Traws Eryri Day 4 – Betws y Coed to Conwy

by Alan Cole · Saturday, October 10th, 2026

Day 4 of the Traws Eryri started wet, and it only got wetter. Fortunately, I had slept well, I think the earplugs helped with that. I was feeling mostly better when I woke up. It had rained overnight and was raining now, with the forecast for more heavy rain this morning.

We had breakfast at the guesthouse, packed our bags and slowly got our bikes ready to go. There wasn’t much hurry as it was raining heavily, so we weren’t that keen to get out into it. There wasn’t much point waiting around either, though and with no real excuses and our bikes loaded up, we headed off through the gloomy streets of Betws y Coed, over the bridge and the waterfalls and then alongside the River Llugwy.

Having decided that the roadies had it right and not really liking my waterproof shorts, I’d opted for the unrestricted lycra shorts for my bottom half and had a thin, partially waterproof jacket on. Mike had full-on waterproofs top to bottom, which was probably the sensible choice as the rain soon started to intensify. It was pleasant cycling under the trees though as we made our way through the forest and then down to the main road at the Ugly House.

We crossed the road and the river and followed quiet lanes through attractive countryside to Pont Cyfyng. I think we made a mistake here; rather than joining the main road for a while, we continued on along the wrong side of the river. It was nice, but we soon came to some rocky, rooty sections that were unrideable, and then a locked gate and eventually something of a scramble over slippery rocks to find a trail. Whilst struggling over the rocks and making sure Mike didn’t fall into the river, we came across a team of Search & Rescue volunteers training under the bridge. Thankfully, despite our best attempts, we didn’t need them, and after some faffing to regain the trail we decided to cross the footbridge here and get back on track along the main road.

It wasn’t far until we found the proper track opposite the Siabod Café and were back on easy-going forest roads along the Nant Gwyryd and then across the bridge at the Plas y Brenin outdoor centre near Capel Curig. It was now raining heavily and I was getting very wet. There was an option to stop for a coffee here, but we’d only been going for 90 minutes, so we thought it best to push on to Ogwen Cottage and stop there.

The next section joined what looked like more Roman road as it contoured around the flanks of Cefn y Capel behind Capel Curig to follow the Afon Llugwy again. This took us into the Ogwen Valley where we joined the long straight track towards Ogwen Cottage, known as the Lôn Las Ogwen. I’m not sure what this track used to be, it’s so straight and flat that it looks like the remnants of a railway line, but I think it’s actually an old road.

By now it was absolutely hammering it down with rain. The mountains to either side were barely visible, the track was just a constant stream of water and it was a case of putting our heads down and battling into the wind and rain. There wasn’t really much chance to admire our surroundings, although we did of course, enjoy the impressive silhouette of everyone’s favourite mountain, Tryfan, through the mist and murk. It was so wet that the whole thing became somewhat comical.

I was soaked through to the skin, with my lycra shorts providing no protection at all. Mike was drier under his waterproof layers, but the electronics on his bike weren’t so happy. The motor on his e-bike kept cutting out and didn’t want to turn back on.

We eventually made it to Ogwen Cottage, where we bought coffees and cakes and were able to head into some shelter amid a gaggle of students who were clearly on a geology/geography field trip – we remembered those days! Somehow our field trips here were also in conditions such as these, and not one of them looked particularly enthused when the teacher announced it was time to leave the shelter of the visitor centre and head up to Cwm Idwal. They were going to have a lovely day!

I got chatting to a girl from the Netherlands who was sheltering from the weather and trying to decide if she should go for a walk or just wait 90 minutes for the bus and start heading home. I think she’s sensibly opted for the latter, so was asking about indoor attractions she could visit locally instead. Meanwhile, I had generated a little pool of water on the floor as I gradually dripped dry.

When I say ‘dry ’, it’s all relative. I was still soaking wet, and a little chilly standing here, but the water had at least stopped streaming off me. I decided that the next stretch down into Bethesda could be quite chilly, so I decided that now was the time to don my waterproofs! Just a couple of hours too late, really and a bit pointless now that I was already completely soaked, but I put my waterproof trousers on and a more waterproof jacket and then we set off down the hill. You’ve guessed it, within about 5 minutes of donning the extra layers, the rain stopped, and the sun started coming out. I imagine it was still raining at Ogwen Cottage, but now that we’d lost some elevation and moved closer to the coast, it was beginning to look much nicer.

We skirted around Penrhyn Quarry on nice gravel tracks. Mike’s motor seemed to kick in now and then, usually just when he needed it on a little climb and apparently (although I’m not sure I believe him), it was stuck in ‘Turbo’ mode. This meant that after an initial slowing and struggling at the bottom of each climb, he’d suddenly go flying past me at top speed with no chance of me keeping up!

We rode around Bethesda and stopped at a little shop in Rachub for supplies. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much, so it was just drinks and chocolate. The sun was out now, so off came my layers once again. Of course, as soon as I did that, there was a passing shower. It didn’t come to too much, though, so the waterproofs stayed off.

We then followed pleasant country lanes with views out over Bangor to Anglesey and Puffin Island before cycling alongside the busy A55 for a short while. We stopped at Abergwyngeryn where there should have been a café. It was closed, so we continued on. I was getting hungry now and had hoped for something proper to eat here before the final big climb of the day, but would have to rely on energy bars.

The next climb was a big one, up behind Llanfairfechan and then out onto moorland towards the summit of Graiglwyd. Once again, Mike’s turbo mode conveniently kicked in when needed most! It started raining again towards the top, so I sheltered from the wind behind a stone wall and donned my thin jacket once again.

The ride across the top on grassy double track between the heather and bracken with views to the Great Orme was nice. So nice that we got carried away when it started descending and ended up following a lovely fast-flowing descent all the way to Capelulo. We weren’t supposed to come this way and should really have contoured around the other side of the hillside on what has been reported to be a very boggy trail. We’d inadvertently avoided the boggy section and added a fun descent into the mix. The downside was that we now had to gain most of the elevation we had lost with an extra bonus climb up the Sychnant Pass. The wildfires of summer were evident here as we rode through scorched hillsides.

We were nearly at the end now, just a pleasant descent, first on tarmac and then a woodland path before we emerged at the City Walls of Conwy. We rode around to the quayside, snapped a photo and then headed to the pub.

They didn’t serve food, and I was in need of some, so while Mike got himself a celebratory Guinness I headed off to find ‘proper’ food from a nearby (and very nice) Fish and Chip shop. When I returned, Mike bought me a pint, and we sat outside eating and drinking and checking our Strava feeds.

We now had the small matter of getting back to Machynlleth/Borth ahead of us so we rode across the bridge to Llandudno Junction station and asked if we could get on an earlier than than we had tickets for. We were told “not really, but if you ask the conductor you’ll probably be OK”. We were directed to the platform where, in about an hour, the next train would depart from. Two minutes later, the lady from the ticket office called us over and said: “Quick, jump on this train; I’ve spoken to the conductor and you’ll be fine”. So that’s what we did. We didn’t even check where the train was going!

Fortunately, it was the train to Shrewsbury, and we were now happily on a train that was at least a couple of hours earlier than planned. Perfect.

The train journey was uneventful. We had an hour to wait at Shrewsbury (had we been a minute earlier into the station, there would have been no wait at all). We also had some man-handling of bikes up and down the stairs to change platforms but arrived in good time at Machynlleth where Mike got off ready for a drive home. It had been good to see him and go on a little adventure through Wales with him. I wonder where we’ll go next?

I stayed on the train until Borth and then had a reason to use the bike lights I’d carried across Wales with me as I cycled the two miles home, with a nice tailwind, I might add.

All in all a great little adventure, some laughs along the way, a mix of weather and a lovely trail. Best of all, Mike had raised lots of money for Alzheimer’s Research too.