A glacial lake at Llanberis below Snowdon, with a lakeside steam railway, slate-quarry history and a castle on the shore
Llyn Padarn — llyn is Welsh for lake — is one of the larger natural lakes in Wales, filling the valley floor at Llanberis below the northern flank of Snowdon. A narrow-gauge steam railway, the Llanberis Lake Railway, runs along the north shore on tracks first laid to move slate down from the quarries. The whole valley was shaped by that industry: the vast terraces of Dinorwig Quarry climb the hillside opposite, and the National Slate Museum sits at the old workshops by the water. The ruined round tower of Castell Dolbadarn, a castle built by the medieval princes of Gwynedd, stands on a rise between Padarn and its smaller neighbour Llyn Peris. A lakeside path and country park make an easy, level walk with the mountains of Eryri (the Welsh name for Snowdonia) all around.
