Easiest train trips to and from North Wales

It is difficult, because there aren't any railway lines that run north to south across Wales (they were closed in the 1960s). My personal suggestion would be first London (doing Bath and Cardiff as day trips), then North Wales, then York, then Edinburgh. You'll have to change in Birmingham on the way from North Wales to York. Interested in why you specifically want to go to Cardiff. Torchwood fan?

Good call! I am indeed a Torchwood fan, although more of a Doctor Who fan. I'll admit that the main reason I want to go to Cardiff is to visit the Doctor Who Experience and go on a tour of Doctor Who filming locations (or at least see a lot of the areas that appear on the shows). : ) But I also think it would be nice to spend a day in South Wales and in a Wales city to get a taste of that aspect of Wales since the rest of my Wales visit will be northern country areas and Snowdonia. Thanks for itinerary suggestion. Going London to North Wales does seem easiest and hopefully by that point of the trip I'll be comfortable enough with the trains that the Birmingham stop over on the way to York won't be stressful.

Wales is a country of hills and valleys. Trains to run smoothly and quickly require flat land or loads of tunnels and bridges.

Cardiff is a great place! We love doing day trips there from London. It is a bit funky and quirky and really fun. Good shopping, too. The one time we visited North Wales, we stayed in Bewts- y- Coed. It is a lovely village with reasonable train and bus connections. We only stayed 2 days, so I would love to be able to return. Lots of good b&bs in the center of town, too.

Google 'rail map wales' and look at the overall diagram. It's a backward capital E with the vertical element in England. That's what you have to work with. Everything else is buses.

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions and explanations. Betws-y-Coed is one of the towns we will consider staying in. I have read/heard some opinions of it that say it is much more touristy than some of the other towns, which makes me a little hesitant to stay there. Toni, it is nice to hear that you enjoyed your stay there though. Ruthin, Conwy, and Beddgelert are also in the running. I have one more train question. For train trips that require switching trains like North Wales to York stopping at Birmingham, would our luggage be transferred to the second train by the train staff as it would on a plane trip, or would we need to get it from the first train ourselves at the stop and get it on the second train for the second part of the journey? Thanks.

No, there haven't been porters at British stations for years. The only way anybody would carry your luggage for you would be if you were in a wheelchair with no able bodied assistants, and even then you'd probably have to ask well in advance. Also on European trains you carry your luggage with you or shelve it close to you at all times, it's not like air travel where the luggage goes in a separate space.

I don't mean porters, I mean the way it works on an airline trip with a layover where you stop at the layover location and get on a different plane but you don't have to check out and check in your luggage again for the layover, it is moved automatically to the second plane by the airline crew. I guess I am asking if I have a rail pass and want to go from say Conwy to York but have to stop at Birmingham, am I purchasing one ticket to York with a stop in Birmingham or is it really purchasing two one way trips, one from Conwy to Birmingham and a separate one from Birmingham to York? I don't have any experience with train travel, so sorry for the probably very basic question!

Just reread the second paragraph of your post and realized you already answered my question indirectly, so please ignore my last post. If we would always have our luggage with us on the train and not in a separate compartment, then obviously we would need to take it off the first train ourselves. That's fine with me, and actually nicer than on a plane I think because you can be sure your luggage is going with you to the right place.

On trains it is "You tote what you brung". Trains and large luggage don't mix well. If you use the Underground you will have steps and possibly escalators with the rare lift (elevator). Very few Underground stations are step free. If you need that we can provide a link. If you are using the train between London and Birmingham it will be either Virgin Trains or London Midland. Virgin are the fast, fewer stops, more direct, more expensive option. They have three trains an hour to Birmingham using Pendolino high speed tilting trains. There's not a huge amount of luggage space. There are overhead racks for smaller bags and a standing rack. The door vestibule is separated from the rest of the car by a sliding door and is not a good place to leave luggage because of the small size of space and being out of sight. First Class has considerably more room at considerably higher prices. London Midland are the slower, many more stops, less direct, cheaper alternative. Most of their trains on that route are high density 3+2 seating or lower density 2+2 seating commuter trains called Desiros. The cars are completely open and there is often space near the doors to put some luggage (there are no standing racks at all) as well as overhead racks. Near the disabled toilet in Coach C are pop up seats which if unoccupied by wheelchairs, disabled people, push chairs, or prams, or bicycles, can be used to put some luggage. In and out of London they tend to be quite crowded trains at all hours, but at rush hours will be standing room only for the 50 miles or so around London. Virgin also run trains to Holyhead in North Wales from London, and connections via Chester may work. Birmingham New Street is being rebuilt while open so has narrow platforms and can be difficult to navigate with heavy luggage. Escalator up but stairs down unless you find the lifts.

You can get tickets for portions of your journey, but most people have a single ticket for the day's journey - for example Conway to York. Depending on the price it would routed various ways, or by various companies.