Wales is known for its spectacular landscape. What once was a un-inhabitable land covered with scores of volcanoes and sea of molten rocks, is now a bustling tourist hub. Years of cooling and vegetation growth has left the place scarred in a beautiful way and boy its spectacular, when driving around. 

Snowdon being the highest mountain in the region and hence most of the drive to the bottom of the mountain are through terrains amidst which the tarmac just noodling around. 

Snowdonia national park is a ideal location to stay however it gets pretty busy during holidays. The weather needs to be anything other than rainy to enjoy the landscape. Conwy is the ideal town which is located right at the boundaries of the national park. It is ideally located for all touristy places in north wales. 25 miles drive is the maximum one has to get to a touristy place.

Stay

Bed & Breakfast is the best way to mingle with ever-so-friendly locals. Most of them do get expensive if travelling to in the peak holiday season. However weekend are normally pricey. We stayed at Padog B&B in Llanrwst, Conwy Valley. The ideal location to stay. Mainly because of the location and access to places of visit and a very approachable and smiling host. Breakfast is amazing, the rooms are well decorated and clean. Its maintained like a professional hotel. Its not pricey either with 30£ per person per night. The host is very flexible and if the room is not occupied on the day of your exit, you can vacate at leisure.


Conwy Falls
This falls is one of the many tiny water falls in and around snowdonia national park. This is not one of "Top 10 Things to do", however we were early into the town by an hour than promised to the B&B host and this falls was on the way. I would not recommend to check this place out as there is nothing except for the falls and one can't get down to the bottom. There is a turns-stile gate which allows one to get through and accepts 1£ coin. Nothing more to mention on this sleep falls really.


Colwyn Bay
This is the sandy beach front which is 20 minute drive from Llanwrst. Its got a pier as well but the most outdated one which remains closed all the time. This time of the year, its pretty boring on the beach and if its windy, it does get pretty harder to walk on the beach. There are plenty of eat outs and superstores nearby. Welsh mountain zoo is located close to Colwyn bay.

Bodnant Garden

The day we arrived in Conwy valley, wanted to check out a location which was not far off from B&B and was pleasant. Bodnant garden was the ideal choice and it was 10 minute drive from where we staying. Amazing garden, very picturesque and well maintained. Its a good way to spend 4 hours and enjoy the landscaping done. With the garden in bloom, the colours are spectacular and this combined with smart landscaping, gives this garden a beauty of its own to admire. Its a good place for photographers to experiment and capture nature's grandeur. 

Caernfarn Castle (map)
This is the castle where Prince of Wales, Charles was given his prince-hood by Queen Elizabeth. Its quite historic and has been redone by various artisans through the time. It does look timeless and its located right at the banks of Irish sea. History about the castle has been spoken within its rooms with the help of placards and videos. There is a map from 1272 which shows the landscape of Wales and its quite astonishing as to how it remains the same even now with much less change. Its an easy 2 hour time spend traversing through this castle. Its surprising as to how the victorians, with their elaborate and heavy dressing walked up the swirling stairs to get to bedrooms or the roof. The beams on the roof looked like an entire length of old oak tree. The windows are very tiny compared to the size of castle or rooms. Worth a visit for sure and there is entrance charge of a meagre 5£ per person. As with all attractions there is a souvenir shop inside the castle which is expensive. Right in front of the castle entrance there are couple other shops which are worth checking out as they have pretty impressive artefacts and souvenirs at a very reasonable price. 

Snowdon Mountain (1108 mts)
Centrepiece of Snowdonia national park. Located in Llanberis, some 25 minutes drive through snowdonia national park and Llanberis pass. We entered Snowdonia national park using B5106, which is just 3 miles from Padog B&B and it is a very undulating surface traversing through the national park. There were some spectacular views. This road is mainly for walkers and hikers and not made for cars but for local residents, it is the only way in and out of the mountain. Scary driving through the snaking route but it is worth it. Eventually after few miles, the twisty and tight road ends up to A5 (main life line through north wales), which will lead to Llanberis pass.

This pass is one of the most breathtaking one's and the undulation from the top to the bottom is quite steep. What makes it worse is the presence of walkers and bike riders along with the cars. Make sure your car brakes are tested before you decide to drive up/down this pass. Quite comparable to the passes in Lake District. Through this we reached Llanberis town center which had the famous Snowdon steam train station. Make sure the tickets are booked in advance to avoid long queues or disappointment as the rides tend to get busy during the weekends. 200 year old steam trains, built and assembled all across the country now ploughs through to 1108 meters on a regular basis, taking tourists to the summit of Snowdon mountain. Walking enthusiasts can walk up/down to the summit. The train takes an hour each way and stops mid-way whilst going up to take some more water. Its noisy and jerky but eh!! this was the mode of transport used on a daily basis once upon a time. It a nostalgic feeling when aboard the train, if one is passionate about the engineering and effort put in to build the locomotive and then lay the tracks up the treacherous path.

Once up the summit, 30 minute window is what is provided to take a look and get back to the train. Windy is very subtle word to describe the wind gust at the top of the mountain. If one can barely stand still for one sec on top, it would be an achievement and the next moment, one would be wanting to be inside the futuristic train station. It is pretty windy and without proper clothing and shoes, it is very difficult to manoeuvre oneself around the summit. Once after adjusting to the force of wind, comes the time to enjoy the breathtaking view of landscape around, unaltered by human greed. Its a must do for tourists visiting North Wales.