The media often likes to share horror stories about queues on Snowdon. Online articles in recents times have included Long queues form at the summit of Snowdon in ‘one of the busiest’ ever weekends from Wales Online, Walkers are queueing for up to 45 MINUTES on top of Snowdon from the Daily Mail and even Scuffle breaks out on Snowdon as hundreds queue to reach summit from The Metro. It’s certainly true that queues form at the summit of Snowdon quite regularly on sunny Saturdays, bank holidays and during the summer holidays. A queue reaching the bottom of the steps will likely mean a one hour wait. However queues are very easy to avoid by following a few simple tips.

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Avoid Saturdays

The Snowdon stats speak for themselves. Saturday is the most popular day of the week to Climb Snowdon. By some margin too. Looking at 2021’s visitor statistics, 24% of walkers hiked Snowdon on a Saturday. 17% chose Sunday with the other five days of the week balancing out pretty evenly at around 10% each. So you’re unlikely to get the summit to yourself if you decide to Climb Snowdon on a Saturday. If you absolutely have to walk up at the weekend, choose Sunday instead but even better, come back on a weekday.

Start early (or late)

In the summer, the sun rises before 5am so start your walk up Snowdon as early as you’re able to. If you know it’s going to be a busy day, the earlier you can start the better. We recommend a 7am start or even earlier for your best chance of avoiding the queues. Conversely, sunset is around 9.30pm so setting off early afternoon to arrive at the summit around 5pm is often likely to mean you’ll be on your own up there. However be careful not to see off too late to avoid having to walk down in the dark.

Skip bank holidays

Unsurprisingly, visitor numbers in North Wales spike massively over bank holiday weekends and a large number of holidaymakers want to climb Snowdon. If it’s a sunny bank holiday you’re going to hit big queues on the summit. Follow the advice above about starting early or go to the beach instead!

Use a mountain guide

Local mountain guides really do know the mountain better than anyone. They’ll be able to take you on lesser-known paths and give you more advice on how best to beat the queues. It’s possible, for example, to climb Snowdon from the village of Llanberis without hardly seeing another human being for 90% of the way.

Finally, you don’t HAVE to queue!

It’s a very British thing that as soon as we see a line of people we just join the back. The queue on the summit of Snowdon is for people wanting a selfie next to the summit pillar. It’s important to understand that the entire summit cairn on which the pillar sits is completely artificial. You’ve still climbed Snowdon if you’ve got to the summit area so if there’s a big queue, walk past it and just do your summit selfie in front of the cairn instead. Don’t be tempted to cut the line however, us Brits don’t like that and you’ll incur the wrath of an angry mob!