Whilst Snowdonia’s landscape offers more than enough for a family holiday, those seeking adventure will find another world beneath the dramatic mountain ranges.
Whether it’s learning more about the mining industry, which shaped the Snowdonia we know today, or navigating the caverns on zip wires and trampolines, there’s something for everyone!
Start your journey on Britain’s steepest cable railway. Once you arrive, not only will you be 500 feet underground, but you will have travelled back to 1856, when John Whitehead Greaves founded the slate mine.
Watch incredible light projections and special effects and listen to stories from guides, many of whom had family members work in the mines themselves. There’s even the chance to try out some of the equipment used by the miners. Tours run every 30 minutes and last about an hour. Booking is advisable.
Llechwedd Slate Caverns is not only a great place to learn about history, with the introduction of Bounce Below it’s also the perfect place to get the adrenalin pumping.
The first facility of its kind, the unique trampoline playground in a cavern twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral! The trampolines, hung at different levels and linked by walkways and slides, provide an incredibly exhilarating experience in such an atmospheric location.
Zip World Caverns, also located at Blaenau Ffestiniog, is home to five underground caverns, which visitors explore on zip lines and rope bridges. The team behind it describe it as an Indiana Jones-esque adventure and our expert Geraint Thomas agrees: “It’s unlike anything else on the planet!”
This action-packed three-hour adventure is open to adults and children aged 10 and over.
Expert Steve Beech concludes: “Bounce Below and Zip Caverns offer a whole world of underground fun, but isn’t for the fainthearted!”
Winner of the Prince of Wales award for tourism, the self-guided audiovisual tours takes you through tunnels and large chambers, winding through stalactite and stalagmite formations and copper ore veins (containing traces of gold, silver and other precious metals!).
The immersive tour includes special effects to help portray the life of a Victorian copper miner with the opportunity to pan for gold and use a metal detector. A children’s adventure playground and museum of antiquities round off the activities on offer.
Generating green, clean power, the underground tour of Europe’s largest pumped-storage hydro-electric power station at Elidir Mountain is a must.
With vast chambers and tunnels reminiscent of a James Bond film set, our expert Lynda Morris thinks it’s a fantastic day out and recommends the climbing wall and soft play area for younger children. There’s an excellent café, a gift shop and gallery space, which displays the work of local artists.
King Arthur’s Labyrinth is a journey into the mythical world of magic, dragons and giants. Greeted by a mysterious hooded boatman, you will travel by underground boat into a Dark Age storytelling adventure.
Next to King Arthur’s Labyrinth is the Lost Legends of The Stone Circle. Here you can navigate the snaking paths of the maze in your search to find The Stone Circle. Admission is half price when you buy a ticket for King Arthur’s Labyrinth.