'Hidden' Welsh waterfall named in 'Most Scenic Wild Swimming Spots' list

A 'hidden' Welsh waterfall and two other locations in Wales have been named in a top ten of the UK's 'Most Scenic Wild Swimming Spots'.

Wild swimming has become a craze in the UK, with a 70% Google search increase for “wild swimming spots UK” since COVID-19 in 2020.

By 2023, the Trends in Outdoor Swimming Report found that 42% of swimmers had continued wild swimming for more than four years, revealing that the sport wasn’t just a lockdown fad.

As the sun begins to shine in the UK this month, a team of experts wanted to investigate the most scenic wild swimming spots in the UK.

To do this, they collected a list of wild swimming locations across the UK and ranked them based on their volume of Instagram hashtags.

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World fame

The experts found that Nant Sere, overlooking Pen-y-Fan, is Wales' most scenic wild swimming spot with 192,000 Instagram hashtags.

Overall, Loch Lomond and Katrine are the UK’s most scenic wild swimming spot, but punching above our weight, Wales has an incredible three wild swimming spots featured in the top 10.

The study from Live Football Tickets reveals that Loch Lomond and Katrine in the Trossachs National Park in southern Scotland is the most scenic wild swimming spot in the UK. With 623,000 Instagram hashtags, the Scottish lake has 12% more hashtags than its second-place competitor, Loch Ness, and has over 2000% more popularity than Llyn Padarn in 10th place.

In second place lies Scotland’s most famous lake, Loch Ness. Known in folklore for being host to Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, this freshwater giant has accumulated a myth-busting 556,000 Instagram hashtags.

With a length of 23 miles, wild swimmers are spoilt for choice for where to take a dip. It takes just 30 minutes to drive to the lake’s centre from its closest city, Inverness.

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Most scenic spots in Wales

The third place transports us over 500 miles south to Nant Sere in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

This Welsh waterfall hides just north of Pen-y-Fan, offering a visual delight for wild swimmers keen to embrace nature in all its diversity.

With 192,000 Instagram hashtags, this well-captured part of the Welsh countryside offers more than just peaks and troughs, but falls and plunges too.

This scenic swimming opportunity is often shadowed by the incredible hikes surrounding the waterfall, so if a dip after a morning hike sounds enticing, Nant Sere can be reached in just over one hour by car from Cardiff.

In fifth place, with 61,400 Instagram hashtags, is the magical Fairy Glen in Gwydir Forest Park in north Wales.

The final Welsh location in the top 10 is Llyn Padarn, a glacially formed lake in the north of Eryri.

This 2-mile-long lake has accumulated 28,300 hashtags on Instagram, placing itself 10th in the UK ranking. It’s just a 22-minute drive from Bangor, and accessible by bus from Caernarfon.