Calling Mr Parry and other north Wales experts

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Hayden
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Calling Mr Parry and other north Wales experts

Post by Hayden »

Hi Steve

As our resident North Wales expert I would appreciate a reccomendation or two if poss.

I`ll spending a couple of nights with the good lady in Aberdovey for her birthday soon, I`ll be travelling from Brum via Shrewsbury and poss Llangollen, between Llangollen and Aberdovey where`s the best little place to stop and shop for those must have trinkets that ladies like, she likes her arty farty shops, you know the kinda thing, pictures, antiques and all that.

can`t wait............ :roll: ....be in a bloody cage as well.... :cry:

cheers Steve
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Herb
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Post by Herb »

Before Steve gets here, I will chip in.

Llangollen is well worth a detour. The viaduct is stunning so don't drive on past.

There are some nice tea rooms and shops there too. The Taxidermy shop is worth going to, even just to look in the window. Not my kind of thing, but you can't help but admire the skill.
********Jim********
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SP250
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Post by SP250 »

Steve

Shrewsbury itself has a load of that type of stuff for the ladies and there are some in Welshpool if you go that route to 'Dovey.

If you can leave SWMBO to her own devices in Llangollen for a couple of hours there is a really quirky motor museum or the narrow gauge railway to have a nose around.
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slparry
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Post by slparry »

Tut tut ..... it's Aberdyfi guys not the anglicised Aberdovey ;)

As others have said Steve Llangollen is your probable best bet for that type of route.

Bala, further on is nice enough but probably too small for any realistic grockle shopping.

If it were me I'd take the "scenic" route and go via Llangollen then up the A5 to Betws y Coed, I think they're probably both the main touristy type stops in North Wales.

Then from Betws y Coed drive down the A470 over the Crimea Pass and turn onto the A487 > A493 to Aberdyfi

From Google maps it seems to only be adding 20 miles or so to the journey and she will have some nice tourist shopping while you get to drive some awesome roads :)

http://goo.gl/maps/ikm95

PS if you use that route you and she could stop at the chocolate shop you never quite made it to during the last WW at Pentrefoelas :twisted:
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Herb
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Post by Herb »

While the lake at Bala is lovely and it's in a glorious area, there was not much in Bala itself. What there was seemed to be closed most of the time we were there.
********Jim********
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Post by slparry »

Herb wrote:While the lake at Bala is lovely and it's in a glorious area, there was not much in Bala itself. What there was seemed to be closed most of the time we were there.
yep :) ... don't ever get there on a Saturday night ..... the locals get a little xenophobic at times ;)
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Blackal
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Post by Blackal »

slparry wrote:
Herb wrote:While the lake at Bala is lovely and it's in a glorious area, there was not much in Bala itself. What there was seemed to be closed most of the time we were there.
yep :) ... don't ever get there on a Saturday night ..... the locals get a little xenophobic at times ;)
a euphemism for "inbred", I suspect :wink:

Al
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slparry
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Post by slparry »

Blackal wrote:
slparry wrote:
Herb wrote:While the lake at Bala is lovely and it's in a glorious area, there was not much in Bala itself. What there was seemed to be closed most of the time we were there.
yep :) ... don't ever get there on a Saturday night ..... the locals get a little xenophobic at times ;)
a euphemism for "inbred", I suspect :wink:

Al
cue "dueln' banjos" :D
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Boxered
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Re: Calling Mr Parry and other north Wales experts

Post by Boxered »

Hayden wrote:Hi Steve

As our resident North Wales expert I would appreciate a reccomendation or two if poss.

I`ll spending a couple of nights with the good lady in Aberdovey for her birthday soon, I`ll be travelling from Brum via Shrewsbury and poss Llangollen, between Llangollen and Aberdovey where`s the best little place to stop and shop for those must have trinkets that ladies like, she likes her arty farty shops, you know the kinda thing, pictures, antiques and all that.

can`t wait............ :roll: ....be in a bloody cage as well.... :cry:

cheers Steve
Hi Steve, I’m not one for shopping myself, but I would agree with Mr Parry about Llangollen and Betwys being the most touristy tack peddlers, but you could also have a look at Dolgellau and Barmouth, or a visit to Portmerion (especiallyif you were a fan of the 60s cult tv show “the prisoner” ) http://www.portmeirion-village.com/ There is also this place for unique glass trinkets http://www.glassblobbery.com/

Steve
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Herb
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Post by Herb »

slparry wrote:
Blackal wrote:
slparry wrote: yep :) ... don't ever get there on a Saturday night ..... the locals get a little xenophobic at times ;)
a euphemism for "inbred", I suspect :wink:

Al
cue "dueln' banjos" :D
We had a great reception in Bala. We based ourselves there for a week and the locals were nothing but polite to us, even in the pubs on the saturday night.

The road from Machynlleth to Bala is one of the best around if you're on a bike.

We covered some big chunks of Wales, even getting as far south as Brecon for a very personal trip to Cym Gweddi camp. People were lovely, despite my St. George crash helmet.

Memorable places for different reasons, Llangollen, Aberystwyth, Aberaeron, Barmouth and Llanddeusant. The last is well worth a stop if you happen to be passing at feeding time for the Red Kites.
********Jim********
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bobtail
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Post by bobtail »

Heartily concur with that route Steve, cracking. Especially the A 493 coast road is just quite spectacular keep the revs down and enjoy the view. There's a good stopping point at Penmaenpool as well I think it's the George Hotel. Also a good pub/eatery at Abergynolwyn just by the lake on the B4405.

Oh dear so many good roads in North Wales and so little time :roll:
Are we there yet?
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Hayden
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Post by Hayden »

Thanks for the replies Gents, really appreciated,, some good idea`s there to research...... :thumbleft:

"The Taxidermy shop is worth going to, even just to look in the window"...best we stay away from that one Jim, two may go in but only one may come out... :lol:

once again, cheers chaps

Steve
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Hayden
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Post by Hayden »

Cheers for the tips chaps, had a great time.
Spent a while `mooching` in Llangollen, ( the Taxidermy shop was actually quite..ok,,skillfull, I think is the word) onto Bala then over the hills to Dolgellau, spent the night in Barmouth, Tyr Graig castle here:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/tyr-gra ... ck_to_sr=1

never stayed in a turret before!...thoroughly recommended, great rooms and excellent restuarant.

came back via a sunny stop in Aberdovey and onto Welshpool and home, the good lady had a lovelly time so job done.

On a more important note, :wink: ..couldn`t help notice tha amount of road works taking place ( the A494 Balla > Dolgellau is finished like a billiard table) good to see our Welsh cousins are taking the forth comming biking season seriously, :D ,our return over the border by contrast was met by the mother of all potholes...a sort of `welcome back to England road statement.... :evil:
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