Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NORTH WALES
by Donald Strachan
If the south is Wales's heart, the north keeps watch over its
soul. North Wales is home to the country's most dramatic
crags and mightiest castles, many within the boundary
of the Snowdonia National Park. Along the shoreline of
Anglesey and the Lleyn Peninsula, you'll find a coast that's perfect for
leisure, but that can turn wild and windswept at a moment's notice. The
sheltered valleys of Denbighshire hold top-class restaurants and relics of
Wales's industrial past.
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SIGHTSEEING
Highlight of any trip to North Wales is a ride aboard
one of the little steam trains. On the
Welsh Highland
and
Ffestiniog
narrow-gauge lines that once served the slate and copper mines, visitors
ride old-fashioned, wood-paneled carriages through the heart of Snowdo-
nia. At
Portmeirion,
architect Clough William-Ellis built a fantasy, pas-
tel-colored village on a magical estuary, where you can roam—or even stay
overnight. The once-fashionable Victorian resort of
Llandudno
is experi-
encing a comeback.
EATING & DRINKING
The coasts and pastures of the Welsh North
nurture everything from the Black breed of cattle that produces uniquely
succulent
beef
to Menai
mussels
and
shellfish
caught in Cardigan
Bay—all of which yields a superlative cuisine. Fine restaurants with
rooms, such as Tyddyn Llan in Llandrillo and Venetia in Abersoch, are run
by skillful chefs who know how to put the bounty to best use. Anglesey is
also home of Halen Môn, the sea salt of choice for the world's top chefs.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Mountain peaks, spectacular lakes and
brooding cliffs, and valleys with tiny towns seemingly carved from gran-
ite—all these make up Snowdonia National Park. It's here that you'll find
the best of the area's hiking trails, on
Snowdon
and
Cader Idris,
as well
as through the gnarled
Aberglaslyn Gorge.
There's also serene coastal
walking around Anglesey and the Lleyn, surfing at
Porth Neigwl,
and
extreme mountain biking in the pine forests at
Coed y Brenin.
You need
never sit down.
HISTORY
It was in the North that many of the key 13th-century bat-
tles for Welsh independence were fought—and lost. Victorious English
King Edward I subsequently built his “Iron Ring” of castles, the finest of
which are mighty
Caernarfon
and
Beaumaris.
(Compare the ruinous
state of native castles such as
Dolwyddelan.
) At
Conwy,
built around
another of Edward's great castles, the fine Elizabethan townhouse
Plas
