North Wales is the part of Wales that most visitors see, Snowdonia, the castles, the coast, and it is also the part of Wales that rewards going slightly off the obvious track. The tourist infrastructure is excellent. The queues are nonexistent compared to the Lake District or Cornwall. And the landscape, the mountains dropping into the sea, the narrow-gauge railways climbing into the mist, the castles that Edward I built to subdue a population that refused to be subdued, is the equal of anywhere in Britain. Here are five things you may not know.
In This Article
1. Portmeirion Is a Genuine Surrealist Fantasy
An Italianate village on the Welsh coast, designed by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975. The buildings are pastel-coloured, the campanile looks across the Dwyryd Estuary, and the whole thing feels like Portofino was dismantled and reassembled by someone who had only seen photographs. The village was the setting for the 1960s television series The Prisoner, and the cult following endures. The gardens, 70 acres of sub-tropical planting, the rhododendrons in May and June, are the equal of the architecture. Day entry: £13. The village also functions as a hotel. Staying overnight, when the day visitors leave and the village is yours, is the secret. Book months ahead.
2. The Slate Landscape Is UNESCO-Listed
The slate quarries of North Wales, Dinorwig, Penrhyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, were the largest in the world in the 19th century, roofing the Industrial Revolution and exporting slate to every continent. The landscape they left behind, the terraced quarry faces, the abandoned machinery, the worker villages, was inscribed as a UNESCO World heritage site in 2021. The National Slate Museum in Llanberis, housed in the former Dinorwig workshops, is free. The waterwheel, 15.4 metres in diameter, the largest in mainland Britain, still turns. Zip World Velocity at Penrhyn Quarry is the fastest zip line in the world, 1.6 km long at speeds over 100 mph. The quarry tour is included in the price.
3. The Llyn Peninsula Has a Coastal Path That Rivals Cornwall
The Wales Coast Path runs 1,400 km around the entire country, and the 84-mile section along the Llyn Peninsula is the most beautiful stretch in the north. The tip of the peninsula, Bardsey Island, the “island of 20,000 saints,” the medieval pilgrimage destination, is reached by boat from Aberdaron. The island has a bird observatory, a lighthouse, and the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey. The boat crossing is weather-dependent. The seals in the sound between the island and the mainland will surface and watch you pass. The Llyn is quiet. The beaches, Porth Oer (Whistling Sands), Porth Iago, are empty outside school holidays.
4. Conwy Has a Complete Medieval Town Wall and the Smallest House in Britain
Conwy Castle, built by Edward I in 1287, is one of the finest medieval fortresses in Europe. The town walls, 1.3 km, 22 towers, completely intact, encircle the town. The view from the battlements takes in the Conwy estuary, the mountains of Snowdonia, and the suspension bridge by Thomas Telford (1826) that still carries traffic. The smallest house in Britain, 1.8 metres wide, 3 metres high, the last occupant a 1.9-metre fisherman who had to sleep with his feet out the window, is on the quay. The house is red. The queue is usually short. The entry costs £2.50.
5. Snowdon Has a Café at the Summit
Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, is 1,085 metres, the highest mountain in Wales. The Snowdon Mountain Railway, the only rack-and-pinion railway in Britain, has been climbing to the summit since 1896. The train takes an hour each way and the view from the top, on a clear day, extends to Ireland. The summit café, Hafod Eryri, rebuilt in 2009, sells hot chocolate, Welsh cakes, and is the highest café in Britain. The train costs £45 return and books out weeks ahead in summer. The alternative: walk. The Llanberis Path is the gentlest ascent (5 hours return). The café at the summit tastes better when you have earned it.
What is the one thing about North Wales that caught you off guard, the view, the history, the silence?
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