Forest bathing in Gwynedd

Gwynedd has the richest woodland in Wales for forest bathing, and much of it is Celtic rainforest: sessile oak dripping with moss and lichen in the Meirionnydd valleys. Coed Felenrhyd and Llennyrch above Maentwrog, owned by the Woodland Trust, are the largest block of it, with the Ceunant Llennyrch gorge next door. Coed y Brenin north of Dolgellau is a Natural Resources Wales forest park of Douglas fir, oak and the Mawddach gorge, and Coed Ganllwyd at Dolmelynllyn is a National Trust oakwood around the Rhaeadr Ddu falls.

Guided sessions here are two or three hours of slow walking and long pauses in a small group, often beside water. The rainforest woods are wet and uneven underfoot, so the forest park trails suit mixed groups; dates, prices and terrain are on each guide's profile.

Coed y Brenin is the place to start: a visitor centre with a cafe, pay-and-display parking and the Afon Eden trail, which is level and surfaced and follows the river under oak and fir. For something flatter still, the Mawddach Trail from Dolgellau runs along the old railway line with woodland on the landward side.