A few words on our trip to lovely Wales in October 2025.
- We flew in and out of London, taking the train from London to Llandudno Junction, staying in north Wales for 4 nights (visiting Chester on the way up), and then in St. Davids and Cardiff for 2 and 1 nights respectively before flying home from Heathrow.
Overall, we loved Wales - a wonderful mix of amazing scenery and some of the friendliest people we've met anywhere. The driving conditions - which can be challenging, for Americans at least - lend themselves to the rural and coastal charms and add to the cultural experience of a visit there.
While not Wales, we did enjoy a 4 hour stop in Chester on our way up to north Wales. I could have stayed for a couple of nights as there is so much to enjoy - Roman history, amazing architecture, some nice museums. We barely scratched the surface but would love to go back.
We spent 1 day driving around Anglesea, 1 day exploring Snowdonia National Park and another enjoying our home town base in Conwy.
Loved Beaumaris in Anglesea. It has an excellent castle and a lovely high street. Eglwys Cwyfan is a chapel floating on an offshore perch, which can only be accessed at low tide. It was very picturesque and kind of haunting under the looming grey skies. One of the coolest finds of our trip, well worth the visit (not easy to get to).
Snowdonia is understandably the star of north Wales. We were a little underwhelmed with Betws-y-Coed and Beddgelert, two well known touristy villages there - they just had some very basic shops and cute scenes, but not much to them. However, they are both close to good paths for hiking which enjoyed on a very sunny afternoon. The train to the top of Mount Snowdonia is a 1-hour both ways trip, with 30 minutes only at the top. It seemed like a big investment of time on the 1-day we had in the area, so we skipped it.
Conwy is a lovely town, with town walls (partially closed for repairs) and an amazing castle. We enjoyed our down time here too, with lovely restaurants and pubs. We stayed at the Erskine Arms and would definitely recommend as a hotel and restaurant, though out favorite restaurant was Dylan's in the center or town. Plas Mawr was a lovely restored home dating to the 16th century just down the street from the castle. Rick's book and TV show mention it, but we though this was more worthwhile than his recommendation suggests with excellent self-guided audio options that tell you a lot about the home and life there.
We drove down to St. Davids from Conwy - a long drive, and not on freeways for sure. A fascinating way to see the country in a day (file this under "getting there is part of the fun").
We absolutely loved St. Davids. The cathedral gets the headlines understandably, but it was quiet and tailor made for walking in the cooler fall air. I understand it to be much busier in summer. Not a big town by any stretch so you can walk to the coast from the center of town or to and from your hotel. We loved the dramatic Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, driving narrow country lanes to find random neolithic sites outside of town, and the remote beauty here. We stayed at the very upscale Twr y Felin Hotel on the edge of town for a decently affordable fall rate, though I'm sure that's more of a splurge in summer. My favorite pub of the trip was The Bishops right in the heart of St. Davids - we went 2 nights in a row.
We liked Cardiff a lot but honestly did not do it justice as we were there only for 1 afternoon and evening. It was vibrant and fun to poke around, enjoying the arcade shopping areas, the city market, and a couple of really good pubs (including the City Arms).
We finished with a brief 1 evening stay in Richmond, London to be closer to Heathrow and then on to home.
Wales is unique and beautiful, with moody weather and friendly locals, making it a worthy addition to any UK trip or the basis for its own separate visit! Highly recommend.