Dolbadarn Castle
Photo via Wikimedia Commons — licence & author.
Llywelyn's round tower over Llyn Padarn
This is a quick reference, not a full walked guide. The facts below — location, parking, grid reference and access — are maintained from our dataset, but we haven't published our own first-hand write-up of Dolbadarn Castle yet. Know it well? Help us get it right.
A proud round keep built by Llywelyn the Great in the 13th century to guard the strategic Llanberis Pass, framed by Yr Wyddfa and the twin lakes of Padarn and Peris. It's free, a five-minute walk from the road, and endlessly photogenic — Turner painted it, and you'll want to as well. Combine it with a paddle on Llyn Padarn or the quarry hospital museum in the country park next door.
Getting there
Dolbadarn Castle is in Llanberis, Eryri (Snowdonia). It's roughly 5 min (0.6 miles) from Llanberis , and within reach of Bethesda (18 min) and Caernarfon (22 min).
The nearest parking: Llanberis lake/Padarn Country Park car parks. Grid reference SH 583 600 — works on any OS map and doesn't need a phone signal.
Good to know
Combine with a Padarn paddle or the quarry hospital museum; Turner painted it — you should too.
On the map
View Dolbadarn Castle on OpenStreetMap ↗, or open it in the Explore Wales trip planner to add it to a day out with drive times and offline maps.
Staying over?
Llanberis makes a relaxed base for exploring the area — worth staying over to catch an early start or a golden-hour finish.
Browse places to stay near Llanberis ↗ opens Booking.com — needs signalNearby places
Make Dolbadarn Castle part of a day out
Add it to a trip in the free Explore Wales planner — chained drive times, weather, campsite suggestions, and offline maps for when the signal drops.