During the first May Bank holiday weekend and whilst Mei's parents were visiting the UK, we spent four days visiting North Wales.
As most of the sights we intended to visit - castles, seaside towns and Snowdonia National Park were outdoors; we hoped for good weather.
But then we were travelling within the UK and were soon brought back to reality that late Spring weather is often full of rain and gloomy skies and rarely sunny and clear.
This added a level of glumness to our trip as we only saw fleeting moments of blue sky - giving us hope on the first day; and sending us on our way the day we left.
Day 1: London to Chester
When we were planning this trip, we thought that driving from London to North Wales would be too tiring for the first day. Instead we bought train tickets to Chester, near the border between England and Wales. Chester is a historic city - a former Roman fort with a preserved medieval stone wall and buildings.
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| Passing fields of yellow flowers on the train to Chester |
At Chester, we picked up our rental car but were surprised that we didn't have any mobile or phone reception in town. This meant that we lacked directions to get us onto the motorway. Tip: always download an offline map as a backup if your car rental company does not provide GPS devices or sell maps. After a helpful local at a nearby business provided a sketched out map, we were soon on our way, crossing the River Dee and on the A55 towards our first stop in Llandudno, in Wales.
Overnight in Llandudno
We arrived at the seaside town of Llandudno in the early afternoon. The sun was out and after check-in at our accommodation: Arvon House where the owner was very helpful with suggestions on things to see and do; we went out to explore the town.
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| Our Bed and Breakfast, Arvon House |
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The town is full of Victorian terraced houses made into
Bed and Breakfast accommodation |
There were also a number of stone churches that we saw during our walk around town.
Llandudno is famous as a Victorian era seaside resort with the nearby headland (Great Orme) being a place of settlement during the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. As the sun was out, we took a walk along the seaside and pier, although whilst ordering a hot dog from a stand, we made the mistake of not taking shelter and were attacked by hungry seagulls.
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| The Grand Hotel on the waterfront |
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| The frontage of Victorian terrace houses along the beach |
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| Walking along the pier |
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| Spring time flowers are out |
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Mei's mum eating the hot dog before
getting swooped by the seagull |
The weekend that we visited Llandudno coincided with their May funfair and the main street was closed to traffic as carnival rides were being constructed.
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| Carnival rides set up for the weekend's fun fair |
For dinner we ate at the Cottage Loaf - a traditional pub that Mei had seen advertised at our accommodation. We shared dishes of duck and traditional pie with mash.
After dinner, we walked along the beach and saw statues that explained the link between Llandudno and Alice Liddell who is believed to be the inspiration for Lewis Carroll when he wrote the book 'Alice in Wonderland'.
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| Statue of the Mad Hatter |
Day 2: Conwy Castle
North Wales is home to many castles. The most famous are the UNESCO listed sites built by English King Edward I after he invaded in 1282. Originally, we had intended to visit up to four castles on this trip, but as the weather turned for the worst, we cut the number down to just two.
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| Wet weather as we approached Conwy |
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| The town of Conwy, built in the 13th century for 15,000 GBP |
Conwy Castle and the walled town of Conwy date back to the 13th century. The castle has eight towers and sits next to the river, that forms part of the moat.
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| View of Conwy Castle from the carpark |
The rain continued to fall throughout the afternoon, making the drive to the Isle of Anglesey and the Holy Island where our accommodation was located (in the port of Holyhead) to be a very grey time.
Along the way, we passed through the town with the longest name that has become a bit of a tourist attraction: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
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| The full name of the town at the motor dealership |
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| Translation of the name on a painting at our Bed and Breakfast |
Our bed and breakfast for the night was at Crossroads. Our host explained about the Welsh language and history of the area. After spending most of the day watching the rain, we went into town for dinner, eating at a Sri Lankan restaurant.
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| View from our accommodation |
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| Crossroads Bed and Breakfast |
Day 3: Snowdonia National Park
The day started early with a drive to the town of Llanberis where we caught the train to the summit of Snowdon (Snowdon Mountain Railway).
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| The tourist center at Llanberis |
However as the weather was bad and wind speeds were beyond safety regulations, the train only made it partially up the mountain and we were entitled to a small refund on the ticket price.
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| Llanberis Station at the foot of Snowdon |
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| Outside the train |
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| Not a very scenic view from the train |
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| Watching another train pass us by on the tracks |
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| Enjoying the journey |
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| Rocky Valley, final point of our ascent |
Ironically, as we descended the mountain the sky cleared up and fog lifted revealing rocks, waterfalls and sheep.
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| View after the fog lifted |
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| Waterfalls |
Dolbadarn Castle
As the weather had improved slightly, we took a walk in the park near the railway. We climbed up a moss covered stone pathway through the forest and arrived at ruins of Dolbadarn Castle.
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| Passing through some pretty forest |
The castle was built in the 13th century by the Welsh Prince, Llywelyn the Great. The tower is the main feature that remains and is partially ruined although there are steps leading partway up for the views.
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| The castle |
Overnight at the Pen-y-Pass YHA
That night we were staying at one of the mountain passes in the Snowdonia National Park. When we first arrived at the YHA, the carpark site was completely full of day-trippers. So we continued driving along but the visibility became so bad that we decided to head back to the hostel.
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| The YHA |
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| Pen Y Pass |
Having bought up some supplies at a local supermarket, we had a pre-dinner gathering in one of our rooms, drinking wine, eating cheese and ham. We then headed down to the hostel's kitchen for a more substantial meal, and another bottle of wine.
The next morning, the sun broke through the clouds and everyone persuaded Mei to go with them for a walk along the mountain pass.
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| View of the pass during breakfast |
Day 4: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
On our last day, we drove to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a UNESCO listed site. On the way we passed by a historical bridge (in a town that we have since forgotten).
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| Historical bridge |
The aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee. It is also interesting to see houseboats travelling over a bridge.
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| On top of the aqueduct |
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| View from the aqueduct |
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| A long drop down on the right hand side |
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| View of the aqueduct |
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| Houseboat tours available on the aqueduct |
After the walk on the aqueduct, it was time to return the rental car back to Chester and catch our afternoon train back to London.
Next blog post:
Madrid, Spain
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During the first May Bank holiday weekend and whilst Mei's parents were visiting the UK, we spent four days visiting North Wales.
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