HF Houses - Dolserau Hall in Dolgellau.
Dolserau Hall is HFs house in north Wales. It is near Dolgellau on the southern part of Eryri National Park (Snowdonia).
HF attempted to sell it in 2024 when they got an offer that was too good to be true. They closed the house but they are reopening it in March 2026.
Dolserau Hall is not the easiest house to get to using public transport, here are some options:
Via Machynlleth
Getting to Dolserau Hall by public transport is not easy. In the past HF have not provided a transfer from the rail station so I suspect they won't when it reopens. Trains go to Machynlleth from Birmingham (you may need to change at Shrewsbury). There is a bus from Machynlleth to Dolgellau, when I did it the bus was late and very overcrowded, also it was difficult to persuade the driver to stop at Starbucks because they say its on a dangerous bend in the road. If they don't stop and you end up in Dolgellau I suggest you don't try to drag your wheelie case along the grass verge of the A470. This was a few years ago so may be better (or worse) now.
Image from Google Street View.
Once you get to Starbucks the HF website says "it’s a one-mile walk along a quiet country lane to the house" I found it to be a narrow lane with no pavement, I had to be very careful not to get run over by my fellow HF guests arriving and the constant traffic to the campsite.
HF no longer give a guide price for Taxis from Machynlleth on their travel page which is not very helpful. I think HF should provide a transfer service.
Via Barmouth
Another possibility might be to stay on the train to Barmouth but I suspect the buses may be even worse from there. The train divides at Machynlleth and only part of it goes round to Barmouth.
There is T3 bus: Barmouth - Wrexham via Dolgellau, Bala, Corwen, Llangollen operated by Lloyds Coaches but the 15:32 and 17:32 from Barmouth don't go beyond Dolgellau so you have still got the constant problem of finding a quick walk from Dolgellau back to the house.
Fflecsi Bus Dolgellau
The Fflecsi bus might give a way to get between Dolgellau and Dolserau Hall but I have not tried it and its hard to work out the timetable here. Looks like you need to load an app.
The House
One thing I remember about my earlier visit was the food. When HF bought the house did the chef (who had worked at some London restaurant) stay on? Then when Gemma & Sean took over they maintained and raised the standard (I have probably got that all wrong so I apologise). Whatever the reason, the food was incredible.
I preferred to have a room in the Coach House as there was a better chance of it being quieter, but perhaps avoid now they a putting dog owners in there.
I big problem with the house is that there is not direct walk between Dolgellau and Dolserau Hall. The walk along the road is dangerous and horrible? I think there should be a big sign when you walk into Dolserau Hall saying "The walk along the road to Dolgellau is dangerous, for your own safety this must not be attempted". Is there any way the pathway fund could lobby to get the path along the old railway extended to Dolserau Halt (the railway station next to the house that took Victorians to the torrent walk).
Walks From the house without using a Car
There are some good walks directly from the house so, if HF are redoing the discovery point walks, I would like to encourage HF to have a higher proportion of walks that avoid car use than they usually do (like the walks I intend to list below). So far my comments about discovery point walks, on the questionnaire forms, don't seem to have any effect.
Torrent Walk
The leaders always led a stroll up the torrent walk on the first evening. For an all day local walk, from the house, you can go up torrent walk across the A470 and then over a higher level walk and down into Dolgellau then you can go slightly up on the other side of the valley back to the house. This avoids the dangerous and horrible direct route, along the road, between Dolgellau and Dolserau Hall.
Precipice Walk
Another good walk from the house is the Precipice Walk which is on the other side of the valley from the house. When I went in July the heather was very colourful (this picture doesn't do it justice) and there were good views to Barmouth.
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One problem that I had in getting to the Precipice Walk was getting past Hywel-Sele Lodge which is one of those Landmark Trust like conversions of a ruined gatehouse into holiday leases. I don't know if that has been sorted out now or if they have still gated off the path?
Old Railway Line to Barmouth
Another nice walk from the house is the walk, along the old railway line, to Barmouth. The only problem is getting to Dolgellau (see above) but once you get there the walk on to Barmouth is really nice. There is an old TV program where Julia Bradbury explains the interesting history along the railway line such as boat building and attempts to create holiday villages.
There is a bus back from Barmouth but, at the time you are likely to need it, the buses do not go beyond Dolgellau.
Cadair Idris
Whenever I go to a HF house, on a self guided holiday, I just like to find all the walks I can that start and end at the house without any transport. I just find a walk much more relaxing not having to worry about transport. Of course going up Cadair Idris is not exactly relaxing but it would be interesting to see how close I could get.
I did do this walk, which avoids car use, by catching the bus to the car park at Miniffordd Hotel and then walking back to Dolserau Hall over Cadair Idris. I didn't go all the way to the top of Cadair Idris, I went past the old Idris apple juice place and up to the point I took this picture, then along the ridge toward Dolserau Hall and back along the torrent walk. The biggest problem is catching the bus, there is a bus stop at Starbucks but they don't have physical bus stops so you have to know where to stand. Also the bus drivers don't always stop, even though its on the timetable, because they say its on a dangerous bend in the road. Here is a challenge if you are fitter than me: can you walk to the top of Cadair Idris from the house and back without bus or car?
When I got down from the foothills of Cadair Idris the path got complicated (I got lost) but despite being overgrown I got through alright.
Led Walks
Of course, when I went on the guided holiday with the coach, other routes are possible. This is a walk I was on in the higher hills south of Barmouth. The cloud was sometimes above us and sometimes below us. The leader, John Zygo, was claiming a Brocken spectre. I remember John Zygo saying that he had led for HF twenty something weeks in a year, almost a full time job. On the walks, whenever we stopped for a rest, he gave us a puzzle to think about on the next part of the walk. On the last day he showed us all the pictures he had taken during the week.
Other Documents on this site
Click on the following for more information
| Former HF Houses | |
|---|---|
| Conwy (1914- 2011) |  |
| Newlands (1914- 1987) |  |
| Swanage (1947- 1995) |  |
| Isle of Arran (1925- ) |  |
| Scarborough (1954- 1998) |  |
| Lulworth |  |
| Beddgelert |  |
| New Inns |  |
| Penrith |  |
| Milford-on-Sea |  |
About This SiteHere is some information I have gathered together about getting to and walking from HF houses when leaving the car at home. On these pages I have also put some history about former HF houses I have visited. The information here is based on my visits to HF houses over the years. It may be out of date so don't rely on anything here without checking. If you find any errors why not let others know by putting a post on the HF Holiday Fans ( unofficial) Facebook forum. I will try to quote such posts here so they don't get lost. This is information I have discovered over the years which would have been useful to know before. Unfortunately the travel information on the HF website, for getting to houses by public transport, is poor. I think it would be better if the information on this page were on the HF website. |
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