Tag: Caernarfon

A slow-travel journey along the North Wales Way reveals hidden gems

 

 

A summer assignment for Wanderlust Magazine took me on a slow-travel odyssey along the North Wales Way.

It’s one of three new routes devised by Visit Wales to look afresh at regions most people think they already know.

In terms of North Wales, visitors often drive from the North Wales border outside Chester to the tip of Anglesey in a day. But they’re missing out.

Here’s a flavour of my feature:

Unesco-listed castles and picture-postcard villages; stone-skimming beaches and ancient Celtic sites; plus, some of the best in local produce from independent food champions proud of their region’s natural bounty. It’s time to look afresh at North Wales.

The journey took in the new interpretation at Caernarfon Castle [pictured above], Plas Newydd on Anglesey and Beddglert before heading onto Conwy and Llandudno.

My trip ended with a preview of Skyflier, the much-anticipated new attraction in Rhyl from the Zip World group.

Over coffee pre departure. founder Sean Taylor enthused:

“Rhyl is a sleeping giant. It was the bucket-and-spade seaside town of my childhood but could become North Wales’ answer to New Zealand’s South Island.”

Read the full feature, Waking a Sleeping Giant, in the new issue of Wanderlust Magazine here.

How To Raise A Glass To North Wales’ Real Ale Trail

I joined a real-ale-themed tour of North Wales recently for Guardian Travel.

It was a trip around the hidden-gem rural pubs and microbreweries [pictured above] often overlooked by the stampede down the A55 towards Anglesey.

Based around Caernarfon, it highlighted the rise of community pubs at a time when our traditional village hostelries are struggling to survive.

There has been an explosion of local microbreweries and craft-ale pubs in recent years with The Albion Ale House in Conwy one of my favourites.

Here’s a preview of the article.

As the afternoon gave way to dusk, I was nursing a pint of Clogwyn Gold from the Conwy Brewery at The George in Carneddi, near Bangor, currently the Gwynedd a Mon branch of CAMRA’s Community Pub of the Year.

It was a tiny, no-frills bar with cheese rolls on the bar, beers stains on the carpet and a queue of people for the pool table but, an early Saturday evening in spring, it was bustling with a mix of regulars and ale-trail day trippers.

Landlord Dewi Sion says: “I still believe that serving a proper pint of local ale in a proper pub can create a place where a community comes together.”

Read the full story coming soon in The Guardian.