Issue No. 3 - Holiday in Focus: North Wales

Holiday in Focus: North Wales

With concerns of global warming and increased flight costs, one might start to consider some holiday options closer to home.  I think that we, in the UK, spend a lot of time travelling abroad, often due to the unpredictable weather, and can be at risk of missing out on some amazing places closer to home.

I recently went on a short break to North Wales to discover some hidden gems that you may want to check out if you are ever in the vicinity.

Llangollen

Having arrived in North Wales early we decided to take a detour to Llangollen to visit the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, it was a beautiful day and we spent a leisurely couple of hours walking across the aqueduct to enjoy the views.  I have to say at this point, I was holding onto the handrail like grim death all the way across and back, which caused some hilarity amongst other less nervous walkers, of which there were many.  In my defence, there was a large drop to certain death on one side and a dip in icy cold canal the other, so I’m not sure that I was being entirely unreasonable!  There is an option to go across the bridge by narrowboat which would also be nice, but then you wouldn't be able to stop and enjoy the view. I'm given to understand that Llangollen is a bit of a Mecca for walkers, so don’t forget your walking boots.

  

Lion Quay in Oswestry

Our next stop was our hotel, the Lion Quay inOswestry.  I know, it isn’t actually in Wales but it is on the boarder.  My husband likes a good round of golf and I thought I would give the spa a go, so next day, having off-loaded the husband, I made my way to the spa for their Coffee Morning package.  This includes access to the spa until 2.00pm and a couple of treatments.  Having been to a lot of spas over the years, I was pleased to find a couple of things that I had not come across before, firstly, a vitamin D room designed to make you feel like you’ve been out on a sunny day and a snow room complete with 2 foot of snow.  I found this surprisingly pleasant after having cooked in the sauna for 20 minutes.  I then made my way upstairs for coffee and cake before relaxing in the chill out area before my facial and a fabulous back massage - great, and my husband enjoyed his golf too, so all was well with the world.

Y Bala

Next day we headed for Y Bala on a road shrouded in fog, whilst we got a vague feeling that we were going upward, it wasn’t until the fog suddenly cleared did we realise that we were half way up a mountain and we were driving along a cliff edge.  The views from the top of the mountain looking down into the sheep filled valleys below, served to remind us that there are more sheep in Wales than people, or so I've heard. 

Having topped the mountain and dropping down the other side we drove once again, down into the fog as we arrived at Y Bala, which according to the map was set on a large lake, however, the fog was not letting us see further than the road, so we decided to go for a coffee and to check out the village of Y Bala which was strange.  I know, I’m being enigmatic here but I guess if you want to know what I mean by this you will need to go there yourself, and if you have been, perhaps you can articulate what I mean a bit better than me in the comments section below? 

After an hour or so, we headed back to the car to set out on our roadtrip again but by this time the fog had lifted off the lake and we were rewarded with a phenomenal view (above right) which stayed with me for days.  Yes, this picture is me, and believe it or not, it was taken with a mobile phone, so imagine what it would have looked like with a decent camera.

Borth Y Gest

Next we headed off to Borth Y Gest an absolutely charming coastal village, just around the corner from Portmerion.  Whereas, Portmerion is very commercialised and full of fish & chip shops, Borth Y Gest feels like it has been protected in an Agatha Christie like time warp, complete with a lovely coastal path leading to some beautiful sandy nooks.  We spent a lovely couple of hours picking out which house we would buy, when we win the lottery.  Borth Y Gest is a real gem, so please don’t tell anyone…

Some other places

Other places we dropped into see along the way was Bangor, which we found to be a bit rundown, Conwy which is a surreal sight on arriving as it is enclosed by imposingly high castle walls and finally we took a look around Llandudno which is very Victorian in feel and full of ropey hotels, my advice would be to visit for the day and stay somewhere else.

Summing up, we found North Wales to be beautiful, spectacular, well kept, and well worth a second visit.  We are currently considering hiring a cottage for a week next year to do some serious trekking up the mountains.

Thanks for reading, see you next week and in the meantime, I hope that you can take sometime to check out LotusTravelEssentials.co.uk happy & safe travelling.