Greener Glamping

There must be something in the water at Greener Glamping. Almost everyone who comes here feels so rejuvenated that they ask to stay an extra night. In fact, it was happening so often that Nathan and Shayne, who run the site, brought in a three-night booking minimum. It’s just enough time to relax into the rhythm of life at this out-of-the way site in the Welsh Berwyn Mountains.

This two-yurt glamping site is a kilometre from the nearest neighbours and completely off grid. These days that’s not an uncommon claim, but here at Greener Glamping it’s especially true as Nathan and Shayne aren’t just providing this lifestyle for their glampers; they are living it too. Any power that’s used is generated renewably and water is fresh from a mountain spring. Despite our earlier claims, there’s actually nothing in it; well nothing but the good stuff anyway. The water here is as pure before the filtering and UV treatment that’s required by the authorities, as it is afterwards. There’s certainly no need to bring a bottle of Evian and, actually, little need for anything else either.

The yurts, one sleeping four, the other up to seven, are kitted out with beds, bedding and log burners. Outside, each has a fire pit and space for outdoor cooking as well as an equipped kitchen cabin, its own composting loo and shower. All you need to bring is food and anything you want by way of entertainment. Forget the iPad and bring a book, leave the stereo and pick up your guitar. It’s that sort of place. Somewhere to calm down, slow down and perhaps stay an extra day.

The site is surprisingly tiny, just half a hilly acre but with only two yurts and miles of surrounding countryside and forest it feels completely uncrowded. Step off site and you’re into the wild with miles of woodland and moors to explore. It’s possible to walk for hours and not meet anyone at all but, if it’s civilisation you’re after, there’s a pub and a shop a mile down the hill. For climbing, cycling and adventure, Snowdonia National Park is 20 minutes’ drive away. South, across the sparsely-populated, heather-clad Berwyn Mountains, is Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall, Wales’ highest single-drop fall and, legend has it, the gateway to the Celtic Otherworld. Mysterious standing stones, stories of fairies and giants and spiritual significance are all linked to this part of north Wales. No matter what you believe, there’s no denying that the abundant greenery, wildlife and stars mean there’s a kind of magic in the fresh mountain air. Perhaps even, in the water.