Ysgubor Wen Eco Camping

Ysgubor Wen Eco Camping is a gem of a campsite between the mountains of Snowdonia and the sea. And you don’t need to take our word for it either. It was actually some of the site’s first Hipcampers who called it a gem—just check out the glowing reviews. But we couldn’t put it better ourselves. This place really is a gem for couples and solo campers who like to be surrounded by nature rather than neighbours when they’re staying under canvas. If you have kids or a caravan in tow, however, you’ll have to go elsewhere as this place is reserved for tents and adults only.

It’s also designed to appeal to those who don’t mind going back to basics. Each of the site’s nine pitches are off grid and tucked away among the trees or long meadow grasses of a private five-acre nature reserve. And despite the generous ratio of space per camper; pitch sizes are kept sustainably small. Here, campers are asked to respect the on-going conservation project—the work of 30 years. That means pitching small tents to fit in among the trees and grass and scrub rather than taming the wild to make way for larger tents. The eco-friendly ethos is carried through to the facilities which are also designed to be low impact; two compost loos, a simple washing-up sink and no showers.

Pitches here are far from uniform, each has its own character and different views. Some offer a window on what you can do around here. Tree Pitch One, for example, has views of both Snowdon and the sea. The mountain, should you wish to follow the well-trodden paths to the summit, is ten miles west of here. And, of course, there are plenty of other climbs, walks and sightseeing options within Snowdonia National Park, whose edge is five short miles away. The sea is even closer. The location of this wild-ish campsite is at the top of the lovely Llŷn Peninsula and the closest beach, a pebble one, is just a mile away. A sandy one is 10 minutes’ drive and the town of Caernarfon with its castle is not much further than that.