This time we head up to North Wales with Vanessa who is motorhoming at Harlech in North Wales.
Vanessa: Hello and welcome along to another Motorholme diary and today we are coming to you from North Wales. It is New Years Eve 2011 and my husband and I have decided to see in the New Year with a bit of a difference. Now first of all I must say I have been so impressed with the campsite here, the facilities are absolutely state of the art, extremely clean, extremely high standard all round. But the real reason you come to North Wales is over there and we have had the privilege of waking up to this every morning.
Now this is what I love about motorhoming. Quite by chance we have walked into the number one tea shop in Wales, the award winning Cemlyn tea shop. That is right is not it Jeff?
Jeff: Cemlyn, top tea shop in Wales 2011.
Vanessa: Congratulations fantastic. Why is North Wales good for motorhomers in particular?
Jeff: We have got fantastic campsites here and we have got plenty of them. They have fabulous views and you could be within 100 yards of the beach. There are lots and lots of different areas, we have got busy areas down here in North Wales and there are areas which are very quiet where you can be completely off the beaten track and you can find lots of hidden gems.
Vanessa: So something for everybody?
Jeff: Absolutely.
Vanessa: Now we are actually sitting with Harlech Castle in the background and I think I am right in saying that Wales has more castles per square mile than anywhere else in Europe. So great history in the area isnt there?
Jeff: Absolutely. The castles here in Harlech dates from 1283 when Edward I started his castle. He carried on and took about four, five years to finish and then had this fantastic ring of castles across North Wales. It was almost like the Star Wars of its day. Very technologically advanced and he had castle builders coming in from Savoy across on the continent so it was cutting edge technology of its day.
Vanessa: But Jeff I think it is obvious that most people would come here for Snowdonia National Park, which is of course is absolutely stunningly beautiful, but there is more to the area than just that isnt there?
Jeff: The area also has lots of Bronze Age, Iron Age, Stone Age artefacts that have been found here. There is across from the top of the hill here just behind us there is a nice mountain range called the Rhinogs. You can be walking up there, there is some quite tough walking if you want, awesome gentle strolls and you can come several times to the same place and see completely different things. So in the wintertime from here you can look across to Snowdon and see the snow caps and mountains, and in the summertime obviously you have the gorse, which is bright yellow on the mountainside and it is fantastic.
Vanessa: You have actually been involved in a website that might be of interest to motorhomers. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Jeff: Secret Snowdonia, so the website is set up just for this area and that is been continually updated with all the latest news. There is also a major walking path which runs from Barmouth through to Gell Fawr, which is just across the back here across the Rhinogs and that is called Ardudwy and it recently won the Rough Guide as the best walk to buy a pair of boots for.
Vanessa: It is definitely true to say that wherever you are in North Wales you are never far from a beach and just at the end of this boardwalk we have discovered a hidden gem, miles and miles of deserted beach that can be enjoyed at any time of the year and just a short walk from our motorhome.
Vanessa: Just a few steps off the tourist trail is this amazing church St Tanwg Church, and as you can see it is actually in the sand dunes. There has been a church on this site since 435AD and over the many hundreds of years the sand gradually built up and by the Second World War the sand dunes had completely covered the church and just the bell tower at the top there was sticking out of the sand dunes. Now luckily in the 60s some archaeologists and students came along and dug the church out of the sand and it is now used for services. There is no electricity here so everything is done by candlelight inside, and outside you can actually see some tombs that date back to the 5th Century. I really have loved my visit here and it is been one of the highlights of my trip.
Vanessa: I hope you have enjoyed our little snapshot of North Wales and of course we have only had the chance to just scratch the surface. There is so much more to see and do at any time of the year. So whether you choose to do a tour of castles or maybe a golf tour, there is Royal St Davids in the background there a fantastic championship golf course, or maybe just go wherever the road takes you, that is the joy of motorhoming. The one thing you can be sure of is you can change your view. Thank you for watching.
Why not hire a motorhome and head to North Wales and do some motorhoming at Harlech? We are waiting for your call.
Topics: Motorhoming in The Alps, Motorhome in The Alps, Motorhome Invest, Extreme Motorhoming, Motorhoming at Dungeness, Motorhoming at Portmeirion, Motorhoming at Harlech, Motorhoming Off Season, Motorhome Hire
