Holiday-planning question

[fivemack]

I've just watched a rather impressive programme about Caernafon castle, and am pondering doing something castle-based on a bike over one of the Bank Holidays (late May probably - might well want to go to Spain and avunc for the other one) this year.

It looks as if you can leave Cambridge Friday afternoon and get to Conwy (London, walk across to Euston, Chester, Conwy) late Friday evening; the three castles Conwy .. Beaumarais .. Caernafon seems possible on the Saturday unless they're sufficiently awesome that you can't fit three castles and 60k flattish cycling into a day. Caernafon to Harlech over Beddgelert looks good (if knee-eating) fun on the Sunday morning ... what's the next stop after that? To Machynlleth in the evening, see the Centre for Alternative Technology Monday morning and then afternoon train through to Cambridge, or is there another castle practically available?

Am I missing something critical which would make this either unexpectedly more awesome than it looks, or completely miserable?

Comments

[ewx.livejournal.com]

CAT is worth a visit. I don’t know about the biking aspect; is it really possible to cycle 60km in that part of Wales and stay on the flattish?

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

Looking more carefully at the map, the flattishness is achieved only by going straight down the A55. Bother.

Sychnant Pass Road seems from its very name unlikely to be flat, and the exciting-looking wiggly road from Penmaenmawr to Llanfairfechan on the map looks on the satellite as if it goes through a large quarry. After that it looks OK, there's a little road paralleling the A55 from Llanfairfechan to outside Bangor, and A4244/B4366 into Caernafon runs along a ridge and looks lovely.

[frostfox.livejournal.com]

Penmaenmawr is where my grandad, Perseverance Skinner, set fire to the mountain, he was proving to my Gran and my Mum that gorse (well known as a tinder bush) was the only plant which wouldn't burn. So he set his pipe to it. And he and Gran and Mum beat a hasty retreat on the motorbike and sidecar.
This was in about 1937, so the warrant for his arrest is possibly not now valid...


FF

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Unless you like cycling on the a14, you do not want to go on the A55 (bits of it you can't cycle on because of special road restrictions, but even the bits you can, you don't want to. )

The Sychnant pass is wiggly and used to scare me as a child. But if you go on it, you can also take in the location of a hill fort on the way). I can't remember much of the old route from Chester to Bangor, but it's generally wiggly, hence why they built the new dual carriageway!

I wouldn't do those three castles in a day in a car, never mind by bike! Two, yes, by car.

I'm not aware of any useful ferries across the Menai straits, but it's been a while since I used to holiday here 3 or 4 times a year.