Hello! I am looking to locate tour operators that do 1 day tours of surrounding area castles from Conwy, Wales. Specifically, our family would like to visit: Caernarfon Castle, Harlech Castle, & Beaumaris castle. Or if you know of bus services to these castles, I would greatly appreciate that information as well. Been doing lots of google searching and not coming up with much. Thanks so much!
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
I'm not aware of any tour operators but I've not looked for one either. You could ask wherever you were planning to stay about possible tours. You can easily take a bus or taxi from Conwy to Caernarfon. I want to say the bus is 1.3 GBP but I'm not sure. You can check on line. Beaumaris is not far from either Conwy or Caernarfon so a taxi drop off with a pre-arranged pickup time would work. Harlech is a long haul from Conwy. Check the rail and bus schedules. You might have some options. North Wales is tough to do without a car. There is a pretty good bus service around the Snowdonia area but it isn't necessarily very frequent. If my memory is correct, there are two bus companies that have some type of "rover pass" good for the day that lets you ride the Snowdonia circuit. One of the companies (I think) is Padernbus. I don't remember the other one. They have similar but not identical routes. I think they connect Conwy and Caernarfon with the smaller villages in the Snowdonia area. I don't think these companies include Harlech. I suggest you search for "north wales bus service" or "snowdonia bus service" and see what pops up.
Posted by
BC, Canada
345 posts
From Bangor, I did Conwy, Caernarfon, and Beaumaris by bus. Each were separate day trips. Very simple, but I wouldn't try to do it by bus in one day. It was the public bus system, and very easy and cheap to use. I was unable to find an easy way to do Harlech from there. The roads were quite skinny at times, but navigation didn't seem too complex as these are major sites within the towns and all had large car parks. As someone who never drove, I would almost recommend it for ease of access to these sites.
Posted by
Nashville, TN, USA
3747 posts
Here is a page from North Wales Tourism. One of the tours or car services listed on this page may be what you want: http://www.gonorthwales.co.uk/travel-and-tours/thedms.aspx?dms=11&catid=107&msg=Browsing$$tour%20operator$tour%20operators$$ The other site I always find great information on is: www.visitwales.co.uk I have not been on any of these tours, but have been doing a lot of research on them recently in preparation for a spring trip to Wales. Hope this helps.
Posted by
OP
San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
39 posts
Thanks Rebecca - I have just email several of these companies from your link. Great source.
Posted by
Boston, MA, USA
7 posts
I came across this website when I was doing some research on visiting Northern Wales without a car. I do not have any personal experience with her as I have not gone on my vacation yet and it's a private car tour rather than a bus, but she has a castles tour that looks similar to what you are looking for and the website says you also can design your own itinerary. http://www.guidenorthwales.com/driverguide/