UKH

I am planning a climbing themed road trip around Wales.  The general idea being to do 6 or 7 days climbing.  The idea is to climb for a day then drive to a different part of the country to camp.  Obviously this is dependent on the Covid restrictions that will be in place over the Summer.  We will be starting off near Birmingham and my vague plan is to drive down to Gower (picking off a route in the Wye Valley).  Then Pembroke and possibly mid-Wales.  Finishing with a couple of days in Snowdonia.  I would quite like to tick different styles e.g. Mountain, sea-cliff, sport. The target grade is S / VS. What classic crags / routes would people recommend.

If you're in southern Snowdonia Obsession (VS 4c) followed by Red Crystals (S) is an excellent day out.

For Snowdonia I'd have a few for different areas. The pass can be wet when Tremadog is dry. Even Craig Cwm Silyn (outside edge route is only VDiff though (which is the classic on that face) can be very different weather wise to the pass.

Wintours Leap for Zelda, Nibelhiem and Freedom.

Gower for Scavenger at Three Cliffs at low tide and Fall Bay for Osiris when the tide comes in.

Pembroke south for Diedre Sud ( if the birds allow) and Bow shaped Slab.

Pembroke north for a restful day around Porth  Clais and St Nons.

Cadair Idris for Obsession and Table Arete.

Tremadog for Creag Ddu Wall and Poor Mans Puetry.

Lliwedd and Snowdon Horseshoe to Reades Route for a walking day.

Any cwm Idwal enchainment you care to mention.

There's a week!

Can help with South/East Wales

There are a few good VSs in the Wye Valley, so you'll have plenty to choose from!

• Wintour's Leap - some okay big multi-pitches like Nibelheim (VS 4c), Central Rib Route II (VS 5a), a big traverse if it's free The Angel's Girdle (VS 5a) or some good single pitches on Fly Wall (Swallow's Nest (VS 4c), Freedom (VS 4c)(HVS imo), etc. Fly Wall routes mostly follow cracks and corners and are well-protected. Some of the easier classic multi-pitches at Wintours rely quite heavily on fixed gear.
• Wynd Cliff - long single pitches ~40m (some can be split in half but no need to) like Cadillac (VS 4c), Questor (VS 4c), Fibre (VS 4c) (HVS imo)
• Shorn Cliff - shorter single pitches with a friendlier feel. Whilst Wintours and Wyndy are blocky, compact routes with a big feel, Shorn Cliff has some good lower-grade routes and lots of natural protection.

I'd recommend some Valleys sandstone sport as it's not far off the M4 and quite different to a lot of climbing elsewhere. The best crags are:

• Tirpentwys - Lovely small venue with a friendly feel and lots of routes in the 5s and lower 6s
• Sirhowy - Lots on offer here. The main wall starts at 6c but there are 2 or 3 other smaller walls with lots of good climbing on them
• The Gap - Again, loads here but faces North so will be cold outside of summer. Some of the cracks can stay wet.
• Navigation Quarry - My favourite of the valley sandstone. Big slabs and catches all the sun going. 

For Gower at S-VS you have a lot of options. 

• Fall Bay to Mewslade has some nice routes like Gethsemane (S 4a) and Ragnarok (HS 4a)
• Three Cliffs Bay has the great VSs of Scavenger (VS 4c) and Arch Slab (VS 4c)

Morfa Bychan has some lovely sport climbing to split the difference between Gower and Pembroke. 

I've only been to Pembroke a handful of times so others will be able to recommend things better than I.

If you're coming from Birmingham and don't want a long walk in Symond's Yat might be best for Wye Valley... it's just off the A40 between Ross and Monmouth.

Snoozin' Suzie (VD)
Golden Fleece (HS 4b)
Exchange (VS 4b)
or the best VS of the crag Whitt (VS 4c)
The best climb is probably Red Rose Speedway (HVS 5a) but it's not easy.

Otherwise Wintour's Leap is probably best... not too far from the M4 and a short walk in. Agree with Paul that Freedom (VS 4c) is more like HVS, African Killer Bee (VS 4c) is good fun and Zelda (HS 4b) is a classic. The Angel's Girdle (VS 5a) is brilliant, but an epic expedition that requires very good rope skills for both lead and second... it involves a huge traverse pitch and also some back-roping on a 30 foot down climbing section (or just finish up the groove after the crux 5a pitch).

The Gower
Fall Bay to Mewslade is the best area.
Osiris (VS 4c) & Isis (HVS 5a) are great but no pushovers. Also second the shout out for Gethsemane (S 4a) and Scavenger (VS 4c) is brilliant.

Pembroke
Blue Sky (VS 4b) is possibly the best VS in the country, but you have to have confidence in abseiling into a potentially hairy spot.
Sea Mist (HS 4a) also at Saddle Head is more amenable, plus there's loads of easier climbs there.
The Gadfly (VS 4c) at Crystal Slabs is close to the aforementioned Bow Shaped Slab
Another shout out for Diedre Sud (HS 4a)... though it's quite a walk in.
Another route with loads of "atmosphere" is Myopia (VS 4c) at the entrance of the incredible Huntsman's Leap... again... has the potential to be quite a hairy spot.

Tremadog
Christmas Curry / Micah Eliminate (HS 4b) is brilliant.
As is One Step in the Clouds (VS 4c)

I'll leave others to point out the best in the rest of Snowdonia. Hope you have a great time!

Why not finish off by driving East and stopping and enjoying some Clwyd limestone, Pot Hole Quarry is a lovely spot although might be a little stiff for your grades, but there are some good routes at Worlds end around VS, and a spectacular location, give it a go 

In case the OP missed it, there was a massive rockfall in Cwm Silyn last summer that reportedly left Outside Edge and the main face to the right in a dangerous state. A shame as Kirkus's Route VS 4C is also a classic in a great setting.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/craig_yr_ogof_cwm_silyn-875

It's not exactly what you are looking for or expected in response, but it might make a different and memorable trip if you "walk" the Croesor to Rhosydd Through Trip (https://ukcaving.com/wiki/index.php/Croesor_Rhosydd_Through_Trip) the link is a little out of date as there is no zipline any more. As long as you can safely ab down and jumar up a rope it's entirely accessible to climbers who don't cave. (Oh, you need a helmet and head torch and wellies. It's not claustrophobic and no tight squeezes). It could be the most memorable day of your trip! Try something you can't get elsewhere!

I'd be prepared for moving campsites each day to be a little difficult because of Covid, which has generally led to less availability and them preferring booking for a few nights minimum.

​​​​​​If that's the case, you could do worse than N Wales. Loads of variety of you did cragging in the pass, some easy mountain days, slate, Tremadog and Anglesey etc and all drivable from the same base.

Wow hadn't heard about that. That's a pity it's a great setting.

Good advice. I'd do this anyway - camp opposite the Vaynol (if it's still open) and go to such venues, each day. That's the great thing about North Wales (vis a vis the Lakes, say), if you take the Pass as a hub, there's so much that's fairly easily reachable - useful, given the weather.

Mick

Wales is big and the roads are mostly awful. Driving from Pembroke to Snowdonia takes all day. I’d consider just going to Snowdonia for a week (which still leaves a lot of variety in venues) or Pembroke (ditto). That’s what I’d do anyway.

it's a nice drive and definitely not all day! Not matter where you are in Pembroke, if you're thinking of doing a route on Cadair Idris it's less than 3hrs for sure, even on a standard run.

Pembroke to Llanberis 3and 3/4 hours tops, certainly not all day

St govans to tremadog driving time is about 3.5 hrs, from st davids it's closer to 3 hrs,  hardly all day. With the easy crag access at both locations you could comfortably get a couple of great climbs in at both locations on the same day if you are keen. 

Only 135 miles so 3.5 hrs seems like a long time to cover that distance but the scenery is pretty good. Obviously need to realise you might need to add on 30 mins driving time if other traffic is slow.