Motorhome Holiday In North Wales

We’ve just spent a fantastic week’s holiday in our motorhome in North Wales, stopping in three different places. With all the confusion about overseas travel, it’s probably the closest thing to a foreign trip we’ll take for a while, so we got stuck in and took the opportunity learn a few words of the Welsh language.

After a lovely weekend at a campsite at Carsington Water we decided to head to Wales so Jay could check out some of the route for his Ultra Marathon in September. Despite having several copies of our motorhome packing list, we still forgot some stuff (mainly the spare van keys and Jay’s gear for long runs – must add these to our list!), so we nipped home first. While I did a ‘big shop’ at our local supermarket, Jay grabbed what he needed and off we went. First stop Llanberis.

Having limited experience of motorhome touring in the UK, especially when overseas travel is off limits for so many, we asked on our Facebook page if folks were finding campsites were full. The replies were a mixed bag, with sites at popular tourist places with lots of facilities being busy, but small five van motorhome sites still pretty quiet.

We’d only visited Wales once before in our campervan, back in the days before we started our blog (and we’ve been blogging for over 10 years), so we had a nice blank canvas to explore. Having just joined the Camping and Caravan Club to give us access their network of smaller CS (certified sites) and temporary sites over the summer, we booked in advance to stay at Llanberis Touring Park (N53.125023, W4.135169). The campsite isn’t a club site so anyone can visit, but as members we got a discount on the site fees.

On arrival the receptionist showed me a map of what there was to do in the area, and by the end of our stay we’d done all the main attractions.

Jay ran up Snowdon on his birthday, at the same time I ran around the lake (getting to race the tourist steam train on part of it). We also watched the rack and pinion mountain train head up off up Snowdon, visited Dolbadarn Castle and on a rainy day took a look around the National Slate Museum.

The great thing being all of this, and the town of Llanberis were within walking distance of the site – no wonder it was full every night.

While we were in Llanberis we discovered that Cath and Mark, our neighbours in Nerja for the winter, weren’t far away having some work done to their fifth wheeler. We got in touch and they popped over to see us for a quick catch up.

It was great to hear what they have been up to since we last saw them, and we were really interested to hear more about the one year visa they have managed to get for France. However after hearing all the hoops they had to jump through to get it (150 pages of paperwork, an interview, fees, health insurance and providing an itinerary for every place they’ll be staying for the year) we’ve been put off applying any time soon.

As we drove out of Llanberis we climbed into the clouds as we crossed Pen-y-Pass. The road was narrow with the odd sheep lining the route, so the cloud was well received by Jay as it meant he, and everyone else, drove super slowly.

It was only a few short miles to our next stop at Garth Farm (N53.095675, W3.94191), so short and with no signage at the entrance, we missed the turning into the site, so we carried on to Capel Curig to find a safe place to turn around. Reaching the site entrance second time around, we slowed right down which was a good job as Zagan was on the large size for the site entrance.

On arrival we weren’t sure what to do, so we parked up and walked up to the farm. The farmer’s wife welcomed us and told us to just park up anywhere we like. The farmer later popped by and recommended the best place as the whole site is on a hill and rain was forecast, and none of us wanted Zagan to get stuck. We opted for the field overlooking the lake, so our kitchen window at the back was full of the Snowdon mountains.

The site is in a beautiful location and just a couple of kilometres from Capel Curig, which is one of the wettest places in the UK. It lived up to its reputation for a couple of days, so were very grateful to be in a motorhome. We bunged all the wet gear in the bathroom and popped the heating on to dry it, the campers around us in tents weren’t so fortunate. Over the weekend the site got really full at night, but deserted in the day as folks ventured into the surrounding North Wales countryside.

We walked part of the route Jay will be running and checked out a turn that he’ll need to make sure he takes. It sounds simple, but the turn will be after 40 miles of running and probably in the dark, so we thought while we were in the area it would be a good idea to have a look at it. Jay went out later that day and ran a 13 mile loop of the course so he knows what he’ll have to face in September.

Our last stop on our short motorhome tour of North Wales had to be by the seaside. I love the mountains, but living in the middle of England (about as far as you can possibly get from the coast), the seaside wins out every time for me. We looked around and a couple of days before we were due to move called up and booked into Bron-y-Wendon Touring Site in Llanddulas (N53.29144, W3.645856) for a couple of nights.

Our new satnav decided we needed a little adrenalin kick, so when we reached Betws-y-Coed she directed us up the B5106 instead of staying on the nice and easy A470. I should have been checking on the map, but we’d discovered she has ‘easy mode’ which sticks to main routes, so I had put the map away and was busy enjoying the views.

It turned out that if you plan your trip in easy mode, then turn off the satnav it goes back to normal mode – as in fastest or shortest route. It still knew we were in a motorhome, so it was all doable, but we’d rather have avoided the single lane bridge and town centre of Llanwrst!

Arriving at Llanddulas we went for a walk around, and to be honest there didn’t seem to be much to inspire us. The campsite was sandwiched between a trainline and the busy A55 (we were warned about road noise when we booked) and reaching the sea the tide was in, so no beach. Still we had a great view out across the sea from our pitch.

The following morning we both went for a run along the coastal path towards Llandudno. That changed our view. It was only about 3 miles of easy path and we were in Colwyn Bay, the Rhos-on-sea. If we were to go back, we’d take the bikes with us and use the site as a base to visit all the resorts along the coast.

The run took the best part of the morning, and in the afternoon we relaxed at the site. Jay got talking to a chap on a nearby pitch (at the elsan point – as you do!) who had been there for 14 months. He and his wife had sold up and bought a van to tour Europe in their retirement, then covid hit.

Thinking back, of the motorhome owners we met and talked to on our tour of North Wales (folks are keeping themselves to themselves on sites) around half of them had said they should be abroad right now. Many different stories, but all tales of plans disrupted by Covid-19 and future plans being rearranged due to Brexit.

From talking to the receptionists at the campsites we stayed at, its clear that places are busier than usual. We’ve changed our usual motorhome touring method. When we tour abroad we rock up somewhere and hope there’s a space (there usually is) but do have a plan B in case there isn’t. Now we’re checking where we want to go next and booking a couple of days in advance.

So far, the first places we’ve called have been able to fit us in, but we’ve only stayed in popular sites mid-week, at the weekends we’re picking basic farm sites. We’re not sure how things will be once the schools break up for holidays – but we’re heading off again soon, so we’ll find out.

Cheers Ju x

---

New to motorhome life,
planning your own motorhome adventure or
looking for the perfect gift for the motorhomer in your life?
Check out our OurTour range of books.