To Do List: Traveling Wales
A hazardous warning should be included in the description for all employment help wanted ads for the travel industry. As hundreds of emails and client requests pass by my screen everyday how can they or me possibly decide on all the places in this world to visit. Do I want adventure, do I want history, do I want rest and relaxation? My answer, I likely want all of the above and next time I do travel to England I imagine my journey will be written like this:
Having traveled to London my girlfriend and I needed a little something more –
We landed on visit to Wales and decided a road trip heading north to its many coastal towns and National Parks is just what we needed. We did have one problem, neither of us was at all comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road, thank goodness for the private driver my travel advisor (me) arranged for us. Alfred our private driver would become our new best friend on this journey and we met up with him in Cardiff.
After our arrival at Heathrow airport we traveled by train to the capital city of Wales, Cardiff. Cardiff is the perfect city to wander. We enjoyed the Cardiff Museum, the Cardiff Castle and the iconic 4Waterfalls Valley. We stayed at the Cwrt sofia which was an easy walk to Cardiff Castle, local shops, restaurants and bars.
Good morning Alfred! Alfred arrived early and was anxious for us to begin our journey. We hurried our morning tea and scones with homemade butter and jelly and jumped into our car.
Since Castell Coch is just a stones throw away from Cardiff we felt we needed to visit. Just off the M4 motorway this fairytale castle sits perched overlooking the welsh countryside. We toured the inside of the castle, and explored the gorgeous property. We had time, so we ventured over to St Fagan’s to look inside the free museum that is based like a little town.
Alfred is a patient man, bless his soul. Back into the car for our drive to Swansea where we will spend the night. First a stop in Mumbles where we visited the lighthouse and wined and dined on the pier, of course some retail therapy is always a good thing. Mumbles was named best place to live in the UK in 2018. We see why.
Our nights stay in Swansea we stayed at the Towers Hotel and Spa. After a swim in the pool, appetizers and cocktails in the restaurant , the large comfortable beds were a dream. We really do know how to travel.
After breakfast Alfred was ready to rock and roll for our drive to the Pembrokeshire Coast. Alfred told us to be on the lookout for dolphins and Puffins because they enjoy this rugged coastline. No matter how hard we looked no dolphin and puffin sightings for us. We did see and tour the Carew Castle before our beach time on the Gower Peninsula. Every road trip needs beach time. Sand and a picture perfect glassy sea can be enjoyed at Three Cliffs Bay, Oxwich Bay and Llangennith Beach if you ever want to visit.
We spend the night in Tenby, a historic fishing town with cobbled streets and stroll along the Norman stone wall. All kinds of unique discoveries are here hidden in unexpected places. The morning we will visit Caldey Island before we head up to Aberystwyth.
My girlfriend is a history buff and bookworm so this is the perfect town for her. Who knew the National Library of Wales houses every single book ever published? There is stunning sea side views and we took a trip on the Electric Cliff Railway to the highest point in town, this was a perfect place to watch the sunset and easily one of our favorite places we have visited. Even Alfred agrees.
Tomorrow we head for a drive through Snowden National Park before we arrive for our nights stay in Conwy.
There is a lot to do here in Snowden National Park and we find we have not scheduled enough time. Isn’t that how every vacation seems to be?
We are wishing we could have ventured to Portmeirion and explored more of the historic lakes in the park. Maybe we could have zip lined down some of the historic slate quarries like some of other tourists. Alfred just shakes his head at us, he probably knows we would break a body part!
Our last night in Wales was on the north coast in a coastal town called Conwy. Once again charming and it had one impressive castle.
We stayed at the Castle Inn recommended and booked by our travel advisor ( me ). The staff was amazing! Conwy is home to the tiniest house in the UK. Alfred could not wait to show us.
We ende our journey in Liverpool, I know it is not in Wales but we were close by and huge Beatles fans. This also was the end of our time with Alfred. We like to feel that he will miss us and think of us dearly.
Before we jump on the train back to London we take in The Beatles Story Experience and of course a visit to the Cavern Club. Once again another successful girlfriend journey.
This is the end of my imaginary journey of traveling Wales with my girlfriend. If this ever happens I cannot wait to add pictures of the sites visited and places stayed and of course some editing because we all know while traveling it never goes as planned. It does not escape me that since I have been binge watching Durrels in Corfu on Amazon Prime that this journey may just end up on the Greek island of Corfu in which this entire page will be one long edit!