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Lovely flat site. We arrived on a Friday evening and there were no restrictions on where to pitch and lots of choice.
The toilet block was basic but seemed clean, it would have been good to have some soap near the sinks. There are plenty of showers, again basic but lots of hot water and clean.
As mentioned in previous reviews the playground is nowhere near the pitches and out of view. It is near a busy road and I would not let my 9 and 6 year olds go alone.
The chip shop in the centre of Bala did lovely fresh fish and is worth a visit.
The facilities at this camp site are fantastic. The staff were very friendly, helpful and easy going. We were there on a very busy weekend, whilst my boyfriend took part in the Bala Triathlon, and we were very pleased with the site. The toilets and showers were spotless, and there were plenty of them. There is plenty to do around there, and the town centre itself is lovely. We will definitely be returning along with the children, as there is lots for them to do on teh site and in the surrounding area.
Having read some of the reviews on this site, here is our take on things.
Site location next to the lake is great, very picturesque. Found the play area and shop nice. But the one thing that did put you off was the condition of the toilet / showers.
Hot water for the showers was limited, toilets not cleaned well and the queues for any of the facilities were long. This was mainly due to overcrowding on the site and a waivering of the 'no groups' rule that is quoted. Noisy nights and campfires throughout.
Won't be returning, which is a shame as the location was amazing.
Just got home from a weekend in North Wales, decided to go a few days early and stayed on this site on Wednesday & Thursday night. Finding the site was quite easy as its main entrance is on the Road into Bala. The Site itself sits on the side of the Lake and has its own beach front where boats can be launched onto the lake. Permits are required for sailing and fishing on Bala Lake, however thes can be obtained from Pay and Display machines in the car park by Bala Tourist Information Centre or purchased from the local warden who visits the Campsite daily at 11:00.
The Site is quite large with Caravans limited to the top half of the site, beyond that point only Tents and Campers. The site has Two Toilet and Shower blocks for either sex. Both were kept clean to an adequate standard as was the washing facilities containing washing machines if required. Each shower room had a coin operated hair dryer however the one in the gents shower room was out of action at the time.
There is a small shop in the reception building however this was not the local supermarket or hardware store and only sold a few items along maps, guides, with sweets for the kids. This was not really a major problem with Bala town being literally a two minute drive up the road.
There is a small play area that children can use, but my 12 year old daughter did not make use of it. Without a doubt the main attraction of this site is its frontage onto the lake. The children were making full use of this. The lake is quite shallow around the site and it is possible to venture out to fifty or some times one hundred yards without the water going much above knee height. This was ideal for my daughters first adventure in her blow up dingy bought at the local shop for £13 including oars. She had a fantastic couple of days boating and swimming. I did attempt the fishing when the lake quieted down in the evening but, despite the stories of the 4lb pike caught there only last week I had no luck and I consider the water too shallow at that point to be very productive unless using light tackle in search of the odd minnow.
There is no clubhouse or bar on the site but far from detracting from the site I feel this adds that little something to it. For what you have hear is a very good spacious site where families get the opportunity to play and relax together in a very attractive area surrounded by wonderful Welsh Countryside.
This was a return to camping for myself and my wife after a long time away and, it was the first time my daughter had ever been camping. We approached this trip with some trepidation with both of us being older now and both with slight mobility problems. However after the first night in the tent and being awoke by a marvelous dawn chorus. With my twelve year old awaking at 6:30 without an alarm clock or any prompting but, purely eager to get started on another day of this newly discovered way of life. It was on the Thursday afternoon that as she played happily in the Lake with newly found friends I and my wife sat in the fold up chairs tanning in the sun red wine in hand, that my wife expressed it perfectly 'I have missed this' and this was the ideal site for our return to camping.
Large (ish) site, more pitches than advertised, but overall a very pleasant site. With a small shallow river that runs at the side, and that flows into the large lake.
Few hard standing pitches for vans / motor homes, large grassy areas for tents, caravans and motorhomes alike.
Pro's
*Nice class of visitor / camper
*Nice welcome
*Soon to have WiFi access
*Good play area for children (BUT, near entrance and road so supervision is required to make sure they are safe)
*small shop selling essentials, gas for both vans and tents, newspapers, milk, bread etc.
Quite a relaxed atmosphere all together on the site.
Con's
*5 mph speed limit IS NOT adhered to by most of the visitors. As I watched one of the few people observing the limit, a young child thought it would be fun to play chicken. Could have been very nasty if they had been speeding. Most drivers saw it was their right to drive at 20 - 25 mph through the site without any worry. Please be warned.
*Dog owners! while most were very thoughtful, there were some that saw fit to walk their dogs, and let their dogs run free on the dog free areas to foul, as some of us found out the hard way! thanks for that people. Next time tell me where you are pitched so we can return it!
*Play area as mentioned above, site is too far away from the pitches.
*Toilets could have had more attention IMHO. Soap in the toilets would have been a nice touch.
*Bins were emptied from what I could see, just once a week, at 6.30am and by that evening were full again, so get in early with your rubbish
While most people did observe the 11pm silence, all we heard just once, was a couple of voices and footsteps, which was very good, thanks for that.
Some visitors, let their children run riot, and they made the toilets almost unusable, by flooding / blocking toilets and breaking toilet seats. While every effort was made by the owners to control the little. Lets call them angels, I felt they were very annoyed, but, it only happened once.
Overall, it is a brilliant site, very child and family suited, great for water sports and a little small fish fishing (nets) paddling in the river, we WILL be returning.
Visited this site for my wifes 1st camping trip since childhood. She throughly enjoyed it. We have been several times since, 3 of us plus dog.
Staff helpful and friendly. Shop has essentials: Gas, food stuff and ice blocks for nominal fee.
Field is great, large and flat within a short walk to toilet/shower block no mater where you pitch.
Showers hot and free. Toilets clean. Staff seen cleaning twice daily.
Appox 2 miles from Bala centre which has pubs/shops/mini market and small camping supplies shop. Well situated for walking and cycling. Will visit again.
This site was outstanding, with facilities that were not only clean but sparkling! I cannot comment on any of the nearby facilities to the site, or even the view of the lake as when we were camping there it was torrential rain all weekend! A good site though and would recommend!
This was our first visit to this site and I must say I was very impressed, we had 5 tents in total and 2 gazebo's and the owners were very accommodating towards us. We arrived on a Thursday and it was very quiet, we pitched our tents right by the river (fenced off where we were so the kids were safe) the views we had were fantastic. The beach of the lake was perfect for our young kids to play in as it was shallow and again the river was great for paddling and playing in the dingy we took. This site is very well run and they do not cram people in even though on Saturday it had become very busy it was very comfortable, again no problems with noise except the odd barking dog !considering the amount of people and groups. Toilets and showers were clean, tidy and fairly modern with hot water and we didn't have to queue even though the site was full. Only gripes with this site are the playground being next to the road and the very inconsiderate dog owners !
This was our first visit to this site but not to Bala. The site is in a good position and very easy to find (only a few minutes in the car from Bala centre)
This site itself was good with flat pitches and the ground in good condition. Even though this is a big site we did feel like sardines. This is a first come first served and it does get busy so I'd get there early. The owners of the site were miserable. Everyone in our party who dealt with them said the same. Customer service isn't their strong point.
They apparently operate a strict no groups policy but it appeared pretty much everyone was in some sort of group (there was two 10 man tents with another 2 4/5 man tents pitched together) but everyone appears to respect the noise level. The toilet/showers were clean and well supplied with paper.
We would go again but will try out other sites before going back.
We have stayed at this site twice and it is situated right next to Bala Lake which is a stunning location and ideal for those who want to take a boat or kayak, etc. On the lake. A short walk away is the steam train which will take you into Bala town centre, this is a small but very nice village with shops and pubs. A short drive away is the white water rafting centre which is excellent fun. On the site itself the shower and toilet blocks are okay but certainly not the best I have used, the showers do have free hot water all day but there are no soap dispensers at the sinks and no plug sockets apart from one in the laundry room. The standard of cleaning could be much better. One good point is the frequent water stand pipes dotted about the site and the electric hook up facilities for tents at the top end of the site, by the lake. This site has always been full to capacity when we have gone and you sometimes have to wait for the showers, however the owners do not overcrowd this site and there is always lots of space between you and your neighbour! There are usually large groups camping together and the atmosphere is very good and lively. The only downside to this site for me is the owners are not particularly friendly and I always get the impression they would rather be doing something other than running a camp site!
Being new to camping and with two children in tow I was a little dubious as to whether camping would be for us. What an excellent ice-breaker this site was!
The site was fairly quiet when we arrived and the owner directed us to the nicest available pitches and told us to take our pick; we opted for a large pitch by the river with a fence separating the kids from the water.
The ground is pretty much all flat and the nicest pitches are by the river (no EHU here though). The toilet and shower blocks were large, all pretty clean, with free showers and the hot water abundant (hairdryers also available). Washing machine £2.00 and tumble dryer £1.00 (although needed to use twice for a small load) -plenty of room to dry things on the fence though. Shop sells gas and all the basics and Bala is five minutes down the road with a camping shop, supermarket and lots more besides (maybe avoid the fish & chip shop -we found it awful).
The big positives were that we could see the kids walk to the shop & shower block from our pitch, the on-site roads were excellent for the less confident bike rider and the site allows fire bowls. The negatives were that the (excellent) playground was by the road and out of sight so the kids hardly used it and the beach was not really usable for more than launching boats.
For those who enjoy watersports and fishing it is a must. For those just wishing to dabble: at the other end of the lake there is a hire shop where we hired a rowing boat for a reasonable £36.00 for seven of us (with a free canoe thrown in). The steam railway is worth a visit if enthusiastic about trains or under five -everyone else got a bit bored! Everything else of interest was a good 30min away, so if staying for a while you might get annoyed at having to travel so far.
Overall a great first experience and we are likely to return next year.
Just come back from our first camping trip. Haha nobody told us how busy it was going to be. Got there thursday no one about, thought great pitched the tent with a great view of the lake and hills behind. Then friday was like an invasion, groups of school kids, groups of sailors in their boats. It was really busy but we got round that, and we did meet some nice friendly people there to. Was a bit of a let down though as I took my dog, thought I'd be ok walking him but there are no walks from this site direct you have to go on the A494 which to me is a shame. But as stated before the showers are clean and hot so thats all we wanted. Would go again sometime but not in the near future as I want to travel all over Wales trying the different sites so Ill post more as we go week ends or weeks
Just got back from this busy site. It seems very popular. Hot water plentiful and toilets never problem. Being right on the waters edge was great for the kids even if it was just watching the sailing. The kids play area, as stated, is next to the main gate and they had to be supervised. Pity is isn't in the middle of the site so you could watch them all the time.
The shop had all the basic essentials and I'm sure it stocked gas.
There were no problems with noise at all.
Only little gripe was the bins at Sunday dinner time were completely overwhelmed.Hope they are emptied late Sunday or early Monday.
Great site, I will definitely be going back. (takes about two hours from Manchester/Stockport).
Just got back from spending a week at Glanllyn Lakeside.
This was our 1st camping experience so don't have anything to compare the site with. However, we have had a great time.
The owners were friendly & helpful. It is a large site but well maintained. Toilet & shower facilities were good - 12 female & 8 male showers (do men shower less or just do it quicker so don't need as many?). All were kept spotlessly clean despite the site being full.
The on-site shop in small but stocks plenty of essentials at reasonable prices and there is a playground (although this is right next to the entrance so children needed to be careful as cars were coming in & out all day).
The site is on the banks of Bala Lake but still safe for young children. We had a family of ducks wandering around scrounging bread - they will take it from your hand & even wander into your tent if they think they'll be fed!
We'd booked a super-sized pitch for our Diablo 900 but were actually quite cramped. We were with 2 other familes so worked the space out between us but would have struggled with the main tent, utility tent & car (all booked in) if we'd not been able to 'spill over' a little.
Another minor niggle was that the electric kept going off - it went off 7 times during the week for anything up to an hour & affected the whole site. Not a big problem if it was during the day but it always seemed to happen at night when we really needed the heater on (evenings were VERY cold).
The surrounding area is lovely - sailing etc. Available from the site & Bala itself just a couple of miles up the road with plenty of pubs, takeaways and shops (including a Spar & Somerfield) but without being 'tacky'.
It made a great base for getting out and about - we went to Llandudno, Conway, Snowden, Harlech, Barmouth. We were also within easy reach of white water rafting, quad biking, archery & a fantastic 'Tree Top Adventure' (ropes, bridges, swings etc. About 40' up in the trees) although none of us managed to complete the course!
All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our week and can't wait to camp again.
This is a lovely site, along the banks of the lake, which our 3 children enjoyed playing all weekend in. The playground is near the entrance to the site, but children are to be supervised when using this facility anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. The shower blocks and toilet facilities were basic and not very clean, the showers were too hot for our 2 year old to use. It is a lovely and quiet site during the day, but can get a little noisy during the evening.
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Common Questions
Is Glanllyn Lakeside Caravan And Camping Park child friendly? YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Glanllyn Lakeside Caravan And Camping Park? There is a shop on site View all facilities
Is Glanllyn Lakeside Caravan And Camping Park dog friendly? YES View all facilities
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
All reviews and comments are the personal opinion of the review author only , and as such do not represent the view of the UK Camp Site.co.uk.
The facilities shown on this website are a guide only, and you should check with the campsite direct before making any booking. The UKCampsite.co.uk will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions
Tent Pitches 
Caravan Pitches 
Motorhome Pitches 
Small Campervans 
No Glamping Units 
No Statics for Hire 
No Statics for Sale 
Seasonal Pitches 
Electric Hookups 
Hardstanding Pitches 
No Fully Serviced Pitches 
Families Welcome 
Not Members Only 
No Rallies 
Not Naturist Site 
Dogs Welcome 
No Dogs Allowed 
Groups Welcome 
Motorbikers Welcome 
Toilet Facilities 
Hot Showers 
Washing Up 
No Bathroom 
Baby Changing Facilities 
Laundry On Site 
Drinking Water 
Disabled Friendly 
Chemical Disposal 
No Battery Charging 
Gas Exchange 
Recycling Facilities 
No Kitchen Facilities 
No Freezer / Fridge 
Motorhome Point 
Wifi Access 
Shop On Site 
Bar <5 miles 
Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway <5 miles 
Kids Playground 
No TV Room 
No Games Room 
No Evening Ents 
Fishing On Site 
Wild Swimming On Site 
Indoor Pool <5 miles 
No Outdoor Pool 
No Horse Riding 
Cycle Hire <5 miles 
Golf <5 miles 
No Tennis 
Beach On Site 
Watersports On Site 
Boat Launch / Mooring On Site 
No Sea Views 
Not Working Farm 
Campfires Allowed 
Lakeside Pitches 
Public Transport On Site
Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access 
Electric Car Charging Point
Lovely flat site. We arrived on a Friday evening and there were no restrictions on where to pitch and lots of choice. 
