Snowdon is 1,085 metres (3,560 feet) high at the summit cairn, the highest point in Wales.
A building stands just below it. Hafod Eryri has a café, a shop, a post box and toilets, and it is shut for part of the year.
The cairn and the building are different heights
The Snowdon Mountain Railway, the railway that runs from Llanberis to the top, gives the summit cairn as 1085 m above sea level.
The Eryri National Park Authority, the public body that runs the park, gives Hafod Eryri as 1065 m.
The building is 20 metres below the cairn. You walk up from it to reach the highest point.
In feet, the peak is 3,560.
Hafod Eryri, the summit building
Hafod Eryri opened on 12 June 2009.
The National Park says it was built of granite and oak, materials that can withstand the conditions at the top.
It replaced an earlier building designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. The National Park bought that one in 1982, when the weather was starting to wear it down.
The National Park does not manage Hafod Eryri.
For opening times it sends you to the railway’s website.
Here is what the railway lists at the top:
- Café: hot and cold drinks and “grab and go” food.
- Gift shop: gifts, clothing and souvenirs.
- Post box: a summit post box for postcards.
- Toilets: at the summit visitor centre, when the building is open.
The toilets come with the building. The railway ties them to it being open, so when it is shut, do not count on them.
Train passengers get a 30-minute stopover at the top. Walkers who want to ride the train down should read the ticket rules before they set off.
When Hafod Eryri is open
The railway says the building opens from 10.00 am daily, from 1 May to 25 October, weather permitting.
Its plan-your-visit page puts the toilets in the same terms: open from May to October, weather permitting.
On bad weather days, and whenever the train cannot reach the summit, the railway keeps Hafod Eryri closed. A fine day in Llanberis does not tell you the building is open at the summit.
In 2026 the railway runs only as far as Clogwyn Station on 5 to 16 October and 26 October to 1 November. The building can be shut on those days too.
Check the railway’s page for the day you go. The National Park points you there for current hours.
Out of season, there is nothing open at the top
Outside 1 May to 25 October the building is shut, so there is no café, shop or toilet at the top.
The National Park describes the summit as much colder, wetter and windier than the start of the path.
It also says conditions can change within minutes.
The National Park says it is impossible to reach the summit in winter conditions without crampons or ice axes, and the skill to use them.
Read the summit forecast, not the valley one, whatever the month.
One halfway stop on the Llanberis Path
The railway says there is a small, independently run café halfway up the Llanberis Path.
Its page gives no opening dates for it.
Which of the six walking routes you take decides whether you pass it.
We compile and explain public route and safety information. We guide nobody and sell nothing on the hill.
What to carry if the building is shut
When the building is shut, there is nowhere at the top to buy food or drink.
The National Park’s kit list for a summit day includes:
- Food and drink for the whole day, up and down.
- Waterproof and thermal layers, because the top is colder than the start.
- A map and compass, and the skill to use them.
- A torch, in case you are caught out after dark.
- A fully charged phone, for emergencies only.
Treat the summit café as a bonus, not the plan, and carry your own lunch and a hot drink to the cairn.
