2 Welsh Trips

[Ibex]

Hi All,

i'm going to Wales on two separate trips, in August and would appreciate some help in planning some walks, as i've only ever done Snowdon as a young lad with school.

The first trip will probably be with my wife, who is pretty short (4'9'' bless her) and she wants to only go on a few small walks. Around the 4 hour mark.
She stopped enjoying Scafell Pike after about 3 hours, due to terrible weather and the fact that I kept lying to her about how much further it was.
These walks will be in the Brecon Beacons, as we can drive there in about 3 hours, to have a long weekend there.

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The other trip will be in Snowdonia itself, with a few friends. They should all be relatively fit, so would like to tackle a good few hills in the time there. Maybe 3 days walking!
About 10 - 14 miles a day should be do-able I think.

Any and all suggestions/advice will be very much appreciated!

The more Hewitts that I can tick off, the better! I will be aiming to bring back plenty of photo's.

[malky_c]

Worth having a look through my trip reports for the last 9 months - I have been in Wales a lot in that time. Mind you, they are nearly all hill-based rather than level walks.

In the Brecon Beacons, my favourite of the high mountains was Black Mountain (in the west - not to be confused with the Black Mountains in the east). Parking at Llyn y Fan and doing a circuit of the lake will give you some of the best scenery in the area. I did the following, but you can shorten it a lot to just include Bannau Sig Gaer and Fan Brycheiniog:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=20576

Nice lower hills in the area are Sugar Loaf and Ysgyryd Fawr:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19295
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21450

Pen y Fan is a good hill with very good paths up it but very busy. Also worth a look is Lord Hereford's Knob in the Black Mountains. This is fairly high and has good views, but you can drive to within 20 minutes of the summit:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/hewitts/twmpa

I think there is lots of scope for nice lower level walks in South Wales as well, but I can't tell you much about that as I haven't really done any.

In Snowdonia, 10-14 miles would cover a lot of ground. Most of my walks in the area have been much shorter. I'd suggest visiting Tryfan and the Glyders (plenty of reports on here). A circuit of Tryfan. Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr and Y Garn is a great introduction.
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6781

You could do a full traverse of the Carneddau, like Foggieclimber and I did recently, or a shorter circuit of the southern (and most spectacular) summits:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21137
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12878

The Snowdon Horseshoe is the obvious classic, and there are also many route variations:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16096
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4311

Moel Siabod is much recommended, as is the Nantlle Ridge:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19310
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19906

And if you're further south, Cadair Idris is a classic:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=17902

There's loads more obviously. Worth flicking through some of the reports of the more obscure hills - there's some gems in there too:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/hewitts.php?mode=hmap

[Ibex]

Wow. Thanks malky_c. That is a very thorough covering or all my questions!

Will get reading tonight when I get home and then buy the maps and start planning routes.
Looking forward to it already.