6 Days in North Wales

Coasts, Mountains, and Forests

I have been to South Wales on a few different occasions, but North Wales (particularly Snowdon) has been on my travel wish list for some time. It’s almost like visiting a different country, the South and North are so different. You hear a lot more of the Welsh language in the North and overall it’s less British in architectural and settlement style. I heard the phrase “there’s no rush” over and over and that about sums up the pace of life. My husband and I along with our 8-year-old visited in June.

Caernarfon Castle in North Wales — *Caernarfon Castle*

DAY 1 - CAERNARFON

There are a few impressive medieval castles in North Wales, so we chose just one (Conwy) to actually go inside. But Caernarfon is worth a wander around. The Old Courthouse has a nice restaurant inside. It was freezing this nice and we hugged our windbreakers close as we walked along the water. Hole in the Wall Street (so-called because they made a hole through the town walls to create the street) was a fun little walk.

Hole in the Wall Street in Caernarfon in North Wales — *Hole in the Wall Street in Caernarfon*

DAY 2: BETSW-Y-COED

This village and some of the neighboring ones reminded us of mountain towns in Colorado or Switzerland.

North Wales: Forest-covered mountains from Betswy-y-Coed — *Forest-covered mountains from Betswy-y-Coed*

Zip World Fforest

This was not a cheap venture, but our kiddo really wanted to do it, and we worked out how to split the time. I spent an hour bouncing through a suspended obstacle course with trampolines and slides, took a break for a picnic lunch, then my husband went on the zipline course.

Tŷ Hyll

I’ll happily drive a bit out of the way for a tea house. The Ugly House (Tŷ Hyll) is a funny little cottage with a gorgeous garden. We had Welsh cakes and caramel cake alongside our hot drinks.

Swallow Falls

Like castles, there are multiple waterfalls to choose from. We chose Swallow because it was on our driving route and we were not disappointed. You walk down quite a few stairs then have a few different views along the way.

DAY 3 - LLANBERIS

View from Mount Snowdon in North Wales — *View from Mount Snowdon*

National Slate Museum

The mountains of North Wales are covered in slate, which gave rise to several quarries in the 18th century and increased the number of villages in the area. The history of slate and it cultural impacts are of course interesting to me as a historian and therefore necessitated a visit to the National Slate Museum. The free exhibits are informative and you also get to see the largest working waterwheel in mainland Britain. A fourth-generation miner also demonstrated how to split slate by hand, a process that has yet to be replicated by machine.

Slate Museum in North Wales - old quarry — *Courtyard of the Slate Museum*

Snowdon

This was the number one reason I wanted to visit North Wales: to go to the top of Mt. Snowdon! You can walk to the peak and back in about 8 hours on a very well-paved path (with a tea shop halfway), but we are not that kind of family. We took the Snowdon Mountain Railway (established 1896) instead. They were doing work on the track so we didn’t make it quite to the top, but we had spectacular views anyway. We were in t-shirts at the bottom and freezing with all our layers at the top! Book well in advance to avoid disappointment.

Llanberis

The history of tourism in the village dates back to the 1800s. It’s colorful and whimsical with that mountain feel, offering a base camp for hikers and admirers of the nearby mountains.

DAY 4 - LLŷN PENINSULA

I have a whole post on our beach hopping day because it was so amazing. Some of the places we visited didn’t quite feel real.

Trefor beach in North Wales on the Llyn Peninsula — Trefor Beach

DAY 5 - ANGLESEY

I shall refer to this as the island of birds because we saw thousands of them! We were even lucky enough to be there when the fluffy, grey seagull chicks had just hatched.

Smallest House

The original tiny house with a one-up, one-down layout big enough for me to touch both walls when stretching my arms.

South Stack Lighthouse

The history of the lighthouse dates back to 1809 when men camped in cold tents and pulled themselves across a rope in a wicker basket. The guide shared a lot of knowledge about history and engineering. There were a LOT of steps on this adventure. You have to go down 400 steps before you even cross the bridge, then take more steps to the lighthouse - in which you climb more steps. It was well worth it and I’m glad we did this in the morning when we had energy.

Puffin Island

Who doesn’t love puffins? The cloudy weather gave way to sun just as we set off on our 80 minute cruise. Puffin Island is a rock that is home to over 3,000 birds. We spotted a few puffins amongst them all. And there were loads of seals!

DAY 6 - CONWY AND LLANDUDNO

Conwy Castle

The walls of this 700-year-old castle are remarkably intact, allowing you to walk the perimeter at the top and even climb some of the towers. King Edward I built the castle to guard his newly gained territory. You can walk through the royal apartments and imagine Edward’s thoughts during the Welsh rebellion of 1295.

Great Orme Mine

Visiting a working archaeological site is always a treat. In the Bronze Age, Welsh inhabitants mined the surface for copper, and when they exhausted those resources, went underground. You can go in the tunnels to see where excavation has and still occurs.

Llandudno

Compared to other British seaside resorts like Brighton, this was a bit of a letdown. I still enjoyed wandering out onto the Victorian pier and getting hot donuts (UK beach donuts are the best).

Diolch

Thanks (diolch) for reading this long summary of our time in North Wales. Clearly, we loved it!