward Pen-y-Gwryd, with fine views of Snowdon, and the A4085 runs north toward Caernarfon and south through the Aberglaslyn Pass toward Porthmadog. The roads are narrow and twisting, with stone walls and trees close to the edge, and busy in summer.
Beddgelert has cafes, pubs, shops and accommodation, and an ice cream shop that is famous in the area. For fuel, Porthmadog, about ten kilometres south, is the nearest town.