Welcome to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!

The name of the village on the island of Anglesey in North Wales is the longest place name in the United Kingdom and one of the longest in the world at 58 characters. I challenge you to pronounce it correctly.

Before I let the travelogue of our trip to Snowdonia loose on you, perhaps first a word about respect for the places we all visit.
Even in the most remote corners we’ve been, we always saw discarded empty plastic bottles, candy wrappers, fire-pits, abandoned camping gear, cigarette butts … left behind by visitors.
And anywhere near the popular tourist spots (usually where there’s a car park not more than 500 yards away) it’s even worse, the local volunteers pick up tons of garbage every year. In 2020 volunteers filled more than 200 (!!) bin bags with rubbish found on the path to the top of mount Snowdon.
We are big dog lovers but can anyone explain this to me: plenty of hikers with dogs bag their dog’s poo and then … just throw away the bag. I just can’t get my head around that.
Shame on you, you anti-social retards!

Hordes of tourists can often spell disaster for the environment, so please always pick up your trash and never litter, limit energy use, save water, reduce the number of plastic bags and disposable cups you use when you eat fast food, take away coffee/meals, etc.

On a more pleasant note then and after my rant.
The rugged north of Wales is another one of those paradises for landscape photographers we visited in the UK. Stunning waterfalls, hills and mountains, charming coastal towns and villages, rugged seascapes, and a selection of iconic lighthouses. North Wales has it all.
Landscape photographers flock to far away locations such as Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, whereas north Wales remains relatively unknown compared to these destinations.
And more appealing, most of the iconic viewpoints can still be captured without the crush of selfie-taking tourists and photographers jostling for position. Perhaps that will change in the years to come but for now, north Wales is the destination of choice for discerning landscape photographers especially if you take care to visit when the kiddies are safely tucked away in their schools.

Three of Wales’ five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) are also located here in North Wales.
Ynys Mon, known in English as Anglesey, is an island off the north-west coast of Wales and has one of the most distinctive, attractive and varied landscapes in the British Isles.
Lleyn is the second AONB, a peninsula sticking out into the Irish Sea offering the visiting photographer rugged seascapes and charming bays.
The third AONB is the Clwydian Range, comprising an attractive hill range running from the coast at Prestatyn across the north Wales landscape towards the English border.
We were, once again, truly spoiled for choice when visiting this area of Wales. Admire with us some of the spectacular views.

You might want to consider to hop on one of the historic steamers of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways. They have a truly impressive collection of historic steam engines. All perfectly and lovingly restored and maintained by an army of enthusiastic volunteers. We even discovered there is a Belgian connection! One of the steam engines is the “Kalahari”. Built in Belgium in 1952, it spent all its working life in Africa, hauling trains of coal and minerals from the mines. Retired in the early 1990s, the engine was brought to the UK in 1998. In January 2023 the restoration was finally finished by the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

And this brings us to the traditionally last part of the post: where we stayed during this trip. What a fabulous place, Hen Ffermdy (translates to Old Farmhouse) thank you Emily and Miles for allowing us to stay and for the “Snowdon mountain” of interesting activities you recommended.
We’ve been around in Wales & England over the past 4 years, traveling to all the beauty spots and the places with spectacular land- & seascapes. And yes, we’re a bit restless, we usually never stay anywhere for more than a week. This was the first place where we agreed we would gladly have stayed another week, or two or three … 🙂 If you like remote, it doesn’t get more remote in Wales or England than Emily’s place. The cottage is well appointed, the views are spectacular and your only neighbors might be the guests in the only other nearby cottage and a few dozen sheep and cows. With miles of hiking just minutes from the cottage. If you can, opt for the cottage overlooking the river delta and the Irish Sea.

The following shots, believe it or not, are all taken from the cottage or during the awesome walk up to Llyn Eiddew Mawr from the cottage.

Even after 4 years in the UK and after traveling to the 4 corners of England & Wales, we are still in awe of the spectacular land & seascapes we discover on every single one of our trips. So lovely was the loneliness of a wild lake (Edgar Allan Poe)