Exploring The Land of Castles & Dragons
Ashley and I are huge fans of the United Kingdom. London is by far our favorite city, but we have had so much fun in Scotland as well! We haven’t made it to Northern Ireland yet, but when one of our besties Kristen invited us on a road trip to Wales there was no way we could say no. Traveling with your friends is amazing and so much fun, especially when you are road tripping and experiencing a place like Wales. Kristen had actually been before, so it was fun to let her take over the planning of this trip. Every day was a fun surprise and adventure.
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We flew into Heathrow and then started the 6ish hour drive to Northern Wales. We stopped halfway to explore the Shugborough Estate and to let Kristen and Thomas’ son Carter run around and play. Prepare for yourself for lots of cute two year old photos because that little dude is just awesome! The Shugborough Estate is part of the National Trust, and was on beautiful grounds. It was the perfect place to stop and grab a bite to eat and stretch our legs. We love exploring castles, estates, palaces etc.
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We stayed in Caernarfon, Wales which was right in the middle of everything we wanted to do. We arrived in just enough time to grab some dinner and get a good night’s sleep to rest up for the next days adventures!
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On our first full day of exploring we headed out to the town of Conwy. We went to Conwy Castle where Carter promptly informed us that we were to be looking for a dragon to slay! Exploring castles with little ones truly does make the experience so much more fun! It was raining this morning, but that honestly added to the ambience and made it fun. This castle reminded me a lot of Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. Then we went on a little walk around town and popped into some shops. We had lunch at a little place called coffee & bookshop. It was so cute and the perfect little spot.
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The next stop on our adventures was Llandudno. This was a coastal town that reminded me so much of Brighton. There was a pebble beach and a pier, and a promenade that went all along the water. We were only there for about an hour before it started pouring down rain again. It was really cool to see though. We love just venturing off into these little towns and getting a taste of how the locals live. Because of jetlag we called it an early night again and headed to bed to rest up for a new day of exploring!
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We woke up bright and early to grab some coffee and then explore Caernarfon castle which was only a short walk from our hotel. This one was cool because it was basically open in the middle and all of the rooms of the castle were along the outside in a circle. It’s also eerily quiet in there which totally adds to the ambience. I like getting lost when we walk through. Honestly no idea why, it’s just fun!
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Next up was the beach! We headed over to Pwllheli which is known for their beach. We grabbed a quick lunch and some ice cream and then walked over to the beach. It was a true sandy beach, but there were some pebbles when you got closer to the water. The weather was actually gorgeous! It was very sunny and perfect for spending an hour on the beach. Carter absolutely loved it and so did we! I love putting my feet in every ocean I can!
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Next we headed over to Snowdonia National Park to take the Snowdon Railway to the top of the Summit. This was so much fun for all of us. It’s a very small little diesel train that takes about 45 minutes to get to the top. I have to mention that Carter love’s choo choo trains, so the pure joy and happiness on his face the whole time was the highlight of it for me. The views the entire way up are just incredible. It seriously looked like we were on the set of Game of Thrones! Once you got to the top you were able to walk around and explore for about 30 minutes before heading back down. Something weird about me is that I hate heights, but I love standing on the edge at the top of mountains. I know that probably makes absolutely no sense, but what can I say?
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On our way back down to London to catch our flight we stopped at Cadbury World in Birmingham. It was really cool to see, but also pretty crowded. We didn’t actually do the tour. Kristen has done it before and said it wasn’t really worth our time since we didn’t have any to waste. They had a huge playground for Carter to play around in, and a giant store full of their chocolate for us to buy! You already know that we bought a lot, and our waistlines probably won’t be very forgiving.
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All in all this was such a fun trip! It was super lowkey, but we did so much exploring and spending time with friends which is all we could ask for. We are so glad we got to cross another country off of our bucket list. P.S. Kristen is coming with us to Belgium in July, so get excited to see more of her!
-Shelbs xx