Bala is the main town of the southern Snowdonia national park, sitting at the northern end of Llyn Tegid — the largest natural lake in Wales. The Aran Mountains rise dramatically to the south-west, the Berwyn Hills stretch away to the east, and the town itself is the centre of Welsh-language culture in Gwynedd.

A strongly Welsh-speaking town with a good range of accommodation and the famous narrow-gauge Bala Lake Railway, Bala makes an excellent base for the Aran range — some of the finest and most remote mountain walking in Wales outside Snowdon.