Hello!
It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, but I finally feel like I have the time to get back into it. I want to bring you up to speed on all the adventures I’ve been on in the past year, starting with my most recent trip to North Wales over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Travelling from South London, we made the journey part way on the Thursday night before Good Friday. Thinking of what the traffic on the M25 could be like on Good Friday when the whole world wants to escape for the weekend is not a pretty sight. We stopped in Warwick overnight and then hit the road to Penygroes, Wales. The second part of the journey took us approx. 3-4 hours.
We stayed in an Air BnB in Penygroes, near the west coast of Wales. This was a great location to the coast and a short drive to the base of Mount Snowdon and other popular areas. The link to the Air BnB we stayed in is here >>> Village Flat, Talysarn
The whole apartment was lovely and had a well-equipped kitchen, a tv and good working shower. The only limitation is that although the apartment is close to everything, the town is very small and only has a local Co-Op and very few take away food options. This means its quite pricey if you need to grab a few things from the shop, the closest superstores are approx. 20 minutes away. However, still a great option if you’re opting for self catering.
On the Friday when we arrived, we only had the afternoon to fit some exploring in, so we headed to the coast:
Trefor Beach is a small beach with a cliffside ‘National Trust’ walk that follows the coast edge. Some great coastal views can be seen here and even some sheep basking in the sun.
Dinas Dinlle has a beautiful sandy beach with mountain views and a hill that used to home a fort. We stopped here after dinner to indulge in an ice cream whilst watching the sunset. The views speak for themselves…and as for the ice cream, it was great!
Saturday: WE CLIMBED THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN WALES: SNOWDON! (Yr Wyddfa)
*My first tip before I go any further is to tell you to book car parking! The car parks at start of any Snowdon path all must be booked in advance; if you don’t you are left with park and ride options or parking further away and having to walk to your starting point. *
We parked in the Pen Y Pass car park; the best one for if you’re taking the Miners Track or the Pyg track. On site with the car park is toilet facilities, an information point, a café and bus stops that take you to Llanberis and other villages.
There are other car parks located around the base of Snowdon, one popular one is in Llanberis where the easiest path to climb Snowdon begins. Llanberis is also a nice village to wander around, with views of Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris lakes.
We climbed the Pyg pathway up Snowdon, this has some steep incline areas and great views of the lakes and valley that the Miners track passes. We managed to reach the summit in 1 hour 50 minutes, a great achievement when the average is 3 hours.
We were very lucky with the weather and were rewarded with great views when we reached the summit. After waiting in a line to get a photo at the summit (we Brits love a queue!), we had some of our lunch and then headed back down the mountain. We started our climb at 10:00am from the car park which was just about right; those that were sunrise seekers were just finishing their decent from the mountain and the summit was not too busy when we first got there. By the time we came to head back down the top was crowded and the climbing routes up the mountain were getting busier. I would recommend getting up and at it if you’re planning to climb Snowdon.
We took the Miners path back down from the summit, which although is longer, it shows some lovely views and makes it a little easier on the legs.
Opposite the Pen Y Pass car park there is a small hill which heads towards Glyder Fawr, another mountain standing at 1001m high. This walk can be found to the left-hand side of the hotel and pub. You will find a red gate which leads up the hill in front of you to beautiful mountain views. We went up here and were the only ones there and as you’re up high, all the noise of a busy car park soon disappears.
I highly recommend you take a drive or a bus along the road from Llanberis to the Pen Y Pass car park and further as the views from the road are incredible. We ventured on to Beddgelert, a pretty village with the river running through and quaint little shops. Beddgelert also has a station for the mountain railway.
SUNDAY- Chasing Waterfalls!
Wales is known well for its mountain views and high number of waterfalls across the country. Our aim was to follow the river and visit some of the most popular waterfall sights in North Wales.
Our journey started heading towards Bangor, where the Menai Suspension Bridge crosses over to Anglesey. We stopped here to admire the views and take a short walk before heading to the first waterfall – Aber Falls.
Aber falls is a waterfall that drops by 120ft. Car parking is £5.00 for the day, unless you want to park at the very bottom of the road where there are lay-bys and alternative car parks.
We then headed to Swallow Falls, which I hadn’t realised you had to pay to enter and see. £2 later and you get to see a great waterfall enclosed behind the fences and picnic area. It’s a shame you cannot see the waterfall without entering the attraction itself as it is a beautiful part of nature!
Shortly along from Swallow Falls, following the same road you reach Pont Cyfyng waterfall, which flows underneath a picturesque bridge. If you park in a lay by, you can then take a scenic walk over the bridge and along the river which then loops back round to the road side.
Our last stop, was to visit the historic town of Caernarfon. This town has walled village and castle, as well as coastal views.
The final morning of our Easter weekend, on the Bank Holiday Monday it was pouring down with rain when we checked out of the Air BnB. We had planned to take a walk around the area we stayed as the lakes nearby were meant to have some good views of Snowdon and the mountains. However the weather had other ideas, you could not see a thing up in the mountains and you were soaked after standing in the rain for 10 seconds. So, based on that we decided to hit the road home, which took us approx. 7 hours.
I hope this blog provides a good insight to North Wales and all the beautiful sights there are to see. I will hopefully get round to posting a blog about my trip to South Wales last year and exploring the Brecon Beacons National Park.
I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend; roll on the next bank holiday in May!
Zoe <3
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