House Symbol

The House Symbol stands on a hillside above Barmouth, a modest stone structure that's become something of a local talking point. It's essentially a house-shaped marker carved into the landscape - the sort of thing you spot from the seafront and wonder about for the rest of your visit. Close up, it's less grand than you might hope, but there's something oddly compelling about climbing up to it anyway. The real reward is the walk itself and the views back down towards the town and Cardigan Bay. It takes about twenty minutes from the lower paths, depending on fitness.

Walkers will get the most from this. It's not a destination in itself - you won't spend more than ten minutes actually at the symbol - but it makes a decent waypoint on a longer ramble through the hills around Barmouth. Fair weather only; the paths can get boggy and steep, and visibility matters when you're trying to locate what amounts to an old carved stone.

If you're based at Hendre Mynach Caravan & Camping Park just down the road, it's worth adding to a day's walking route, especially combined with the coastal paths that thread through the area. The symbol itself is free to visit - there's no gate or charge - though frankly you could skip it and not feel you'd missed much. Barmouth's seafront and estuary walks offer more immediate appeal.