Caernarfon – Coastal Road Trip

Day 06 – Porthmadog to Colwyn Bay

After beautiful weather on day five, day six started rainy and windy and continued most of the day. As today’s trip included Anglesey, the weather matched our expectations for the wind swept island… but we had fun nevertheless.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station — Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Caernarfon

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle — Welcome to Caernarfon! Impressive castle but the verdict is out on the rest of the town. Though we did have a good coffee.

Coastal Road Trip, Caernarfon Castle, Carousel — And the Merry-go-round Carousel in the market square brightened things up a bit.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Ticket — It had to be done, first visit on Anglesey was to the the town with the longest place name in Europe and second longest in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Which means even the train tickets have to be extra big.

Coastal Road Trip, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch Station — …and the train station signs… etc etc… you get the idea 😉 Secretly I (Julian) was excited to visit, I had always wanted to since a kid. Check.

Plas Newydd

Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd — Next stop was Plas Newydd House & Gardens. The impressive interior is home to the largest canvas painting in the UK. We did take a picture of it, but we couldn’t get the whole painting in the shot, so best to just google it!

Coastal Road Trip, Plas Newydd, Garden — A bit of colour on a grey day in the Plas Newydd Garden.

Anglesey, west coast

Coastal Road Trip, Anglesey west coast — Most of the west coast of Anglesey looked like this, wet, windy and stormy.

Trearddur Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Trearddur Bay — Struggling to get out to sea at Trearddur Bay, we watched a little longer, he capsized a minute later and gave up.

South Stack

Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse — The rain stopped by the time we arrived at South Stack Lighthouse on Holy Island, also a RSPB bird sanctuary. We also tuned in to Irish radio and our mobile phones started trying to connect to Irish networks, you then realise how close you are to Ireland.

Coastal Road Trip, South Stack Lighthouse — Great views of South Stack Lighthouse over some pretty severe cliffs. We walked a bit further on to also try and see North Stack Lighthouse, but the weather closed in and all we got was pictures of sea mist.

Beaumaris

Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Castle — Following the northern and eastern coast of Anglesey, we ended up at Beaumaris Castle. Seemed one of the nicest towns on the island.

Coastal Road Trip, Beaumaris Pier — Beaumaris Pier, with seagulls hovering in the wind, almost in formation.

Conwy

Coastal Road Trip, Coastal Road Trip, Conwy Castle — Back on the mainland we passed through Bangor to Conwy, and its grand 13th century Conwy Castle, before heading to Colwyn Bay for the evening.

Daily video

Day 05 – Dolgellau to Porthmadog

Sunshine again! Best day of weather so far. On day five we drove the remaining part of the Welsh west coast, then looped around the Lynn Peninsula ending back at Porthmadog.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Heather, Sheep — Braich y Pwll

Barmouth

Coastal Road Trip, Barmouth, Lifeboat — Lifeboat resting in the shallow and still early morning waters of Barmouth.

Harlech

Coastal Road Trip, Harlech Castle — Old meets new at Harlech Castle, with is modern bridge linked into the medieval fort.

Portmeirion

Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion, Julian, Jarno — The totally surreal village of Portmeirion. Created by Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Weird but we kind of liked it.

Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion — The Central Piazza, but nothing is quite what it seems…

Coastal Road Trip, Portmeirion — Yes, this is Wales..?!

Criccieth

Coastal Road Trip, Criccieth — Criccieth with the contrast between the trim colourful town houses and the headland with Criccieth Castle perched on top.

Abersoch

Coastal Road Trip, Abersoch — Abersoch, tide is out again…

Plas yn Rhiw

Coastal Road Trip, Plas yn Rhiw — The blooming cottage garden at the modest yet comfy Plas yn Rhiw House, another National Trust property.

Aberdaron

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdaron — The former fishing village of Aberdaron with its bay and beach, plus car park concertinaed in this panorama shot.

Braich y Pwll

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll — The most westerly point of Wales, with breathtaking views from the single track lane to the coastguard lookout at the top.

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Julian, Jarno — Hello from Braich y Pwll and the Irish Sea.

Coastal Road Trip, Braich y Pwll, Heather — Braich y Pwll sheep enjoying the weather too.

Porthor

Coastal Road Trip, Porthor — Another National Trust stop at Porthor Beach on the north side of the Lynn Peninsula.

Porthdinllaen

Coastal Road Trip, Porthdinllaen — After trying to find Porthdinllaen precariously walking across a golf course, we turned back to the car park, and realized we could see it in the distance on the other side of the headland.

Coastal Road Trip, Porthdinllaen view — And in the final photo of the day, with the view to the east from Porthdinllaen across to Porthnefyn. We then headed back south to Porthmadog for the evening.

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