North West Wales - castles (and all)

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Diamond Dog
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North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 04 Jul 2015, 12:59

Right....I've booked three days in late July, staying in Criccieth (right next to that castle actually) with the intention of visiting Harlech, Caernarfon, Beaumaris & Conwy castles...in reality I really only have two and a half days.....

Will be doing everything by car so..... any tips on the best way to do this...i'm about 14 miles north of Harlech and 17 miles south of Caernarfon....Beaumaris is more like 45 minutes and Conwy is just over an hour away.....

Not that i believe I will have any spare time but are there any other things I should try and take in whilst i'm up there?

All help greatly appreciated.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Tom Waits For No One » 04 Jul 2015, 16:50

You're pretty handy for Portmeirion.
Well worth a visit just for the other worldliness of the place.


And Pwllheli Butlin's :lol:
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 05 Jul 2015, 20:31

you should visit Beddgelert, and read the great legend on the dog's gravestone. It is a half hour stop off in the heart of Snowdonia.
I kept thinking "swim as far as you can, swim as far as you can".

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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 06 Jul 2015, 19:35

la mome wrote:you should visit Beddgelert, and read the great legend on the dog's gravestone. It is a half hour stop off in the heart of Snowdonia.


From Wiki :

"Despite the presence of a raised mound in the village called Gelert's Grave, now a tourist attraction, there is absolutely no evidence for Gelert's existence. The "grave" mound is ascribed to the activities of a late 18th-century landlord of the Goat Hotel in Beddgelert, David Pritchard, who connected the legend to the village in order to encourage tourism. Similar legends can be found in other parts of Europe and Asia."

:?
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 06 Jul 2015, 19:55

Diamond Dog wrote:
la mome wrote:you should visit Beddgelert, and read the great legend on the dog's gravestone. It is a half hour stop off in the heart of Snowdonia.


From Wiki :

"Despite the presence of a raised mound in the village called Gelert's Grave, now a tourist attraction, there is absolutely no evidence for Gelert's existence. The "grave" mound is ascribed to the activities of a late 18th-century landlord of the Goat Hotel in Beddgelert, David Pritchard, who connected the legend to the village in order to encourage tourism. Similar legends can be found in other parts of Europe and Asia."

:?


Yes indeed! Still worth stopping off though. It is a great story.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 06 Jul 2015, 20:25

I may have time on my way back one day...thanks for the tip.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 10 Jul 2015, 09:04

Tom Waits For No One wrote:You're pretty handy for Portmeirion.
Well worth a visit just for the other worldliness of the place.


And Pwllheli Butlin's :lol:


I will look into that.....it's a place I have often thought about visiting... I'm not a particularly great "The prisoner" fan though...it's on the way to Harlech actually isn't it?
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 10 Jul 2015, 11:07

Diamond Dog wrote:
Tom Waits For No One wrote:You're pretty handy for Portmeirion.
Well worth a visit just for the other worldliness of the place.


And Pwllheli Butlin's :lol:


I will look into that.....it's a place I have often thought about visiting... I'm not a particularly great "The prisoner" fan though...it's on the way to Harlech actually isn't it?


It is interesting in a mild sub-disney sort of way, but ultimately only worth a short visit.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby copehead » 14 Jul 2015, 19:55

Diamond Dog wrote:Right....I've booked three days in late July, staying in Criccieth (right next to that castle actually) with the intention of visiting Harlech, Caernarfon, Beaumaris & Conwy castles...in reality I really only have two and a half days.....

Will be doing everything by car so..... any tips on the best way to do this...i'm about 14 miles north of Harlech and 17 miles south of Caernarfon....Beaumaris is more like 45 minutes and Conwy is just over an hour away.....

Not that i believe I will have any spare time but are there any other things I should try and take in whilst i'm up there?

All help greatly appreciated.


I think you'll find some of the car journey times are optimistic because the roads are narrow and in the Summer they are filled with wankers who think doing 35 mph whilst gawping at sheep is perfectly acceptable.

Basically Caernarfon is the most impressive castle, one of the best in the world, it sits in a walled town with walls intact and has some decent eating establishments, it should be top of your list. There are fine views across the straits to Anglesey from the walls.

As you are also near Harlech you may as well also do that, it is a fine looking castle on a high bluff over looking Cardigan Bay.

Beaumaris is a castle geeks castle, one of the most complex ever built, it is a beautiful setting with views to Snowdonia across the straits and is a very pretty town with good restaurants and other attractions including an unaltered Georgian prison.

Conwy is probably too far away to make even with the A55 coast road, it is a nice castle with walled town in a pretty setting.

My top two would be Caernarfon and Beaumaris

I would also do a bit of hill walking if I was up home, but as that would take a full day out your schedule it isn't probably an option, but perhaps drive back from Beaumaris up the Llanberis pass and turn South at Pen Y pass down Nant Gwynant as it is a stunning drive and wouldn't really take you out of your way to get home.

Basically take in the views

If you go to Beaumaris the bistro at the Bull Hotel has always been reliable foodwise.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby copehead » 14 Jul 2015, 19:57

Diamond Dog wrote:I may have time on my way back one day...thanks for the tip.


If you go to Beaumaris and take my tip to go home via the Llanberis Pass and Nant Gwynant you will go through Beddgelert home of the entirely made up story.

Portmeirion is absolutely lovely but if you want to do castles you will have your hands full, but you will also pass that on your way back to Cricceth just outside Porthmadog.

Also if you go to Harlech from Cricceth you will go right past Portmerion.

You could try one of the Welsh Mountain Railways if you are in to that sort of thing as well, one runs out of Porthmadog

If you have a hot beach day then Morfa Nefyn, on the other side of the Llyn peninsular, is the best beach near you and is absolutely stunning and has a fine pub with food. Cricceth has a fine beach at Black Rock as well but it can be miles to the water
Last edited by copehead on 14 Jul 2015, 20:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 14 Jul 2015, 20:01

Cheers Copey....I really want to do all four if I can......I can take in Harlech (possibly) or Conwy (probably) on the way to the b&b on Sunday..... leaves me Caernarfon and Beaumaris on Monday....and then Harlech and anything else on Tuesday, before heading home Wednesday.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby copehead » 14 Jul 2015, 20:13

Diamond Dog wrote:Cheers Copey....I really want to do all four if I can......I can take in Harlech (possibly) or Conwy (probably) on the way to the b&b on Sunday..... leaves me Caernarfon and Beaumaris on Monday....and then Harlech and anything else on Tuesday, before heading home Wednesday.


If you come into the area via the A55, which is the longest but fastest way in but not the prettiest which is the A5, you will come right past Conwy castle.

You could try a more direct route to Cricceth from the A5 and heading South cross country.

Good luck with the traffic.

If you have the opportunity to spend time on a castle Caernafon and Beaumaris are both the best castles ( 2 of the best on Earth ) and the nicest towns to spend a bit of time in.

If you want to plan somewhere to be for lunch then I would suggest Beaumaris as top of the list unless you can use trip advisor to find a nice pub you want to visit like the one in Morfa Nefyn.

It is best to plan eating in North Wales as, although it is far better than it used to be, you can't assume there will be a gastropub style affair where ever you stop.

As you can see refueling is pretty important on my list of priorities :)
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 14 Jul 2015, 20:21

These are the directions from the b&b :

Head North on the M6. At Junction 20, turn onto the M56 to North Wales. Stay on the same road, which turns into the A6117, then the A494, through Queensferry. The raod then turns into the A55. Stay on the A55 until Bangor. At Bangor, take the A487 to Caernarfon, through Caernarfon still on the A487 to Porthmadog. After 12 miles, turn onto the B4411 to Criccieth for about 5 miles.

So I guess I should do Conwy on the way in.....
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby copehead » 14 Jul 2015, 22:19

Diamond Dog wrote:These are the directions from the b&b :

Head North on the M6. At Junction 20, turn onto the M56 to North Wales. Stay on the same road, which turns into the A6117, then the A494, through Queensferry. The raod then turns into the A55. Stay on the A55 until Bangor. At Bangor, take the A487 to Caernarfon, through Caernarfon still on the A487 to Porthmadog. After 12 miles, turn onto the B4411 to Criccieth for about 5 miles.

So I guess I should do Conwy on the way in.....


That is the way I'd do it along the A55 coast road

If you could time it to stop for lunch in Conwy on the way in that would be neat.

It is a nice little town, again within medieval walls with a little harbour.

Then perhaps head down to Harlech later in the afternoon after you have checked into the B&B if you want to do more than potter around Cricceth.

That would leave you a full day to spend at Caernarfon and Beaumaris

And the possibility of doing Harlech or Portmerion before you head for home on the last day.

I would also strongly recommend that when you come back home from Beaumaris on day 2 you do head up the Llanberis pass and head down to Beddgelert to get home, it is a stunning drive and won't take significantly longer.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 14 Jul 2015, 22:25

Top tips, cheers my man.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby The Modernist » 17 Jul 2015, 05:52

The Llanberis pass would scare me as a kid. Lots of sheer drops.

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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Quaco » 22 Jul 2015, 23:04

Have you been to Bron-y-Aur?
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 23 Jul 2015, 09:26

Actually i haven't, but that's on the welsh borders............I'm not big into visiting historical musical sites...never really understood why not, it just doesn't greatly appeal to me.
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Quaco » 23 Jul 2015, 19:24

Diamond Dog wrote:Actually i haven't, but that's on the welsh borders............I'm not big into visiting historical musical sites...never really understood why not, it just doesn't greatly appeal to me.

That's interesting, as I find that kind of stuff really compelling. Places where creative things happened or iconic photos were taken. The other thing about Bron-yr-Aur is that I guess it's a private residence, so all you can do is drive by and peer through the trees. It would be cooler if you could go in.

Now Boleskine House -- that's one I'd like to see!
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Re: North West Wales - castles (and all)

Postby Diamond Dog » 23 Jul 2015, 19:40

That would be something, if only for where it is.
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