As usual attractions on the pier include a bar, a cafe, amusement arcades and children's fairground rides. For reasons best known to myself I spent the best part of £10 on the 'grabber' trying to win a cuddly 'Peppa Pig'. Which I could probably have bought for about 50p! Must have been all that sea air that got to me...
Llandudno is known as the Queen of the Welsh Resorts is now the largest seaside resort in Wales. It was specifically built as a mid-Victorian era holiday destination.
The bay is a wide sweep of sand, shingle and rock extending two miles in a graceful curve between the headlands of the Great Orme and the Little Orme.
For most of the length of Llandudno's North Shore there is a wide curving Victorian promenade on which most of the large hotels are situated.
A cable-lift (built 1969) and the Great Orme Tramway, a vintage tram system (built 1902), transports visitors to the summit of the Great Orme, past one of only two artificial ski slopes in North Wales.
View of LLandudno from The Great Orme.
Next stop was the seaside resort of LLandudno. As it was really busy we set off for the The Great Orme, a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales.
The Great Orme is run as a nature reserve by the Conwy County Borough Countryside Service, with a number of protective designations There are numerous paths for walking on the summit, including a section of the North Wales Path, a long distance route. About half the Great Orme is in use as farmland, mostly for sheep grazing.
There are some cracking views even if it was a bit breezy! It is an area of very rich flora, endangered butterflies and moths. The cliffs are host to colonies of seabirds (such as guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and even fulmars as well as gulls). The Great Orme is also home to many resident and migrant land birds including ravens, little Owls and peregrine falcons.
The Great Orme Cablecar
The Great Orme Tramway
The fourteenth century church of St. Michael, which is the origin of the name Betws (meaning "prayer-house")
There are scenic walks beside the river Llugwy, which flows through the village.This Bridge was very 'rocky' to say the least.
A trip to Wales was long overdue as my only previous trips were many years ago to do an Outward Bounds course at Aberdovey. Also some camping in the Brecon Beacons as part of my Duke of Edinburgh award.
First stop was Betws-y-Coed which was amazingly busy ! Betws-y-Coed actually means'Prayer in the Woods' in Welsh language which is quite nice.
It has a population of 534 and is located in the beautiful Conwy Valley part of the Snowdonia National Park.
The Betws-y-Coed railway station is a real throwback to previous times. A passenger station on the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog,and an integral part of the tourism industry.
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