Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0Barmouth is on the coast
The sea makes up 45% of the area within 5 km. Snowdonia National Park begins 0.0 mi from the village’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Barmouth add up to 0.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Barmouth grades B− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors village is Barmouth?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Barmouth’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by protected countryside on the doorstep. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Barmouth grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Barmouth, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Barmouth is 26th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,900 to 2,100 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Barmouth falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 54 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capel-le-Ferne Kent | A+ | 21.8 | 88% | 4 | 52% |
| 2 | Meliden Clwyd | A+ | 4.2 | 100% | 4.2 | 21% |
| 3 | Vigo Village Kent | A+ | 33.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 44% |
| 4 | Llanfoist Gwent | A+ | 10.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 57% |
| 5 | Ditchingham Norfolk | A+ | 17.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 6 | Bournmoor County Durham | A | 11 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 7 | Upper Rissington Gloucestershire | A | 6.2 | 100% | 1.2 | 100% |
| 8 | Churchill Somerset | A | 2.8 | 84% | 3.9 | 39% |
| 9 | Wrington Somerset | A | 3.2 | 100% | 2.6 | 20% |
| 10 | Machen Gwent | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Y Bala Gwynedd | A | 4 | 100% | 1.4 | 67% |
| 12 | Little Haywood Staffordshire | A− | 1.3 | 100% | 3.3 | 34% |
| 13 | Stowupland Suffolk | A− | 5.3 | 83% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 14 | Kirkby Lonsdale Cumbria | B+ | 9.2 | 74% | 2.2 | 40% |
| 15 | Yealmpton Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 1.8 | 50% |
| 16 | Pontesbury Shropshire | B+ | 3.1 | 63% | 3.8 | 28% |
| 17 | Polesworth Warwickshire | B+ | 13.5 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 18 | Valley Gwynedd | B+ | 5 | 33% | 1.2 | 37% |
| 19 | Martlesham Suffolk | B | 2.1 | 69% | 3.8 | 24% |
| 20 | Sandford Dorset | B | 0.3 | 43% | 4.7 | 41% |
| 21 | Wrotham Kent | B | 1.6 | 100% | 1.6 | 49% |
| 22 | Welsh Bicknor Gloucestershire | B | 2.7 | 31% | 3.3 | 45% |
| 23 | Wheaton Aston Staffordshire | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 24 | Dilton Marsh Wiltshire | B− | 2.1 | 67% | 3.5 | 4% |
| 25 | Hutton Cranswick East Riding of Yorkshire | B− | 5 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Barmouth Gwynedd | B− | 0.5 | 60% | 2 | 53% |
| 27 | Northleach Gloucestershire | B− | 1.5 | 68% | 2.6 | 100% |
| 28 | Audley Staffordshire | C+ | 3.4 | 83% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 29 | Axbridge Somerset | C+ | 1.3 | 72% | 2.8 | 51% |
| 30 | Landkey Devon | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Langtoft Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 32 | Whitchurch Somerset | C+ | 2.3 | 47% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 33 | Wychbold Worcestershire | C | 2.1 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 34 | Hatton Warwickshire | C | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 35 | Clenchwarton Norfolk | C | 2.2 | 87% | 0.3 | 3% |
| 36 | West Haddon Northamptonshire | C | 2.3 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Goodwick Dyfed | C | 0.2 | 47% | 1.9 | 25% |
| 38 | Hightown Merseyside | C | 1.7 | 44% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Longrock Cornwall | C | 0.7 | 60% | 1.2 | 26% |
| 40 | Barrow Suffolk | C− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Chivenor and Wrafton Devon | C− | 0.6 | 0% | 1.7 | 17% |
| 42 | Pool-in-Wharfedale West Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 44% | 1.6 | 7% |
| 43 | Ashwell Hertfordshire | C− | 3 | 52% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Stoke Golding Leicestershire | C− | 1.4 | 85% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Bishop Burton and Cherry Burton East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 2.5 | 78% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Briston Norfolk | D | 2.7 | 69% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Broughton Northamptonshire | D | 2.7 | 70% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Baschurch Shropshire | D | 2.3 | 72% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Cookley Worcestershire | D | 2.3 | 52% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Hutton Rudby North Yorkshire | D | 1.6 | 35% | 1.1 | 13% |
| 51 | Morda Shropshire | D | 0.7 | 84% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Curry Rivel Somerset | D | 1.9 | 33% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Greylees Lincolnshire | D | 1.5 | 79% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Shawbury Shropshire | D− | 2.2 | 30% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Wheldrake North Yorkshire | D− | 1.4 | 72% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Tollerton Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.6 | 19% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Rossett Clwyd | D− | 0.3 | 55% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Wilberfoss East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 69% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Goostrey Cheshire | D− | 0.3 | 42% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Bottisham Cambridgeshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.3 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Barmouth’s built-up area.
6 in 10 Barmouth residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 397 residents.
Snowdonia National Park is 0.0 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
Snowdonia
Llyn
53% of the land within 5 km of Barmouth is National Park or National Landscape, more than 92% of UK towns. Snowdonia National Park covers 2,140 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Barmouth is on the Cambrian Way
26 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Barmouth and the kilometre around it, 2.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
The Cambrian Way, a national route, passes Barmouth. The regional route here is the Wales Coast Path (Meirionnydd).
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
The best walking months in Barmouth: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 107 | 77 | 69 | 59 | 61 | 77 | 75 | 82 | 89 | 121 | 116 | 115 |
April is the driest month (59 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 121 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 22 nights a year. The climate in Barmouth →
The coast and beaches near Barmouth
45% of the area within 5 km of Barmouth is sea. 12 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
3 viewpoints and 5 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 6
Waterfalls 4
Plus 4 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Campsites 4
Plus 1 campsite more.
Slipways 7
Plus 7 slipways without a name on the map.
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Dolgellau, 7.4 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Dolgellau, Tywyn and Harlech have at least twice Barmouth’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Barmouth
Is Barmouth near a National Park?
Yes. Snowdonia National Park begins 0.0 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 2,140 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Barmouth?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Wales Coast Path (Meirionnydd), Cambrian Way and Dinas Oleu Walk, Barmouth, Snowdonia.
How many people in Barmouth live near a park?
60% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Barmouth?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Barmouth good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 31% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 4% (0.5 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Barmouth’s overall grade.
Where Barmouth’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.