Snowdonia Wales UK

It was a beautiful sunny day for our wonderful scenic drives along coastal roads and through Snowdonia National Park.

We watched the sunrise from our back window and then after our coffee we began the day with a walk under the railway bridge (only accessible at low tide) to have a look at the pebble beach here at Tywyn. 

We then hit the road to take advantage of the glorious day. The coastal drive to Dolgellau was stunning. 

The village was quite impressive with its buildings made out of the dark local stone.

We then follow the estuary to Barmouth, a popular seaside resort, with a big sandy beach, offering the usual promenade with the traditional amusement arcades and shops. 

The buildings here were also made with dark stone. 

We particularly liked St.John’s Church built in the late 1880’s. There was plenty of historical information about the church and the town.

We continued on our north bound journey along the A496 then into the Snowdonia area. It was a picturesque drive with mountains ranges and streams. Mark had to concentrate on the road as there were some terrible weekend drivers about. 

Can’t believe how many mobile cabin parks there are..

As we turned off the A498 to go over Pen-y-Pass a sign indicated that you had to pre- book your car parking spot. So no stopping for us! 

We continued down to Llanberis which had plenty of carpark that were very busy as you could catch the bus up to the pass as an alternative. For us we had set our sights for the National Slate Museum. We paid £5 for parking and the museum is free. The Dinorwig Slate quarry was easily seen from the road coming in. Once it was the largest in the world, employing at its peak, 3000 men and boys. 

The museum is housed in the former engineering workshops which included smithy, saw sheds and foundry.

All powered by Britain’s largest waterwheel (diameter of 15.4m). 

We also watched a demonstration of slate splitting. 

There were four quarrymen’s homes showing what family life was like at different times.

From here it was only 30mins to a pub (Four Crosses) stay on the Isle of Anglesey. We were lucky to get a table at 5pm as it was booked out until 8pm and we hadn’t had lunch..tonight there is one other motorhome staying the night in the carpark out the back.

133km today