What must I see in Wales?
Dec 26th, 2011, 09:10 PM
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What must I see in Wales?
We (husband and I) are roughing out plans for a trip to Wales, northern England, and Scotland in late June and into July. Fodorites -- what MUST I see/do in Wales that is either not that well covered in the guidebooks, or not given its due attention?
We will likely spend 5-6 nights or so in Wales. We will probably stay in 2 places, and do day trips from those locations.
We'd like to see some of the major castles; a famous garden; take one (or more) of the narrow guage trains; enjoy picturesque towns; try to hear one of the men's choirs. Probably some rambling/walking/hiking. We'll be happy to find a good market day.
My husband is into photography, and looks forward to picturesque towns, historic buildings, and landscapes of sea and mountains.
We will have a car. Any advice about hotels, restaurants, etc. is also welcome.
We are not on a strict budget, but appreciate good value and a good kitchen.
We will likely spend 5-6 nights or so in Wales. We will probably stay in 2 places, and do day trips from those locations.
We'd like to see some of the major castles; a famous garden; take one (or more) of the narrow guage trains; enjoy picturesque towns; try to hear one of the men's choirs. Probably some rambling/walking/hiking. We'll be happy to find a good market day.
My husband is into photography, and looks forward to picturesque towns, historic buildings, and landscapes of sea and mountains.
We will have a car. Any advice about hotels, restaurants, etc. is also welcome.
We are not on a strict budget, but appreciate good value and a good kitchen.
Dec 27th, 2011, 12:08 AM
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A great base for North Wales is Beaumaris. Picturesque little town on the banks of the Menai Straits in Anglesey. Lots of places to eat. Look at cottagewales.com which has a number of different properties and early in the season rents by the night.
Dec 27th, 2011, 01:44 AM
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We enjoyed Bodnant Gardens; the walled city of Conwy; Caernarvon Castle and the coastal drive to it; pretty much all of Snowdonia; the Festiniog Railway (the cost of a First Class ticket is a trivial addition to a regular ticket and makes life better if you are more than 5'8").
We also liked Betwys y Coed a lot because we live in a tourist town and like to see other tourist towns for comparison. Ditto Llandylo, though it is much more like an English beach resort than other more Welsh places.
A good map will show lots of walking paths along the tops of hills, and it is a doddle to walk up the back side of Snowdon.
Lovely place.
We also liked Betwys y Coed a lot because we live in a tourist town and like to see other tourist towns for comparison. Ditto Llandylo, though it is much more like an English beach resort than other more Welsh places.
A good map will show lots of walking paths along the tops of hills, and it is a doddle to walk up the back side of Snowdon.
Lovely place.
Dec 27th, 2011, 04:07 PM
#4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betws-y-Coed For us this was a very good location. Many lovely B$B'S and we did hear a choir group in the small local church that traveled worldwide.
Dec 28th, 2011, 02:10 PM
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Thanks so much for the advice, all!
An update: we will likely spend multiple nights in Caenarfon (touring Snowdonia, Harlech, Portmeiron) and Llandudno (touring Conwy, Angsley Island, Bodnant GArdens,) perhaps another couple of nights in Beaumaris as a separate stay on Angsley Island. Will definitely stop by Betws-y-coed, and Ruthin.
'Much appreciate the advice about the value of a first-class ticket on the train.
An update: we will likely spend multiple nights in Caenarfon (touring Snowdonia, Harlech, Portmeiron) and Llandudno (touring Conwy, Angsley Island, Bodnant GArdens,) perhaps another couple of nights in Beaumaris as a separate stay on Angsley Island. Will definitely stop by Betws-y-coed, and Ruthin.
'Much appreciate the advice about the value of a first-class ticket on the train.
Dec 28th, 2011, 02:29 PM
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The Mens' Chorus rehearses in the high school on Wednesday evenings at 8 PM in Llanfair Caereinion, which is not far west of Welshpool.
We learned this from the Tourist Office in Welshpool, as there is a guide book that gives the times of various choir rehearsals. That booklet is hard to find, the lady crawled around on her knees behind the desk to find it!!
We are still so thrilled that we made the effort to go to the rehearsal. It was a highlight of the whole trip!!
We learned this from the Tourist Office in Welshpool, as there is a guide book that gives the times of various choir rehearsals. That booklet is hard to find, the lady crawled around on her knees behind the desk to find it!!
We are still so thrilled that we made the effort to go to the rehearsal. It was a highlight of the whole trip!!
Jan 8th, 2012, 12:48 PM
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Thank you for the tip about the men's choruses -- that will be a treat!
I think we've decided to locate in one area in north Wales, rather than two. For what we want to visit, we might focus on Conwy, and do day trips. As we look closer at a map, it seems that many sights are still reasonable for a daytrip.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a place to stay, somewhere in or between LLandudno, Conwy, and Caernafon, that is an easy walk to good cafes and restaurants in the evening, or a good in-house kitchen where we'd be happy do dine a few nights? We appreciate not having to drive far in the evening for dinner, or on very twisty roads as evening comes on (yes, we know the sun sets late in summer, but still...)
We can afford to go upmarket for the hotel and dinners, but always appreciate a good value.
I think we've decided to locate in one area in north Wales, rather than two. For what we want to visit, we might focus on Conwy, and do day trips. As we look closer at a map, it seems that many sights are still reasonable for a daytrip.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a place to stay, somewhere in or between LLandudno, Conwy, and Caernafon, that is an easy walk to good cafes and restaurants in the evening, or a good in-house kitchen where we'd be happy do dine a few nights? We appreciate not having to drive far in the evening for dinner, or on very twisty roads as evening comes on (yes, we know the sun sets late in summer, but still...)
We can afford to go upmarket for the hotel and dinners, but always appreciate a good value.
Jan 9th, 2012, 06:49 AM
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When we went to Llandudno, we stayed at a b&b called Adcote House. Relatively quiet side street but a few blocks off the beach and easy walking distance to restaurants and pubs. Anne and Tony were great hosts....Anne cooks up a great meal and Tony was always there to help or offer advice on what to see, where to eat/drink, etc, and Tony is hilarious.
Jan 11th, 2012, 02:43 PM
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I agree with Bodnant Gardens, gorgeous walking even if you aren't into gardens. We LOVED the village of Beddgelert with it's legend of the faithful dog. Drove up into Snowdonia from there, it was awesome.
We went into Wales from the area around Chatsworth and Elam (the Plague Village)
Some day when we head to the northern parts of England we will stop at Chatsworth and Elam again, VERY memorable.
I don't know how this might work into your schedule, but these were among the highlights of our trip, and places that we want to go back to.
If you are headed north to Scotland, these areas are not a major diversion.
We went into Wales from the area around Chatsworth and Elam (the Plague Village)
Some day when we head to the northern parts of England we will stop at Chatsworth and Elam again, VERY memorable.
I don't know how this might work into your schedule, but these were among the highlights of our trip, and places that we want to go back to.
If you are headed north to Scotland, these areas are not a major diversion.
