UK town with Britain's only underground golf course and the world's deepest hotel

The Sun

07-07-2025

KNOWN as the 'slate capital of the world', a small UK town is home to some rather unusual underground attractions.
Blanau Ffestiniog, located in north Wales, has a long history of slate mining after becoming a major production hub in the 19th century.
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Yet despite being known for grey rock, the town itself is home to some vibrant venues.
One such destination is Britain's only underground golf course.
Across four floors, guests get to play an 18-hole golf course with neon lights illuminating the surrounding rock.
You will want to take a jumper though - as the course is kept between six and eight degrees Celsius year-round.
Included in the experience is also a ride on Europe's steepest cable railway, which players must hop on to reach the course.
Rather randomly, you can then finish off the experience with a drop slide.
Underground golf sessions cost from £20 per person and can be found at Zip World Llechwedd - which is also home to a number of zip lines, underground mine tours and an underground trampoline attraction.
If you want to extend your stay in this unusual and historic town, there is also the world's deepest underground hotel.
Opening back in 2023, Deep Sleep is located in an abandoned Victorian slate mine, 1,375feet below the mountains of Snowdonia.
The accommodation has four twin-bed cabins and a slightly more luxury double bed grotto option.
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Yet, this is not your normal check-in and stay destination.
Deep Sleep is an experience that runs once a week at the weekend.
Essentially an extreme immersive experience, those wanting to stay underground overnight will need to venture on a 45-minute walk into the mountains before entering a cottage, kitting up and descending to the belly of the mine.
On the way down, visitors get to see old miners' stairs, bridges that are disintegrating and dramatic rock formations.
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After the downward hike, guests will have a warm drink and an expedition-style meal before nodding off into a deep sleep, deep below the earth's surface.
And there are no lie-ins in the morning for guests, as you need to get up at 8am for a breakfast, before heading the ascent up to the surface for 10-10:30am.
Whilst a bit chilly, Deep Sleep is actually kept warmer than the underground golf course at 10C all year-round.
Staying in one of the cabins will set you back £399 for two people, whereas the grotto is a bit pricier at £599 for two people.
Back in Blaenau Ffestiniog itself and the surrounding area, visitors have a number of walks and trails to venture on.
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Amazing sites such as Cwmorthin Waterfall can be visited - which one recent visitor described as "such a beautiful place to unwind".
Or you could jump onboard the world's oldest narrow gauge railway - the Ffestiniog Railway.
Over 13-and-a-half miles, passengers get to see the harbour in Portmadog, as well as the slate heaps in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Along the high street there are a number of cafes, pubs and independent shops too - in case you fancy a browse, nibble and tipple.
Elsewhere in Wales, there is a tiny town that has been dubbed 'Cornwall without the crowds' and features a huge sandy beach where you can spot porpoises.
And another Welsh seaside town that's voted the UK's safest place to live is set to get a £140k redevelopment.