Beautiful Wales...

I had the most perfect weekend in up in Wales thanks to my lovely boyfriend who had planned an amazing birthday surprise for me! After the drama of the passport which i mentioned in my first post he told me he had booked me a surprise! To say i was excited was an understatement and me being a typical annoying girl i pestered him until he let slip we where going to wales for the weekend!!

We packed the car and rushed off at around 6.30pm on the Friday night. He had booked us into the most beautiful B & B (massive boyfriend points!) The Courthouse (Henllys) as the name suggests the building once served as a police station and magistrates court for Betws - y - Coed. We actually stayed in one of the original cells which has now been restored and refurbished and turned into a very attractive bedroom. The room was spacious (apart from the bed which is in the cell) and very well equipped, it had fresh bottles of water daily, tea's, coffees, biscuits and even hot chocolate! We pre ordered our breakfast the night before and i can honestly say it was the best cooked breakfast i have ever eaten, i particularly liked that you ate your breakfast in the conservatory next to the river Conwy.

www.guesthouse-snowdonia.co.uk

With full belly's we decided to go and attempt to tackle Snowdonia!This was a massive challenge, but the weather was on our side and we had the most perfect day, despite being lost in the welsh countryside for about an hour due to Darrell's sat nav taking us round in circles! Oh and also the most ridiculous burn marks i have ever had!!

We decided to go for a less busy route up the mountain and went from the bottom of Rhyd Ddu, this is said to be the quietest of the 6 routes which go up to the summit! The path starts off on a gradual climb along an old slate quarry track, you then leave the track and climb steeply up over rocky terrain towards the top of the ridge, you then climb your way over the ridge just before you make your final climb to the summit. I would say the final climb was the hardest, but everyone up there is so friendly and encouraging giving you a hello and telling you how long you have left to climb. The climb down was a lot easier and we managed to do the full 8 mile walk in 6 hours!

 Below are some of my favourite snaps from the journey!

Half way up the track

The top of Snowdonia!

On day 2 we decided to keep it more chilled (as i defiantly was having trouble walking) we decided to visit Conwy Castle. I would suggest this to anyone in the area, the scenery is amazing! They have a very pretty town filled with craft shops, shabby chic shops, cute cafes and tea rooms! The walls of the castle actually run around the town and they have built shops and houses within them.

You can walk around the walls for free, but to go inside the castle is £6.75 per person. We thought the price was pretty high as there is not much to do inside the castle.  The views are incredible expecially up the top!

http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/conwycastle/?lang=en 

The whole weekend was so much fun, i would recommend anyone visiting wales to climb Snowdonia, the views are breathtaking and it's such a personal challenge!! I LOVE birthdays!!

Jess x