Chester, Llandundo, Caernarfon, Llanberis, Betws y Coed... A Weekend Adventure in North Wales

After weeks of planning independent trips with friends, I was very excited to go on a school trip to North Wales where all of my transportation and lodging were planned for me. All I had to do was show up! 

We left at 8:30am and made our first stop in the town of Chester. 

 

We explored the shops and saw the cathedral and the 2nd most photographed clock in the UK (2nd to Big Ben). After several hours in Chester, we hopped back on our coach and drove several hours north to the seaside town of Llandundo where we would find our hotel. Our hotel was on the street directly in front of the coast but, to our dismay, it was mostly rainy and cloudy when we arrived. However, I was excited to see that my friend and I had managed to get a hotel room with a view of the ocean! Llandundo was a quaint little seaside town and its status as a popular retirement town was reinforced by the fact that the entire town closed promptly at 6 pm! Not exactly an ideal situation for college students, but it made for a relaxing weekend.

The next morning greeted us with pouring rain! Luckily, it cleared up right when we reached the village of Caernarfon. I had a great time exploring Caernarfon Castle with some friends. The castle contained many stone spiral staircases, many of which were so steep that you had to cling for dear life to a rope railing! We climbed up into many of the towers and the ramparts provided a beautiful view of the sea and village. 

View of Caernarfon from the ramparts of the castle 

Next stop was Llanberis! We drove through Snowdonia National Park to get there and the mountains were absolutely beautiful. 

On the day of our departure, we were very happy to finally wake up to a sunny morning in Llandundo! 

On the way home, our coach made a stop at Swallow Falls. We hiked down the steps to view the waterfall. 

We also stopped for lunch in a little town called Betws Y Coed. It was fun to hear people speaking Welsh during our trip. All of the signs that we saw were in both Welsh and English. We sometimes tried to pronounce the words but it was difficult because a lot of the words didn't have any vowels! 

Betws Y Coed