North Wales
Having spent most of my life visiting North Wales it has a special place in my heart. From "bum-sliding" down a muddy mountain side as a 7 year-old, through teenage years youth hosteling, as young adult rock climbing and mountaineering, as a Dad taking 3 sons on adventures and now as a old geezer puffing and blowing my way to the tops still, usually with just my camera for company.
My favourite walk. A strenuous pull up to Llyn Bochlwyd, then a scramble up the arete of Y Gribin to Castell y Gwynt (Castle of the Wind) takes you onto the shattered boulder fields of Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr for a high level wander close to the sky. A knee wrenching descent via Twll Du (Devil's Kitchen) brings you back earth, in the glacial hollow of Cym Idwal for a pleasant stroll back to Ogwen.
A rough walk, into the remote mountains behind Llanbedr. A grassy track leading up from the pastures of Cym Nantcol passes old mine workings, before losing itself amongst the trackless heather. A place for solitude, not crowds. Wild ponies and sheep graze the rough grass. Eventually you stumble into the hidden recess where Llyn Hywel pools, a magical place beneath the crumbling cliffs and screes of Rhinog Fach.
The Llyn Peninsula points a crooked finger from Snowdonia out into the Irish Sea. Caernarfon Bay to the north and Cardigan Bay to the south. It is littered with gentler mountains and hills, one group known as the Rivals. Lacking the vertical highlights of Snowdonia peaks, Yr Eifl provides a remarkable place to sit and ponder. Surrounded on three sides by the sea, marvel at the stark remains of the Tre'r Ceiri iron-age hill fort sitting proud and high.