Wow, what a place. We've finally found the perfect campsite. Dolgamedd = Heaven. We were a bit let down by the weather but we can hardly blame Dolgamedd campsite for that!

The campsite is laid out over a number of fields, with caravans separated from tents. The tents are in the field down by the river Wnion. Tents pitched along the river bank can have camp fires. Yes, you read it right, you can have camp fires!!! Hallelujah! Lots of the pitches have their own picnic table next to the spot for the fire.

Some of the pitches have electric hook ups, which makes it great for a week's break. In fact you can only pre-book the pitches with electric, but since this comes with a camp fire it's well worth it.

The facilities block at Dolgamedd is also great. Although the male toilets could perhaps have been cleaned more regularly, the facilities provided are excellent, with plenty of showers and loos even in busy july. Also in the facilities block is a laundry room, indoor and outdoor washing up facilities, a 'family room' which contains a TV, cooking facilities, freezers to refreeze iceblocks (FREE!) loads of info on local area etc. I've probably missed some bits, but these were teh key things.

What else is there to know about the place? The site is run by Mair, a lovely lady from a local farming family. She's really very very helpful. One thing I would point out to Mair and the owners is that they over-prominently display their list of rules. Holidays, particularly camping holidays should be care-free. Whilst I agreed with all the rules, they display them so prominently that when you first arrive it looks like you are entering a fun-free zone. In reality the site has a relaxed feel to it and the huge rule signs are probably not necessary as they got our holiday off to a poor atmosphere at the start.

Dolgellau is a small market town near the Welsh coast. The nearest beach is at Barmouth, and dogs are allowed on there, but it's a bit of a packed beach as loads of people holiday in/near barmouth from Liverpool/Manchester. We found that the beach at Fairborne (think that's the spelling) is much quieter and more scenic. The main part of the Fairborne beach is dog free, but if you go further along the beach there's a perfect bit of beach you can use which is TOTALLY unspoilt (Please keep it that way). Dolgellau is small but it has most of the shops you need - plus all the various takeaways. Shopping is via Somerfield - a bit disappointing. There's a small camping shop, and a much bigger one in Barmouth.

For us the main attraction was the proximity to Cadair Idris. The climb up and along the ridge and back down again takes about 5 hours.

If' you're in to cycling there are some amazing routes and hillclimbs from Dolgamedd.

The pros for Dolgamedd:
Campfires!
Next to the river
Beautiful scenery
Proximity to Cadair Idris
Proximity to great beaches
Proximity of fly-fishing locally
Excellent facilities
Great cycling in the area
Lovely owner
Electric hook ups in the tent area

There are of course some cons, nothing's perfect:
Rules too prominent
No shop at campsite
No pub in walkable distance
Can't book all the pitches.

Overall a great site that we'd highly recommend.