4 Day Self Guided Wild Wales Tour

Three nights from mid Wales to the north and a Snowdonia loop, ridden self-guided with no tour leader, on a BMW from the operator’s base or a rider’s own bike by arrangement. Bed and breakfast is included.

It is the short version of the operator’s Wild Wales tour. The first day is a preparation run to Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, which gets the bike collected and the first miles done without committing to a long stage.

The second day crosses mid Wales to Lake Vyrnwy, and this is the stage that justifies the trip: the roads through the Cambrian Mountains are among the emptiest in Britain, the villages are a long way apart, and the reservoir at the end of it was built in the 1880s to supply Liverpool, with a Gothic straining tower in the water and a lane running the full circuit of the shore.

A Snowdonia loop follows from Vyrnwy and back, taking in the passes of the national park, now officially Eryri, where the roads climb between slate workings and glacial valleys. The return to base closes the trip. Accommodation and breakfasts are included along with the bike, with fuel and other meals separate. The price is quoted per person. Three nights makes this a long weekend rather than a holiday, which is the point of it: the cheapest and shortest way to ride Wales properly without having to plan a route or book a single bed. For a rider who wants to try self-guided touring before committing to a fortnight abroad on the same basis, it is a sensible place to start, and the five-night version adds the mid and west Wales roads for not a great deal more.