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I would pick somewhere dry.
Can't believe how many people like Barmouth.
We had a long weekend there 18 months ago,ended up christening the place Royston Vasey On Sea.
I much prefer Dolgellau just up the road.
A 'Hidden Gem' in Lancashire is the Forest of Bowland area.
I'm quite surprised at how often Dolgellau and Barmouth have come up in this thread too. But having said that, we lived in Dolgellau in the early to mid 80s when I was ~10 and the Tan y Fron campsite was always filled with with central Europe couples/families (especially from Germany).
~10 miles from the beaches at Fairbourne and Barmouth; a little less to Cader Idris and the lovely roads/lakes around its base; Bala and Lake Vernwy <20 miles north east; Coed y Brenin under 10 miles north etc.
Back then, I didn't really see the appeal of Barmouth and Fairbourne besides the beach, but it could have changed an awful lot in nearly three decades.
Hopefully going to re-visit Dolgellau for the first time in ~25 years this summer, perhaps using it as a base to road ride, including doing the Bwlch Y Groes triple climb.
Back then, I didn’t really see the appeal of Barmouth and Fairbourne
I never did. Barmouth was left behind in the Victorian 1960s. Fairbourne is simply a cluster of ramshackle houses and a shop or three. Not even big enough to be a village.
But in over 50 yrs I've camped, hosteled and rented accommodation around the Mawddach area more times even than the Gower and Pembs, and rivalling Exmoor/Devon. It's simply a stunning place if you love the outdoors. The two mountain ranges protect a stunning estuary and river trail. All I need is the George III for a pint of ale and some scran. And a quick bike into Dollgellau next morning to the frankly epic T H Roberts café for a breakfast, read and coffee. Stock up on supplies at the supermarket, then a ride back to Arthog for night fishing off the bridge or Fairbourne beach. Rest of the time spent climbing, walking, photography, or by car visiting other towns/areas locally. The whole area has so many hidden gems. I woke one morning to see an osprey and a buzzard having a dogfight above me. The night skies are also wonderful from Cregennen. Standing stones, Bronze-age tracks, oak woods, ruins, lakes, pools, torrents, I need a year there.
I might cross the bridge into Boremouth for a pizza or a swift pint by the quay. But that's about it. Why would anyone want to mope around an old seaside town all week? Chips!
Timidwheeler: An excellent point regarding weather. I moved abroad to avoid the rain, so whilst a change from 45 degC will be welcome, constant downpours not so...!
Malvern Rider: My thoughts exactly. Looking for good accomodation in a beautiful but largely unspoilt area, but with access to at least a decent pub, shop, cafe and takeaway. It's good to have a town like Barmouth near by, but not as the actual location where you stay. Days to be spent walking, playing in the great outdoors with the toddler, reading, watching the World Cup and leisurely BBQs. I'm a man of simple pleasures!
To be honest, most areas more than 500m from a car park are effectively hidden gems.
Exactly jam bo.
"INH" - has a good point, Barmouth the town is pretty depressing, it's full of absolute sh*te food (chips, hotdogs, etc..) fatties covered in tattoos on a sunny day and feels washed up...evening wear seemed to be a Liverpool shirt and track suit bottoms. I made the mistake of taking some Spaniards there who were very puzzled by what they saw!. The surrounding area is lovely.
Walsall, cumbernauld and warrington.
Barmouth the town is pretty depressing, it’s full of absolute sh*te food (chips, hotdogs, etc..) fatties covered in tattoos on a sunny day and feels washed up…evening wear seemed to be a Liverpool shirt and track suit bottoms. I made the mistake of taking some Spaniards there who were very puzzled by what they saw!. The surrounding area is lovely.
This pretty much sums up our opinion of Barmouth & it's surrounding area.
Shropshire, Northumberland, Forest of Bowland, Dorset all good suggestions. For what it's worth, I quite like Barmouth and pretty much all of the Welsh coast. Criccieth or somewhere else on the Lleyn peninsula is another possibility.
I used to live in Shropshire where there's Ironbridge Gorge, the Long Mynd and Ludlow. Authentic enough, rather than too touristy but with enough pubs and amenities.
And I grew up in Dorset. Perhaps somewhere like Seatown would appeal although some of the roads near Weymouth get busy. Portland, Durdle Door, West Bay all nice in their own way. Sherborne is nice but apart from the abbey, there's not much to actually do.
Have a nice time, wherever you go.
"Wylye/Nadder/Chalke Valleys in Wiltshire"
Just moved there* this week. Can't wait to explore!
* one of the three anyhow!
@Drac I take your Cleethorpes and raise you Skeg.
@CountZero Is the centre of Salisbury Plain tourist-free because of the tanks?
Another Shrops shout here, used to live in SW Shrops, always marvel at the jewel-like nature of the place. A treasure trove once you get West beyond the Cardingmill crowds . Also over the border into Radnor and Powys. Knighton, Walton Basin, Offa's Dyke etc Far from beaches, but also some of the quietest and prettiest places imaginable.
Clunton and Clunbury,
Clungunford and Clun,
Are the quietest places
Under the sun.In valleys of springs of rivers,
By Ony and Teme and Clun,
The country for easy livers,
The quietest under the sun,
- A. E. Housman
The weather comments are spot on tho. It rains all of the time in Shrops, Wales, Devon and Cornwall. There must be some interesting coastal places in the S/E that remain largely un-thronged?
I would pick somewhere dry.
that rules out the UK then!
500m from a carpark....good point! Last August BH in beautiful weather we had Saunton Sands almost to ourselves. Everyone else was in close range of the car parks at each end leaving us a couple of miles of beach in between. Amazing! 😎
Forest of Bowland, local town Clitheroe, Skipton 30 minutes drive/ Ilkley another 10 minutes.
Manchester for yoer bright lights 45 minutes
Yorkshire Dales 30 minutes drive
Lakes 1hr20 drive
MTB gisburn, York's dale, Lakes.
Walking as above plus Forest of Bowland
@mikertroid - you're very lucky indeed! Gorgeous areas, so unspoilt and you're bound to have a great time exploring.
Don't come to Machynlleth it's crap, the views are appalling, the locals are positively obnoxious and you may as well leave your mtb at home cuz there are no decent trails to speak of.
To be honest, most areas more than 500m from a car park are effectively hidden gems.
Ain’t that the truth!
Is the centre of Salisbury Plain tourist-free because of the tanks?
Well, large chunks of it can be a bit hazardous... 🤣
There are attractive areas around and in the Plain, but Stonehenge is the main honeypot and the traffic on the A303 is a nightmare, the rest of the centre of Wiltshire is pretty flat, (it isn’t called Plain for nuthin), and hasn’t got much else, really.
Jaywick Essex.
A ‘Hidden Gem’ in Lancashire is the Forest of Bowland area.
Yup. Just don’t tell everyone about it 😉
The Lleyn is great. Abersoch can be busy but get away from it and it's really quiet. This is Porth Ceiriad on a really busy day in peak season:
If you want quiet in the Lakes, go East near Shap, have you seen the film Withnail and I, this is where they went on holiday, just say you are not from that London, the real cumbria.
Some great cottages in the area.
+1 for Forest of Bowland, Herefordshire (Golden Valley) and Shropshire. All are attractive places with great countryside for outdoors stuff, and not overrun with tourists. In fact I've climbed hills in the Forest of Bowland without seeing anyone else at all. Try doing that in the Dales...
I've just spent the weekend walking in the Cotswolds, and it's a funny old mixture: Broadway was completely overrun with tourists milling about, yet other pretty villages (e.g. Stanton) were deserted, and in my view much nicer for it. So I guess that even busy areas have their quiet spots.
I’ve just spent the weekend walking in the Cotswolds, and it’s a funny old mixture: Broadway was completely overrun with tourists milling about, yet other pretty villages (e.g. Stanton) were deserted, and in my view much nicer for it. So I guess that even busy areas have their quiet spots.
As a Cotswold inhabitant, there are many villages that are much prettier and much quieter than the tourist honeypots. They tend to be the ones without the car parks.
Eastleach, for example, is a beautiful village with a fantastic pub and is tourise free. Less than five miles away in Bibury is an entire tourist industry built around a single row of cottages...
I'd second the Llyn Peninsular.
Or somewhere like Ravenglass. Coastal, a stones throw from the western Lakes and narrow gauge railway up into Eskdale.
I really love Rhossilli bay in the Gower. Surfable waves almost every day, lovely walks nearby, an hour from BPW or Afan and some good local spots for food and drinks. If you get the weather it's amazing.
We went to Cornwall last year for 6 days for £630 in the middle of August.
Northern Ireland! The causeway coast is amazing and plenty of small villages etc to spend time in
I really love Rhossilli bay
Yep.
in the Gower. Surfable waves almost every day, lovely walks nearby
Indeed
and some good local spots for food and drinks. If you get the weather it’s amazing.
Those two attractions have persistently eluded me. Especially the food and drinks part. Any tips? King's Head is the usual 'not vastly disappointing' option for us.
and some good local spots for food and drinks. If you get the weather it’s amazing.
Those two attractions have persistently eluded me. Especially the food and drinks part. Any tips? King’s Head is the usual ‘not vastly disappointing’ option for us.
I agree. I live in Swansea and rarely ever eat anywhere in Gower because most of the places are just designed to rip off visitors, it seems. There are a few decent cafes, and places like The Greyhound/King Arthur dip in and out of form, but nowhere I'd actually recommend. (Although we stopped at the cafe in Pennard last weekend - £17 for two coffees, a soft drink and three pieces of cake. The coffee was good, and the cake was huge lumps of very good home-made cake.)
WIltshire in the height of summer is in no way comparable to South Hams or Purbeck - plenty of space and places to go if you avoid the obvious Avebury, Stonehenge, Longleat etc.
How about Steephill Cove on the IoW? Can't get a car to your house there though, may be a deal breaker ...
...perhaps not that undiscovered but I'd say underrated: Costa del Yorkshire, from Flamborough up to Cleveland. Coves, cliffs beaches and villages, and the Moors and Wolds thrown in. Just a bit of riding too. And look at that map at the top of the page: no rain. Ever.
No, no, no. South/West Wales is a complete waste of time. There's zero worth seeing, the views are nonexistent, everyone's rude, the trails are massively crowded and there are never any decent waves. There's nothing, NOTHING, to do and everywhere is a massive rip-off. That NORTH Wales on the other hand......I've heard amazing things. You should all go there. Definitely.