Hello I will be staying in Conwy for a few days in May and I am very interested in looking around the area and castle. We arrive on a Sunday evening and have to leave on Wednesday.
I won’t have a car.
I’m interested in spending one of our two days checking out other sights/parts of Wales via bus or train or a day tour.
Any recommendations or suggestions?
A day ticket on the bus allows unlimited travel in North Wales and is is £5.90.
Just a few ideas to get you going...
There is a very regular bus service between Llandudno to Conwy (every 20 or 30 minutes.) Look out for bus number 5 run by Arriva. There is the Victorian Tramway up the Great Orme with the Bronze Age copper mines (amazing), or the vintage bus around the Marine Driove as well as the pier and traditional Punch and Judy show...
Alternatively use this bus service to go to Penryhn Castle or Caernarfon.
Catch the train on the Conwy Valley line to Blaenau Ffestiniog and head to Lechwedd Slate caverns with its underground zip wire...
Catch a bus to Llandudno Junction (or walk) and then catch bus 25 to Bodnant Gardens
Wasleys, thank you for that great information! We will make good use of it on a future trip.
One I would add to this is that after going down to Blaenaeu Ffestiniog you can take the Ffestiniog Railway (narrow gauge, steam, a fantastic piece of history built to transport the slate for shipping all over the world) down to the former port town of Porthmadog, then the Welsh Highland Railway (another narrow gauge steam) through the very heart of Snowdonia to Caernarfon (where King Charles was invested as Prince of Wales at the wonderful castle) then back to Conwy/Llandudno on the bus 5.
The railways share a station at Porthmadog.
This is a not to be forgotten day.
Not by any means cheap due to the two steam railways, but worth every penny.
FestRail (who run both trains) say on their website that one way journeys can't be booked online, only by calling the railway, which sounds oddly quaint.
Another vote for Bodnant Garden. It's a National Trust property and really beautiful. It's easier to reach than some of the UK's other great gardens.
isn31c :- I've always been a great fan of both the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways and have promoted them in the past. However, their timetable is still very restricted post covid. It lacks the flexibility and spontaneity of the past. There is only one train a day from Porthmadog to Caernarfon which leaves Porthmadog at 10.05. The first train from Blaenau Ffestiniog seems to be 11.40. Unfortunately this memorable journey is no longer possible, unless you used the bus between Porthmadog and Caernarfon...
Wasleys,
I may be wrong on this, but I THINK that on certain days of the week you can leave BF at 1140 on the Quarryman or 1235 on the Mountain Spirit and connect onto the 1405 Snowdonia Star at Porth
I would like it to be true. Full disclosure- Ffest Travel have always supplied my continental rail ticketing, and I have travelled on 5 Continental Tours with them, inc the RTW by rail (or half way in my case, to Perth WA).
I have just come off line from a mass at Seattle St Mark's Cathedral, where we had a powerful sermon from RS's girlfriend. I recognised the name on the service sheet, but it took me ages to make the link. It is not often I am bolt upright in my seat during a sermon!
That is interesting isn31c as I was checking times for May and hadn't picked that up.
Ffestiniog Travel are marvellous for their continental rail ticketing. I've looked at their tours too, but haven't been on any though.
You could take a normal train from Llandudno Junction to Bettws-Y-Coed and then the Sherpa Bus over the Llanberis Pass to reach Caernarvon (Castle). Then bus to Bangor for trains back to Conwy.
https://snowdoninfo.com/sherpa-bus-service/
(Click for full timetable and scroll down).
The town's name is Caernarfon, not Caernarvon.
The latter was the anglicised spelling, which has now reverted to it's proper Welsh, with an f.
You will really stand out if you use the English form.
When I was young and went to my aunts and uncles there we always travelled to what was then Caernarvon, but the minute we walked into their house we were in Caernarfon, a proud Welsh family.
The now King was invested Prince at Caernarvon Castle. If a future Prince of Wales is invested there it will be at Caernarfon Castle.
Where I was last night at Seattle Cathedral (and will be again at 3am UK time tomorrow) there is proper cultural sensitivity. Each service begins with a land statement which says "Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all Coast Salish tribes"
The same is true when I go to History Cafe at MOHAI- except there you are also encouraged to visit the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Centre.
As travellers we have a duty to be culturally sensitive. In the case of Caernarfon that means using the town's proper name.
Not sure how you’d do it without a car, but Anglesey has many worthwhile sites one can visit.
