Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Weekend in Wales

Thank you to the Fodorites who gave me such excellent advice. I had to be in Manchester for business meetings on July 7 and 8, and decided to go a few days early. Aside from posting here, I really didn't get much time to do my research, so I really have to thank people for the advice they provided here!

I landed at Manchester airport at about 8:00 AM on Friday July 4. By 9:00 AM I was on a train headed for Bangor. While not my preferred destination, it turned out to be a pretty well placed spot for doing day trips, which is all I had any real time for. There was a bluegrass festival in Conwy, my first choice, and actually Bangor worked out pretty well overall. After a transfer at Crewe and another one at Chester, I got into Bangor at around 12:30. A 10-minute walk from the train station took me to the tourist info center, and the very helpful women there told me to keep walking (another 10 minutes) to the B&B closest to the busstop. I ended up at the Bay Tree Lodge B&B, on Deniol Road (I think). THeir room rates are 35/night, but I caught them on a weekend they were not booked up and I got the room with shower for 30/night, paid in advance and in cash. The women that run the place are great - very helpful and the breakfast was pretty good (served from 7;30 to 8:30 only). They give you a key to get in the side door after 9. THere are two busstops in really close proximity and the main bus stop from bangor is less than a 10-minute walk away.

By 2:00 pm, after a stroll along Bangor's high street to get something to eat, I was on my way to Beaumaris. There are buses that run every 20-30 minutes to 5:00 and then on the hour, from the Bangor clocktower station. The castle is pretty neat, and as it was mid-afternoon on a Friday, I had most of it to myself. I made friends with one of the swans and he ( i think it was a he) followed me around the moat. The weather cooperated and I probably spent about 2 hours wandering around. I took a walk along the shore, saw the stone circle taht they have by the beach, and spent another hour wandering around the town, found a grocery store and picked up a sandwich, bourbon cremes and water for 'dinner', and headed back to Bangor. Although it was only 7 by the time i got back, jetlag hit me in a big way - I was in bed by 7:30, woke up a couple of times during the night and then for breakfast at 7:30 the next day.

It had rained a little during the night, but July 5 was pretty clear for a while. After checking bus schedules, I decided to get a "red rover" ticket (unlimited bus rides for the day) and head to Caenarfon for the day, and then see what I could do. I was a little late in getting going, but was on the 9:00 Am bus - an hour later I was at the castle. I didn't realize that they were celebrating Veteran's Day and that if I had just waited another hour or two, I could have gotten into the castle for free! Anyhow, it was a nice surprise, and I stuck around to see the ceremonies and honoring the armed forces, some of whom had gathered on the castle grounds. Later, they all marched around town, and I saw the royal goat leading the procession. No offense meant - I just can't recall the significance of the goat. Something to do with the guard. spent some time walking around town, then got on the bus back to Bangor around 2:00 pm . Decided it was too early to call it quits for the day, and continued on the same bus to Llandudno. Decided to hit the marks & spencer for sandwiches again and sat on one of the benches on the boardwalk to enjoy both dinner and the parade of people on vacation. THis was not a beach-going day - really cold wind off the water! I wasn't feeling up to going on to the Orme but I walked to the end of the pier and back, and wandered around some of the shops. While I can see it's appeal to families, etc, I didn't really care for the town. Caught the bus to Conwy, and hopped off again to take a look around. I was too late to get entry to the castle, but some of the shops were still open, and you could still get up on the old city walls in a few areas, which I did. It was neat to have them to yourself, with not too many poeple around. Finally took the bus back to Bangor and got back in aroudn 9:30. I guess I was still not done as I walked to the pier and found the gates locked.

Sunday July 6 - I was going to look into ways of getting to the mountains, but still felt too jetlagged and it was also raining so I decided to go back to Conwy and go to the castle. THe frequency of buses on Sunday was a concern as this evening I also needed to make my way back to Mancheser. After debating my options, I decided to take the bus to Conwy and back and then later that day take the train to Manchester from Bangor, instead of having to deal with my bags for the whole day. This worked out fairly well. Conwy castle was fun - and I climbed up every one of its towers, accompanied by many other tourists. I had a late lunch (3:00 pm) in one of the cafes and headed back to Bangor, to get on the 5-ish train to Manchester.

I loved North Wales, and am already making plans for coming back. The history in the area was awesome, and perhaps next time I'll get up the guts to rent a car to make it easier. However I found that buses operated very frequently (monday to saturday anyway) and i could get around without a car farily inexpensively on the red rover ticket for the day (4.95 for the day). I wish I'd gotten up to Snowdonia, but weather and jetlag dictated otherwise. I posted my pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/sjk373/Wales - no commentary yet but some of the pictures speak for themselves.