Visiting North Wales during the week

Invertigo

Invertigo

Invertigo

Associate
Joined
19 Sep 2010
Posts
2,343
Location
The North
Hi all

I'm spending 2 days 1 night this coming week in North Wales (Llanberis, to be exact), and I'm curious if anyone has recommendations of where to go/places to visit with my camera. I've never actually stayed in Wales before, save for a few drunken nights at my friends in Bangor, so I'm a bit lost as to what I should do.

Also, gear. I'm tempted to just bring all my kit (in sig) along with my tripod and flash, as space isn't really an issue. I'm even tempted to rent the 10-22mm for it...opinions on this idea?

All help would be top :)
 
My only experience of Wales was a drunken long weekend in Presthaven. It was awesome for easy pasty but I wouldn't have wanted a camera at any stage that weekend :D
 
well i stayed in Llanberis many moons ago (24 years ago) on a school trip but a few thigs i remember.

the obvious one being mount snowden, can walk up and down it in a day and you can get some good views from the top when clear. theres also the mountain railway that you can ride to the top and back if your lazy :P

theres also a big ole slate quarry on the far side behind the lake there that should be worth a walk as theres old machinery and other odds and ends in it.

cant really remember much else but just walking around them two should waste a couple of days.
 
I spent 3 nights in North Wales last week, you should have plenty of Photo opportunities if the weather is favourable. I had no rain when I was there but it was very foggy most days apart from the last. I can't tell you where to go as all the places have very welsh names that confused me no end and I got lost a few times.. I can remember Cregennen Lakes though and the surrounding area was very nice. I actually posted a couple of photos in the "post your photos" thread and I'm still sorting through the rest.
 
I was there yesterday !

The tops are covered in snow. My main aim was to walk up the access road to the top lake that the Dinorwic power station uses. You can then take another access road around to the surge pond at the front - this is right above the slate mine in Llanberis, and you get great views of Snowdon and the surrounding mountains, along with good views ( cloud allowing ) of Anglessey, and sometimes Ireland. I posted some pictures of yesterday..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/depthoffield
 
The scenery around Bangor is amazing. Bangor, Llandudno and Caernarfon all have some fantastic areas for photography, and Castles :D Oh, and Menai bridge. That's rather smart :)
 
Any of the lakes around Snowdonia are stunning, most of the coastline is interesting too, Penmon lighthouse on Anglesey is a nice trip out. Take a look on Google Earth and see the geotagged photos people have put up for ideas of places to go.
Just be aware that although everything looks close on a map it takes quite a bit longer than normal to drive places in Wales.
Cregennen Lakes are one of my favourite spots too, but that's at least an hours drive from Llanberis.
You could try Swallow falls which is nearby in Betws-y-Coed, a bit limited in shooting ops but worth a stop (I did it on the way to Lynn Ogwen/Anglesey)

http://www.betws-y-coed.co.uk/feature_pages/item/1067/Swallow_Falls_Betws_y_Coed.html

The worst thing for photography in Wales is the weather, I've been there when it's rained all week.
 
If you stand in Llanberis you're surrounded by mountains on all sides and you can literally take your pick. The slate mines is a decent walk, not too difficult if you're not used to it. Or just jump in your car and get on the Llanberis pass a couple of miles down the road. It's less touristy there and you can pretty much walk in any direction and get stunning views on a good day. Just be careful you don't get stuck on the mountain side - I've had brown alerts on there a couple of times.

In regards to lenses I would take the 17-55 and the 70-200.
 
stop off by the bridges over the menai straits, there is a lay by slap bang in the middle of the bridges on the anglesey side, great for taking photos of the bridges the island in the middle and of snowdon as the background.

you can also walk down onto the shore and there are some great paths for a walk and great scenic spots for photos.

you can walk down right under the britannia bridge and get some pretty amazing shots of the pillars

definatly worth a trip to the lay by, the worlds your oyster from there!
 
ryan123hanna said:
stop off by the bridges over the menai straits, there is a lay by slap bang in the middle of the bridges on the anglesey side, great for taking photos of the bridges the island in the middle and of snowdon as the background.
Click to expand...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niallallen/4894114095/in/set-72157624730585562

You're not wrong. Pretty much every photo you'll find of the bridge is from this lay-by. For the record, that was taken with my Sigma 70-300 on the 30D.

The comment 'BruceLee' made about the weather, is also correct. It's very random up here in north Wales :D I bought a storm jacket this week for this very reason!
 
Ynys Llanddwyn (or Llanddwyn Island in English), on Anglesey. Easy enough to find, over the Britannia Bridge onto Anglesey and go clockwise round the Island to Newborough - signposted from there.

Take some pound coins with you to access the carpark in the Woods, since it is owned by the Forestry Commission. Think it was £3 when I last went and you have to pass through a rising ramp system to gain access.

The woods themselves are home to Red Squirrels and the beach is stunning. Llanddwyn is reached following a reasonable walk, you'll see the headland off to the right when you hit the beach.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom