Walk 48: Machynlleth to Aberdyfi

The final walk of our March 2024 trip to West Wales took us from Machynlleth to Aberdyfi. On the morning of our walk, we left our accommodation with more than enough time to get to Aberdyfi Station to take the train to Machynlleth, but unfortunately, a long diversion meant we missed it by a couple of minutes. Thankfully, we only had a short wait for a bus, which took us to our starting point.

From there, we walked down to Dyfi Bridge, which was closed to traffic but thankfully not pedestrians, where – having diverted away from the coast in Borth – we were finally able to cross the River Dyfi. It was also here that we passed from Powys – the county with the shortest distance of Wales Coast Path, at less than six kilometres – to Gwynedd, also marking our entry to Snowdonia!

The Gwynedd section of the Wales Coast Path was the one I’d been most looking forward to. My mum’s parents have a holiday cottage in Harlech, where I’ve spent a lot of time over the years, and Barmouth, just down the road from Harlech, is where my dad’s dad was evacuated to during the Second World War, and his favourite place. So, I know and love this area of the world, and reaching it was an exciting milestone!

After a very short walk along an A-road, we turned right onto a steep track where we began the long trek up into the hills. We were awarded with lovely views, but it’s safe to say this was a killer – a relentless incline up a long track, and then even more ascent across a couple of fields. Thankfully, I had already worked out that this would be the worst hill of the day, so it was nice to get it out the way early!

The most frustrating thing when you’ve just reached the top of a steep section is to then have to immediately go back down, and this is what we had to do here! We passed from the field onto a wooded track, which was very steep and slippery underfoot, so this next short section took me quite a while as I carefully navigated the drop. Thankfully, after about 15 minutes, we reached a lovely forestry track, and we enjoyed a gradual descent with pretty views that had the familiar feel of being in Snowdonia.

Not too long after, we walked through the sweet village of Pennal, before heading off towards Macdonald Plas Talgarth Resort, which we walked through. We followed a forest path in the resort which gave us stunning views of the river below and across to our previous walk from Tre’r-ddol to Machynlleth.

There were lots of pheasants out and about on this walk, who had clearly recently been released, so we wished them all good luck. I’m against all kinds of animal abuse, but pheasant shooting is one that I find uniquely perplexing – they’re so unaware of their surroundings, it’s pretty much more difficult not to accidentally kill them than it is to kill them, so it’s strange that this gives some people a warped sense of power and/or masculinity.

After crossing a couple of boggy fields, we found our way back onto the A-road we’d began our walk on, which we crossed to head back up onto the hills for the final stretch. Another track took us up another hill – thankfully, not as gruelling as the first – and onto Panorama Walk, a pretty path with lovely river and estuary views. We were passed by a couple of people who were 21 miles into a 25-mile run. I’m so impressed by these kinds of feats of fitness – what an incredible thing to be able to do!

As we walked along Panorama Walk, the rain started coming, and we were really feeling ready for the walk to be over – it was muddy, wet, and a bit miserable. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the rain to pass, and the walk was suddenly enjoyable again!

As we walked along the slope of Foel Lwyd, with the peak to our left, we were treated to some beautiful views of the valley to our right, which felt so wide. Both this walk and our previous, whilst not as coastal as most of our other Wales Coast Path walks, were such a treat in terms of the views, and offered a bit of variety, as we were so used to (albeit stunning) sea views.

But we were soon back to the coast – as we walked along the path, we were suddenly confronted with the sight of the estuary and the sea. We could see across to Borth and were able to spot the flat we were staying in – nearly 30 miles later, we were almost back where we began!

We enjoyed a final descent into Aberdyfi, with lovely river views, before grabbing a chippy tea from Walker’s Fish and Chips, which has an extensive plant-based menu – I had battered sausage and chips, and Liam tucked into a delicious looking fish burger, which we started eating on the beach, before packing up and heading home to avoid our food being snapped up by a seagull.

All in all, this was a lovely walk to finish our trip, and with our feet firmly in Snowdonia, we were ready to continue on to some of my most anticipated walks!

🥾 Distance: 12 miles.

⭐ Highlight: The stunning views throughout.

👎 Less Good: My beginning was tough.

🚗 Transport: We parked in Aberdyfi and got a bus to Machynlleth, before walking back to the car.

🛏️ Accommodation: We stayed in a gorgeous apartment in Borth, which had the most stunning sea views.

🌱 Food: We had a tasty chippy tea courtesy of Walker's Fish and Chips in Aberdyfi.

🗺️ Map: This route is featured in the official Snowdonia and Ceredigion Coast guide.

Still not convinced? Read my ten reasons to walk the Wales Coast Path. If you’re ready to start planning your walk, you can find lots of resources to help you on your way here. Please note, I collect a share of the sales from the links on this page.