This route starts from The Cedars Guesthouse in the small market town of Builth Wells situated on the banks of the River Wye and uses the much underrated A483 to travel northward. This is a very nice road with lots of twists and turns and the urge to twist the throttle is great but beware of traffic cops. A convenient stop for coffee is at Oswestry there are several places all visible just off of the roundabout. Don't be greedy though as there's a lunch stop scheduled at the highly recommended Bison Grill at the Rhug Estate just 1 hour away.
The route passes the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, an 18 arch stone and cast iron structure for use by narrowboats and pedestrians which was completed in 1805 having taken ten years to design and build. It is 12 feet (3.7 metres) wide and is the longest aqueduct in Great Britain and the highest canal aqueduct in the world. Designed by civil engineers Thomas Telford and William Jessop. There is a great viewpoint marked on this route to stop for a photo.
Next comes the Horseshoe Pass that starts from the town of Llangollen where the steam trains can be viewed from the bridge crossing the River Dee. The Pass is well known for the Ponderosa Cafe at its highest point 417 m and the scenic views along the road. Both the cafe and the pass itself were extremely popular with cyclists & motorcyclists, but unfortunately the café closed in November 2024 for maintenance and it was decided not re-open. Owners Simon and Sam Clemence took to Facebook to say: “It is with a heavy heart we announce that the Ponderosa shall not be re-opening at this present moment in time. The biking community have their fingers crossed that this once loved go to cafe will re-open.
From the high advantage point of the pass, you can see where the route will take you next, the mountains of Snowdonia National Park.

After lunch at The Bison Grill, the route enters The Snowdonia National Park and pass two reservoirs where you can stop for a picture. You will then start to climb through forested roads towards the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. There is a great viewpoint where you can see all the way to Cardigan Bay on a clear day. After stopping for a coffee in the very popular town of Betws-y-Coed the route then arrives at Mount Snowdon (1,085 metres), the mountain that the National Park gets it's name from.
Passing the foot of Mount Snowdon is the Pen-Y-Pass, a spectacular pass with steep mountain sides towering above you in this rock and boulder strewn river valley. The town of Llanberis is where you can take a steam train to the top of Snowdon.

The accommodation at Bangor is just a short ride away from here and will act as a good base for exploring North Wales. I would suggest 2 nights as the next route in this collection is a Round trip from Bangor to Conway Castle and Caernarfon Castle starting from and returning to Orme View Lodge.
Enjoy