Aberglaslyn Pass & Great Orme Tramway:
Holiday June 2018/19 - page 5
Snowdonia in North Wales has plenty of wonderfully
scenic walking trails - and not all of them up mountains! For a
flattish walk we choose the stunning Aberglaslyn Pass which runs for
just over 5km (3ml) along the Glasyn river between Nantmor and
Beddgelert. Then in Llandudno we hop on board a vintage tramcar
for a ride on the quaint Great Orme Tramway to the summit of the Great
Orme Country Park and Nature Reserve. Oh, let's also take a quick
peek at our lovely self-catering holiday cottage near Llanrwst.
This is page five of five.
Snowdon
| Llanberis | Snowdonia Mines | Snowdonia Railways | Aberglaslyn Pass Walk + Tramway
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After parking at the Aberglaslyn car park in Nantmor
(£4) the walk initially ran through this enchanting wooded area...
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...before hitting the amazing Afon Glaslyn with its rocky route
creating stunning little rapids. The Aberglaslyn Pass was pretty
narrow in places...
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...with a few short steep scrambles over the rocks to navigate but the
amazingly scenic view along the Glaslyn more than made up for our
effort. Phew...
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...time for a breather on the rocks where this lovely Snowdonia walking
route opened up as the waters of Afon Glaslyn tumbled past. From
this...
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...point on, just before the Bryn y Felin railway bridge (with
footbridge), the Aberglaslyn Pass ran level all the way into the...
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...picturesque Snowdonia village of Beddgelert. Here we crossed
the river over a metal footbridge where the rivers Colwyn and Glaslyn
meet...
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...ah, time for yet another scenic pic of the wonderful Snowdonia
scenery, here of St. Mary's Church with mountains backdrop.
Looking the other way...
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...and a lovely view along the River Colwyn of these riverside cottages
among the surrounding mountainous scenery! Famished...
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...after our walk along the Pass of Aberglaslyn we headed into the
welcoming Caffi Colwyn for refreshment. Beddgelert is well
geared for the tourist with cafés, pubs and shops aplenty. It's a
stop on the heritage Welsh Highland
Railway and...
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...a short walk away is the Sygun Copper
Mine attraction but despite Beddgelert's tourist magnet, it still
manages to retain its charm as our pic of the quaint stone road bridge
over the River Colwyn demonstrates here in Beddgelert's centre.
On...
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...the return to Nantmor we took the short diversion from the
Aberglaslyn Pass to visit Beddgelert's most famous historical feature -
Gelert's Grave, where we learnt all about the Legend of Gelert.
After...
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...crossing at the railway bridge we decided our feet needed freshening
up with a bit of splishing and splashing in the clear waters of Afon
Glaslyn on this hot day in Snowdonia. As we did so...
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...the Welsh Highland steam train chuffed past along the embankment on
its way south towards Nantmor - what a wonderful sight! We
continued...
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...along the stunning narrow gorge, using the metal handgrips to round
this particularly precarious rocky outcrop. Aberglaslyn Pass is
sometimes called...
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...the Fishermans Path but the beautiful Aberglaslyn Pass trail between
Nantmor and Beddgelert is undoubtedly a very worthwhile Snowdonia walk!
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Just outside the Snowdonia National Park on the north east coast of
North Wales is the popular seaside town of Llandudno. Our pic
above looks along the beach towards the 19th-century Llandudno Pier and
the Great Orme headland beyond which...
Check our UK
tourism resources for more on the places we visited in Snowdonia.
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...was where we were headed, courtesy of the Great Orme Tramway.
The lower terminus is here at Victoria Station and the lovingly
restored Great Orme tramcars run...
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...regularly to the summit. Llandudno's popular funicular railway
has been operating ever since 1902 and is Britain's only cable-hauled
road tram system. All aboard! So...
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...we bought our tickets (£8.10 adult) and sat back for the first half
of the exciting one-mile (1.5km) journey through the Great Orme Country
Park and Nature Reserve. The tram initially...
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...ascended through some narrow and winding Llandudno streets
up towards the Halfway Station. As the Great Orme tramcar (or
streetcar?) got higher a great view of the town and beach below was...
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...had. The Great Orme Tramway journey is of two parts - up to
the Halfway Station where the powerful Victorian funicular tram system
is controlled and a fascinating tramway history exhibition can be
viewed, then a change...
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...of tramcar for the second half to the summit. Both sections
have a passing place for ascending and descending tramcars to pass;
within sight of some Bronze Age copper mines and an Iron Age
fort. Presently we arrived at...
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...the 207m (679 ft) summit. Here we took a look around the
summit complex before exploring a bit of the Great Orme Country Park
and its many walking trails. There's some spectacular views of
North Wales from the top, but it was extremely windy...
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...so we returned to the visitor centre to study the Great Orme Country
Park exhibition before boarding the Great Orme tramcar for the descent
back down to Llandudno. There's also a separately run cable car
to the summit, the longest in Britain.
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For our 2018 Snowdonia holiday we hired this gorgeous self-catering
holiday cottage near Llanrwst (between Betwsy-y-Coed and
Llandudno). We enjoyed the company of this clan of chickens while
supping an evening pre-dinner wine...
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...cooked in the cottage's modern kitchen. Being an extremely
popular tourist area, there's an abundance of fine accommodation in
Snowdonia to suit everyone from outdoor walking types to families - and
even just couples like us.
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Snowdon
| Llanberis | Snowdonia Mines | Snowdonia Railways | Aberglaslyn Pass Walk + Tramway
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