At a glance
Daily budget (per person): £85–£120 budget · £150–£200 mid-range · £250+ premium. Over 60 attractions are free. Key paid items: Snowdon Mountain Railway (~£45–62 return), Zip World (~£60), Conwy Castle (£13.10), Caernarfon Castle (£13.10). Cadw 3-day Explorer Pass (~£28) pays for itself in two castle visits.
North Wales Budget Breakdown
Budget Holiday: £85–£120 per person per day
A budget North Wales holiday is genuinely excellent — over 60 attractions are free, mountain walking costs nothing, and the beaches require no entry fee. A budget day might include:
- Accommodation: Llanberis YHA or budget B&B (£25–£40pp sharing)
- Attraction: Conwy Town Walls circuit (free) or a mountain walk (free)
- Lunch: packed lunch carried from self-catering base (£4–6pp)
- Dinner: supermarket-sourced self-catering (£8–12pp) or pub (£14–18pp)
- Total: approximately £55–£80pp excluding transport
Mid-Range: £150–£200 per person per day
Adding quality accommodation, one or two paid attractions and eating out for dinner:
- Accommodation: quality guesthouse or 3-star hotel (£50–£80pp sharing)
- Attractions: e.g. Conwy Castle £13.10 + Snowdon Mountain Railway ~£45 return
- Lunch: café (£10–14pp) and dinner: restaurant (£25–35pp)
- Total: approximately £135–£180pp including two attractions
Premium: £250+ per person per day
Boutique hotels, the full castle circuit (with Cadw pass), adventure activities and restaurant dining throughout.
Free Attractions — Selected Highlights
| Attraction | Location |
|---|---|
| Conwy Town Walls circuit (1.3km) | Conwy |
| National Slate Museum | Llanberis |
| Newborough Beach & Llanddwyn Island | Anglesey |
| Aber Falls (2.5-mile walk) | Conwy Valley |
| South Stack RSPB clifftop & Ellin's Tower | Holy Island |
| Bryn Celli Ddu (Neolithic tomb) | Anglesey |
| Segontium Roman Fort | Caernarfon |
| All mountain walking routes | Snowdonia |
| Glaslyn Osprey Project (seasonal) | Porthmadog |
| Pistyll Rhaeadr viewpoint (parking ~£3) | Powys |
Frequently asked questions
Budget (two people sharing): £85–£120 per person per day, staying in hostels or budget B&Bs, using free attractions and self-catering for some meals. Mid-range: £150–£200 per person per day, staying in a mid-range hotel or quality guesthouse, adding 1–2 paid attractions and eating out for dinner. Premium: £250+ per person per day, staying in a boutique hotel or quality self-catering, the full Snowdon Mountain Railway, Zip World and castle circuit. These figures assume two adults sharing accommodation.
The best free attractions include: Conwy Town Walls (1.3km medieval circuit, extraordinary — arguably the best free experience in North Wales), Newborough Beach and Llanddwyn Island (Anglesey — stunning), National Slate Museum (Llanberis — genuinely excellent), Segontium Roman Fort (Caernarfon), South Stack RSPB reserve clifftop (Anglesey — seabirds free, lighthouse tour charged), Aber Falls (37m waterfall — 2.5-mile walk), Bryn Celli Ddu (Neolithic burial chamber, Anglesey), all mountain paths, all beaches and most country parks.
Main admission prices (adults, 2026): Conwy Castle £13.10 · Caernarfon Castle £13.10 · Harlech Castle £9.30 · Beaumaris Castle £8.50 · Snowdon Mountain Railway (return) ~£45–62 · Zip World Velocity (zip line) from £60 · Bounce Below from £25 · Bodnant Garden ~£17.50 · Llechwedd Deep Mine tour from £20 · South Stack Lighthouse ~£6 · Great Orme Tramway ~£8 return. Cadw members enter all Welsh Government castles free. NT members enter all NT properties free.
The Cadw Explorer Pass gives unlimited access to all Cadw sites for 3 or 7 days. A 3-day pass (adults ~£19) pays for itself if you visit Conwy and Caernarfon Castles in the same day. A 7-day pass (~£25) covers the four UNESCO Iron Ring castles plus Harlech and Chirk. For longer visits, Cadw annual membership (~£50/year) covers all sites for 12 months. National Trust annual membership (~£87/year individual, ~£150/year household) covers Bodnant Garden, Chirk Castle and many coastal properties throughout Wales and the UK.
Walking Snowdon costs nothing beyond the parking fee (Pen-y-Pass must be pre-booked, ~£10; use the Snowdon Sherpa bus to avoid this). The six walking routes to the summit are free open access paths. The Snowdon Mountain Railway return ticket costs ~£45–62 per adult — a significant budget item but a genuinely different experience. The most cost-effective approach: walk up (any route), take the railway down — a one-way descent ticket is ~£25. This gives the mountain experience on the way up and the railway novelty on the way down.
Self-catering: £15–£25 per person per day for groceries (Tesco, Co-op and Spar are in most towns; Aldi and Lidl in Llandudno, Bangor and Caernarfon). Café lunches: £8–£14 per person. Pub meals: £12–£18 per main course. Restaurant dinners: £20–£35 per person for two courses. The café at Pen-y-Pass charges a premium for its location (£7–9 for a bowl of soup); carrying your own lunch up Snowdon saves money and reduces waste at the summit. Betws-y-Coed and Llanberis have the most café options near walking routes.