From Cardiff, the next section of our trip through Wales involved a number of long train journeys. The longest was the one we started this part of the journey with - travelling from Cardiff to Porthmadog - taking a total of more than six hours of travel (It involved one change of train and one change to a bus). It took us through parts of the English countryside, the rolling hills of mid-Wales and then northwards along the coast, passing by many small coastal towns. It was fairly pleasant train ride, though largely unremarkable.

The most interesting sight en-route was probably the large castle ruin looming over Harlech, where we transferred to a bus to get to Porthmadog, as the next section of the rail line was closed due to storm damage. From Porthmadog, we had planned to walk to our accommodation in the neighbouring village of Tremadog, but we got lost due to the lack of 3G coverage in the area (for the operator I was on anyway). Fortunately, a friendly local drove us there (It was literally only two minutes away).

Situated at the foot of a steep hill and surrounded by open farmland, the village had a lovely sense of tranquility; a quiet space away from the bustle of urbanity. Our accommodation was located in one of the many stone buildings that made up the village square. For such a small village, there was also surprisingly good food to be found (We ate at Y Sgwâr Restaurant). It was definitely a nice place to spend a relaxing evening.

We had a bit of a walk the next morning to get to the Porthmadog waterfront, which was at the opposite end of town from Tremadog. We were headed there to catch the Welsh Highland Railway, a heritage steam train, to Caernarfon, the next town that we were staying at (Noting that the station is not the town's National Rail station).

This train journey was a much more interesting one, with the route taking us through the beautiful Welsh countryside and parts of Snowdonia National Park. Partway through, however, one of the carriages ran into problems, resulting in over an hour's delay at one of the stations. Being in the midst of the rolling hills of the Welsh Highlands on a beautiful day made the waiting much easier.

All in all, we did make it to Caernarfon in the late afternoon, about two hours later than scheduled. That being said, the journey on the Welsh Highland Railway is one that shouldn't be missed on a visit to Wales.

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Till the next time,

Raylen