Pen Y Graig

Pen Y Graig is a small stone cottage above Talysarn in the Nantlle Valley, positioned - as guests with dogs like to point out - between the mountains and the sea. Walks start straight from the door into the surrounding hills, the beaches of the Llyn coast are about fifteen minutes by car, and the paths up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) are roughly half an hour away. For a walking holiday with a dog it is a genuinely well-placed base.

Inside, the cottage trades size for character: driftwood woodwork, a cosy open-plan downstairs and a terraced garden with long views down the valley. Guests staying with a dog describe it as comfortably sized for a couple or a small family plus one dog, warm once the heating is on, and clean throughout.

One practical warning: the frontage is steep, with high steps and a significant drop in front of the cottage, so keep dogs on a lead immediately outside and take extra care with less sure-footed animals. The terraced garden calls for the same common sense.

Smaller quibbles - no washing machine, television reception limited to the main channels, and one report of an oven that needed a clean - are the kind of thing you accept in a traditional cottage at this price. The property takes one dog per booking, so multi-dog households will need to look elsewhere.

Best suited to a couple or small family with a single dog who want mountains one day and beaches the next, and a characterful, unfussy cottage to come back to.