We left Harrogate far too soon, our time there was far too short. A return trip will definitely be on the cards. But Wales was waiting…

We drove through the beautiful Yorkshire dales, towards Leeds, then Manchester and Chester. We drove through Conwy and finally reached our destination at around 4pm. A bit later than scheduled, due to a nursery and ice cream stop. Our apartment is on the banks of one of the tributaries of the River Conwy. Betws–y–Coed is a popular mountain resort town. Much of it was built in Victorian times and it is the main village of the Snowdonia National Park.

Interesting fact….The Romans invaded Britain in AD43 and by AD78 the conquest of Wales was complete. The lives of the Celtic peoples was not greatly affected in the area as the Romans were largely confined to their hill forts and roads. However the Romans left a legacy of improved agricultural practices (including the introduction of sheep) and mining technology when they left Wales in AD383, as well as introducing Christianity.

We had dinner at Y Stablau and an early-ish night. With the sun setting at 10pm…nothing is really early. Sunday saw a trip up to the summit of Mount Snowdon on the Snowdonia Railway line. The drive there took about an hour on the scenic route. We parked, had an ice cream and boarded the little diesel train. The scenery was majestic….all around. It was gobsmacking to see how many hikers there were…I would guess thousands, milling about on numerous paths, up, down and sideways on the mountain. The weather has been so kind to us throughout this trip so far.

We then took a drive to Caernafon and saw the castle and had a quick walk through town. Caernarfon Castle is recognised around the world as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages. This fortress-palace is on the banks of the River Seiont. King Edward built the castle, town walls and a quay all at the same time, which eventually took 47 years.

On Monday we walked through the Bodnant Gardens. This is a National Trust property overlooking Conwy and the Carneddau mountains. Founded in 1874 and developed by five generations of one family, it was gifted to the Trust in 1949. The garden spans 80 acres of hillside and includes formal Italianate terraces, informal shrub borders stocked with plants from around the world.

We then headed north to Conwy castle. Also built by Edward, Conwy castle is considered to be one of “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe”.  The rectangular castle is built from local and imported stone and occupies a coastal ridge, originally overlooking an important crossing point over the River Conwy.

We ended this trip with a rather forgettable drive to Holyhead on the island of Anglesey. Not much to see and bad traffic. We did get to cross the Brittania Bridge, but missed out on the castle at Beaumaris. Maybe just too much adventure in one day.

So on that note, I will end this blog post….

The Fairy Glen House…we have apartment on ground floor

So many hikers