docdan

Americans from TX. My family (7 total) Intend traveling from Edinburgh to Ireland via Holyhead, stopping for 4 nights , three full days at the end of June 2016, in No. Wales. On the middle day (Thursday) of the 3 days, we intend on going on a pub lunch trail horse ride which we are told is in immediate proximity to Betws-Y-Coed. (Has been booked) Other than that we intend on seeing (in order) Conway, Caerfarnon, Slate MIne, Beumaris, Bodnant Gardens and Food Centre, LLandudno. I am proposing spending the first two nights at a B&B in Conwy, so that the first day we can see Conwy town and castle, LLandudno, and bodnant. Then on the middle day, check out of the B&B ride a combo of bus, train, or cab to the stables, then after the ride, check into Glan Aber Bunkhouse for two nights, on day three do the mine and Cernarfon, and if able, do Bamaris last.. Wish to only do short cab ride, train or bus, wish to avoid car hire. DW says my driving drives her BP too high. 30 years of telling her to "grow up" has run its course.
Does my plan sound like a reasonable idea? Should I only lodge in Betws-Y-Coed? or only in Conwy? Would appreciate any reasonable suggestions.

docdan

Clarification: Probably will go Edinburgh to Landudno Jucnt via Virgin Rail or combo of companies including Arriva Wales. Feel free to ravage or commend these companies, also.

tower

DocDan:

welcome to Wales....there are a few pics from the places you mention....these were taken from the 1980's to the early 2000's. Can highly recommend the lodge at Mynydd Ednifydd in the Welsh town of Criccieth. See below. Be sure to stop in Chester at the border...very lovely English town with unique architecture.

tower

Might have missed posting the pics ...here they are

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Wales#

AlysonRR

I agree with the suggestion to visit Chester - lovely city with unique features.

If there are any adrenaline junkies amongst your family of 7, you may want to investigate http://www.zipworld.co.uk/. My husband and 16-yo son did it and still talk about it as a highlight of our June 2014 trip.

ESW

Those are very busy days depending on how long you intend to spend in each place. You could easily spend a fiull day in Conwy exploring the castle, walking the town walls, Plas Mawr Elizabethan Manor House, walking across the suspension bridge.... Llandudno and the Great Orme (use the Victorian tramway) is another half day and Bodnant garden deserves at least a couple of hours....

When you say th slate mine, I assume you mean Llechwedd? make sure you allow time to do the Victorian Mine tour - from memory this is a good hour and then add on time in the slate workshop and wandering round the site. Thats Half a morning gone.

You need to allow at least an hour to drive to Caernarfon and get parked up. Don't forget time for some lunch. Caenarfon castle is going to be a good hour to explore, may be longer and it is worth having a quick look at the town too.

Getting back to teh car, driving to beaumaris and parking up is going to be another hour and the castle closes at 5pm (probably with last admissions at 4.30). That is going to be tight....

You may need to cut back on what you are trying to achieve.

docdan

Agree, over committing of time is a risk, we will plan this out carefully.

Yes, I did mean the Victorian Mine, and yes, we will carefully consider stops in Chester and the Zip line venue.
There is a Zip line venue in Playa del Carmen on the Mayan Riveria that is a family favorite.

tahl

Since you won't have a car, getting around will be your biggest issue, and the day that sticks out to me as toughest is the one you stay in Betws-y-Coed and travel (presumably by train, then two taxis (for your seven people)) to Llechwedd Slate Caverns near Blaenau Ffestiniog, and then (by bus, unless you feel like going WAY out of your way) to Caernarfon. That last leg, and then home to Betws, may not be practical in the time available.

I'd suggest you spend some time on
http://www.traveline.cymru
looking at transport options between places you want to go, how long the trip is, how often it runs, etc.

There's a map of rail lines in Wales here:
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/RouteMap/

janisj

>>. Wish to only do short cab ride, train or bus, wish to avoid car hire. DW says my driving drives her BP too high. 30 years of telling her to "grow up" has run its course. <<

Tell your wife to put on her big girls pants

Since you are renting a vehicle in Scotland - why not in Wales too?

tahl

Also, a different thought: Consider hiring
http://www.celticos.com/
for a day or even two days or more. You'd get an experienced local person driving you around in a van, and with 7 people in your party who otherwise would be getting train and bus tickets and taxi space (two taxis to most places, surely), it might be a really good option.

There are other firms who do similar custom van tours; I can find names, if you're interested.

janisj

I agree w/ tahl -- if you just can't talk your wife into renting, hiring a driver-guide would be MUCH easier than trying this by public transport.

AlysonRR

docdan wrote <There is a Zip line venue in Playa del Carmen on the Mayan Riveria that is a family favorite.>

Cool - please share info (off topic) because we're planning that trip for 2017.

docdan

Thanks for our interest and responses
AlysonRR - i'll post a sep thread under the Mexico tag.
janis, tahl- I believe I'll explore the custom van tour option.
<Since you are renting a vehicle in Scotland - why not in Wales too?>
Only because I wish to make a drive from Glasgow to Glencoe, do the Jacobite train, then through Pitlochry into Fife. Did not like the public transport options to make that work. By contrast we don't really _have_ to see anything in Wales, wishing to experience the ambiance as more important than a list of achievements, and OP NOT behind the wheel of a hired car helps achieve that goal.
Lodging.
Based upon ESWs comment above, which I perceive as sound advice, I believe we may just lodge all four nights in/near Conwy. Spend first day on foot w/ public transportation immediately around Conwy, second day on our horse ride, third day with the custom van, and probably (if not too dear) employ the van an extra half day seeing sites in AM, then take us to Holyhead for the ferry.

tower

Doc Dan

Meant to mention that between Caernarfon and Beaumaris lies the Welsh town with the longest name in the world. Worth a quick stop and a photo...I think your group might need a little break for some silly fun...trying to pronounce the name. Norway's Lofoten Island town with the shortest name in the world (see neighboring picture) is "A" (pronounced "Aw").

The Welsh town starts with "Llanfair pwillig" etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc..........(see pic above)

Enjoy your trip.

ESW

Conwy does make a good base and there is a regular bus service to Llanduno. Hiring a van for day three makes the logistics a lot easier. If you are tight on time Beaumaris Castle may be a better choice than Caernarfon as it has a moat. It is also a marvellous example of a concentric castle and state of the art design when built. Unfortunately money ran out and it was never finished...
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...ris/index.html

Caernarfon Castle is really a bigger version of Conwy although it doesn't have all the internal buildings.

If you still have time on your hands after Beaumaris then it is just a short drive to Penmon Priory. This has a lovely Norman church set in the ruins of the priory. The church proabably closes around 5pm but access to the ruins of the proiory is any time.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/church...mon/index.html
http://www.angleseyheritage.com/key-places/penmon/

You can also continue the drive down to toll road to Black Point at the end of the peninsula.

docdan

Again, thanks, all

AlysonRR - see
http://www.fodors.com/community/mexi...an-riveria.cfm

I got flamed for suggesting some sites that are not sufficiently "mexican" for some purists. Yeesh!

tahl

Docdan, I think your changes are wise, especially since you write:
>>>By contrast we don't really _have_ to see anything in Wales, wishing to experience the ambiance as more important than a list of achievements<<<

One of the nice things about going with Celticos would be that you can *definitely* get off the beaten track and learn a lot more about Wales than you would otherwise. (I haven't used them, but plan to on one of my next trips, to visit Welsh-speaking hill farms (yes, I speak Welsh)).

The Celticos website lists a bunch of nice B&Bs and hotels, including a couple of B&Bs in Conwy. You could even consider staying someplace further west, say in Caernarvon, for the last two nights. It's not a plush town, but it's interesting, and it's the unofficial capital of Welsh-speaking Wales.

And you might like this bouncy Youtube song on how to say Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BXKsQ2nbno

PalenQ

I did all those places just about from Llandudno base by train and bus and foot - see if they still sell the Wales day pass good on trains and buses.

Mt Snowdon was a highlight for me - just out of Caernarferon - steam train up to summit or walk on wide safe paths along the railway - for a real scramble walk down the east side on paths that I must have gotten off of and ended up hopping from big boulder to big boulder to catch bus to Betsy-C and the Ffestiniog Railwasy was fun too - to an old dilapidated slate mining town that looked like it was out of the 1950s- Ffestiniog - a steam train going up from where the Conwy Valley mainline trains end.

Beaumarais was a real treat - iconic castle of your dreams on the sea and nothing much inside it.

Be sure to take the tram up the Great Orme (or walk as I did) to see mountain goats and views all the way over the water to Blackpool.

Conwy is a very very quiet village and very very cute - not much in Llandudno itself to interest most but the Great Orme tram goes from there as do the walking paths. the seaside town just east of Conwy has large supermarkets.

for train info check www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com online European Planning & Rail Guide has a short chapter on North Wales - www.ricksteves.com for general info.

PalenQ

Oh to get to Beaumarais I had to change from train to bus at Bangor - a real market town - lots of shops on one main drag but little else of interest but I noticed that many folks were speaking Welsh as their daily tongue and not English - the bus driver often lapsed in Welsh with riders - kind of neat.

PalenQ

Conwy does make a good base and there is a regular bus service to Llanduno.>

and train service too.