Best way to travel to Wales from London?

Trains from London to Conwy tend to take 3.25 hours with a connection at Chester, but sometimes at Llandudno Junction or another station. For the UK, see train schedules (and ticket purchase options) at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

For more of Europe, Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it.

We ourselves drove no problem, we rented from Heathrow and Manchester airport for the 2 trips to Wales. There are several NW direction roads that lead that way. The shortest way via M40/M6 248 miles will take at least 5 hours. You can take the Avanti West train which goes farther in Wales with changes which can take less time if you make your connections. There is a train from London Euston to Conwy which can take less time. You could take this train and get off in Chester and rent a car there for a better choice than Conwy. Or you could fly into Manchester and get to Conwy by Wales Transport bus 2 1/2 hours. We enjoyed the freedom of an auto, in Wales, especially because of all the scenic drives to Castles.
Bon Voyage.

Thanks so much for the advice! Taking the train sounds perfect!

As well as National Rail, look for routing and buying strategies at www.seat61.com

Hello from Wisconsin,
We rented a car in Bristol and drove to Conwy. What a miserable day that was. My goodness, was every car in England on the road?
Did the roads signs that said expect a two hour delay have to be so accurate? I would shop for two things: 1. a place where you can rent a car for a reasonable price. And 2 that place should be readily available by rail. I sure don't know, but offhand I would start with the city of Chester. A non-stop train is 2 hours to Chester from London Euston Station leaving at 9:10, 9:40, 10:10...
Driving from Chester to Conwy is an hour.

Less driving. And hey? why not spend a night in Chester? Interesting place.

wayne iNWI

Chester is, indeed, a very nice place. Not undiscovered, but very attractive.

Conwy, incidentally, is quite small. Google is telling me the population is over 15,000, but I'd have guess it was less. I guess I didn't pay any attention to what was outside the historic center. (I wasn't driving.)

There is much to see in South Wales.

Here how they did it in 1843:
https://www.amazon.com/Drovers-Gold/dp/B07C1FVZ3K

Drovers' Gold

A tale of adventure, courage and romance set in 1843. When an English
drover refuses to pay widow farmer Ruth Jones a decent price for her
cattle, her son Aaron recruits his own ragtag band of drovers to take
the herd to market himself. Filmed on location, the Celtic cowboys
pass through some spectacular scenery on the hazardous trail from
their Welsh valley to London.

We took a train from London to Chester, and then rented a car and drove into Wales. Driving in Wales wasn't bad, but driving in Chester was AWFUL for me. If you've never driven on the other side of the road, I recommend renting your car in Conwy, not Chester. Conwy was small and much easier. Also Llandudno. But Chester is not where you want to be if you're driving for the first time in the UK. At least that was my experience. Otherwise, Chester is great and an enjoyable city.

For cheapest fares - book (around 11 weeks ahead) direct with the rail company that you will use for most of the route =https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk

You go from London EUSTON to Chester - which is worth an overnight OR you can skip Chester and stay on the train from London to Llandudno Junction = 1 mile E of Conwy. Then bus or taxi. However, if you stay for 1 night at Chester, you could catch a Transport for Wales train that does stop at Conwy - be sure to tell the guard that you wish to alight as it is a request stop - assuming you are on a stopping service and not an express.

Here is a map of the area - check out the streets on street view:>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Conwy/@53.2817733,-3.8299799,2513m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486519600a1fb91f:0xd5a8bcb170626580!8m2!3d53.282872!4d-3.82948!5m1!1e1