







Dolbadarn Castle is a native Welsh castle standing at the bottom of the Llanberis Pass near Snowdon, an absolutely gorgeous setting and a beautiful place to visit.





Built by Welsh prince Llewellyn the Great in the early 13th Century, the castle was a symbol of his power and features a distinctive keep which historian Richard Avent considers "the finest surviving example of a Welsh round tower". Controlling an important mountain pass, the castle consisted of the keep that remains, a courtyard & hall (of which some walls remain), and south and west towers (no longer there).





It was taken by Edward I 1284 during his invasion of Wales and had timbers from the castle taken and used in the building of Caernarfon Castle. Then in the 14th Century it was used as a manor house, but by the 1700s it was no longer inhabited and left to decay.





The site is managed by CADW and free to access during daylight hours, although it is unmanned and there's no barrier to prevent visitors at any time. I parked in a tiny layby just by the gate on the main road, but there's paid parking down in Lanberis if you don't mind a trek up the main road to the site!





Pictures were taken in October 2017