Glanywern is a small hamlet with one street of four houses located at a junction with other individual houses facing west, sheltered from the east by a steep, wood covered slope. One road - the A496 leads through the village of Yr Ynys in the direction of Harlech along the flat coastal area while the other - the B4573 passes Glyn Cywarch mansion - which is the home of Lord Harlech. Within a mile or so it passes Lasynys, the former home of Y Bardd Cwsg, (The Sleeping Bard) Ellis Wynne, one of Wales' most prominent writers. The road then rises gradually, a narrow, winding road to reach the upper part of Harlech.