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Have your very own Every Last Station Adventure
Stuart Boyd • 27 April 2020
Have a day out on the Conwy Valley Line in North Wales. Planned to detail by me :)
Plan Information
I originally visited the Conwy Valley on the 8th September 2018. It really is a beautiful line. Starting at Llandudno Junction and running the full length of the valley all the way down to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Here I have decided to plan a day out on the Conwy Valley which everyone can do. I have included things to do at each station, including walks to outstanding view points, all times of trains (including service code) & bus times.
Plan is based on Saturday 29th August rail workings. Although it would work on any Saturday subject to maintenance. Always check Transport for Wales website before heading out for any adventure. That way you avoid the disappointment of no trains.
This is a plan for a 1 day trip, but with the adventure starting at Betws-y-Coed it is advised to stay the night before in accommodation in Betws-y-Coed. It is possible to stay near Llandudno Junction or Llanrwst. But doing this would require you getting the 0530 from Llandudno Juntion (0548 Llanrwst). Booking.com
is showing accommodation options varying from £40 upwards. When the day ends there is an option of an extra night at Machynlleth or Aberystwyth.
Ticketing Information
For the one day:
North Wales Rover 2 Zone:
Adult: £14.10
Child: £9.00
Railcards: Not allowed
For the two days:
North Wales Rover 3 Zone:
Adult: £24.00
Child: £15.30
Railcards: Not allowed
If you're planning on spending more days travelling on the trains or buses other than the Saturday, it might be beneficial buying the below tickets:
Explore North & Mid Wales Pass
adult: £69.00
adult 16-17 saver: £34.50
child: £34.50
railcards: £45.55 (16-26/SEN/DIS/2T)
* Ticketing issue all from http://www.railrover.org/
* All above tickets are valid on buses on the Conwy Valley.
Station 1:
Betws-y-Coed
Arrive: Anytime Previous day
Depart: 0650 (2D11)
We start the days trip at Betws-y-Coed. Having arrived the day before plenty of time would have been allowed for a good look around the village. I can personally recommend both the buffet coach at the station and the chip shop by Pont-y-Pair Bridge in the village centre. Also the Spar shop sells very good steak pies and flapjack.
It's an early start I'm afraid for the 0650 train towards Llandudno Junction. So not too many beers I'm afraid the night before in one of the many bars in Betws-y-Coed.
When on the platform have a look at the marvellous station roof and the amazing footbridge.
Station 2: Tal-y-Cafn
Arrive: 0709 (2D11)
Depart: 0736 (2D12)
When arriving into Tal-y-Cafn make sure to be looking out of the window to see if you can spot the manual signal person. (They usually dressed in bright orange with a big green flag). Once you have alighted, keep a lookout for the same person to operate the manual level crossing.
There is just under half hour before the next train, luckily that is enough time to take this quick recommended walk. Make sure you arrive back at the station in time to say a friendly hello to the crossing staff and watch them carry out the closing of the crossing.
A beautiful disused platform which looks beautiful thanks to the local community. Disused, but very well loved.
Station 3:
Roman Bridge (Request Stop)
Arrive: 0813 (2D12)
Depart:
0856 (2D13)
We arrive at Roman Bridge, a remote station with some very nice scenery about the area. There is just over 45 minutes here so it's worth taking a little stroll down the lane. Click here to see a suggested stroll
you can do in between your trains. Make sure you don't walk to far down the lane though, otherwise it will be a bit of a run back along the lane to the station.
Should you not wish to take a walk, or the weather is against you, there is a very decent shelter at the station where a good book helps kill the time.
Station 4: Dolgarrog (Request Stop)
Arrive: 0928 (2D13)
Depart: Walk
Next up on the trip we have Dolgarrog which has been closed for quite a while due to flood damage in March 2019. The station has since had a new platform built.
From Dolgarrog we are about to take on a moderate walk of about 5.5 miles. If you would rather not take on this walk, you can kill some time around the station while waiting for the 1049 train and head to Llanrwst where there are cafes and shops for you to relax in.
Should you wish to take on the walk click here for details.
Station 5: Llanrwst
Arrive:
Walk
Depart: 1213 (2D15)
After the walk I suggest a little walk into the town and source some ice cream and something refreshing to drink. Depending how much time you have before the train, there might be time to pop into one of the cafes in the town.
When you are boarding at the station make sure you board where the guard is. You are on this train for only a couple of minutes and the next station is a request stop. You want to make sure the guard knows you wish to alight at the next stop.
Station 6: North Llanrwst (Request Stop)
Arrive: 1214 (2D15)
Depart: 1243 (X19 bus from Salisbury Terrace bus stop)
When you board the train at Llanrwst it is not in the slightest worth taking a seat. You are quite literally only on the train for 1 minute.
North Llanrwst was the first station in the town. You will be able to tell this by the original building structure and the signs of the original low platforms.
When leaving the station for the bus I suggest taking a little detour to look at the Gower Footbridge. Detour to the footbridge can be found here.
Bus Journey: Salisbury Terrace to Plas Mountain Centre
The bus journey is included in the cost of your ranger ticket. The journey take you back through Llanrwst and through Betws-y-Coed.
The bus stop that you get off at is pretty much in the middle of no where. It is definitely worth mentioning to the driver where you intend to get off the bus at. Walk to Pont-y-Pant guide here
Station 7: Pont-y-Pant (Request Stop)
Arrive: 1305 (X19 bus from bus stop down the lane)
Depart: 1406 (2D16)
Time does permit for a walk further down the lane if you wish to kill the time, it is possible to walk this lane all the way to the next station. But to comply to my challenge rules boarding at Pont-y-Pant is required. If not up for the walk, sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet this station provides you.
Pont-Y-Pant is a station that features in my Top 10 (Which can be seen here) Spend 5 minutes stood on the platform and you will be able to tell instantly why this is in the top 10.
Station 8: Dolwyddelan (Request Stop)
Arrive: 1409 (2D16)
Depart: 1511 (2D17)
As with Llanrwst, when you board at Pont-y-Pant make sure you notify the guard you wish to alight at Dolwyddelan. You are only on this train for three minutes, so it's important to do this as soon as you board.
There is loads of history at Dolwyddelan which can be seen here.
With just an hour at Dolwyddelan we have time to take a stroll around the village. See this guide for a little stroll around the village
which also includes time for a coffee from the Spar shop (that when I visited sold the most amazing cakes ever!) or if you'd rather, there is a pub where a pint, or two could be consumed.
Station 9: Glan Conwy (Request Stop)
Arrive: 1552 (2D17)
Depart: 1636 (2D18)
Glan Conwy station sits right on the bank of the River Conwy. You can even see Conwy Castle in the distance from the platform. With 44 minutes at this station it would be easy to just spend the whole time at the station enjoying the scenery.
If sitting at the station is not for you, a very short walk away is a pub or a village shop. There is also a church you could take a walk around. For me though, it's sitting at the station, chilling and taking in the scenery.
Station 10: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Arrive: 1738 (2D18)
Depart: 1739 (2D19)
or Bus to Porthmadog (3B)
Our final station of the day. Depending on what option you have taken for this trip you either have 1 minute here (or how ever long it takes the train staff to change ends). Or you have 52 minutes to have a look around the old historic mining town.
Also the home of the Ffestiniog railway. Unfortunately the timetables don't seem to line up and the Ffestiniog railway train departs 10 minutes before the Transport for Wales service arrives which seems rather daft. Had the timings been right I would of recommended a trip on the heritage line to Porthmadog instead of using the bus.
Trip ending at Blaenau Ffestiniog.
After the beautiful journey back in the early evening sun you'll arrive at Llandudno Junction where your day comes to an end. From here you can pick up a train back towards Birmingham, Manchester and many others.
Continuing your journey to Machynlleth or Aberystwyth
After a walk around Blaenau Ffestiniog you need to head back to the bus stop next to the station where you want to be catching the 3B bus to Porthmadog.
After arriving into Porthmadog head to the station ready to catch the 2056 train to Machynlleth where you can either plan to spend the night or head to Aberystwyth on the 2303 where there is more accommodation options.
Disclaimer: I in no way hold responsibility for cancellations on trains or buses. Before heading out on any train adventures it is worth checking with National Rail Enquires to check their is no planned maintenance.
Day three of the walk saw me starting nice and early at Llandudno Junction. With one simple aim, to get as far along the Conwy Valley as possible! Betws-y-Coed was the minimum target for the day. On this day I was joined by KD ( @roadsignreporter over on YouTube ). Walking to Glan Conwy was easy enough for us both, I kicked myself that I hadn't pushed myself the day before! Blooming beer! After Glan Conwy it was time for the first of the many hills that Wales was going to throw at me during this walk. We had to head up the steep hills to avoid walking along the very busy footpathless A470. You can see the scale of the diversion on the Strava map at the bottom. Things improved at Tal-y-Cafn when we arrived at the lovely station. Had a good chat with the Network Rail level crossing staff there who refilled our water bottles for us. After this we headed across the fields and along the B5106 which we would follow mostly until Betws-y-Coed. Only really leaving the road to pop to the required stations to walk too. We had a nice surprise at Dalgarrog when we came across the Dolgarrog Railway Society platform where we chatted with one of the members. They told us about the work they are doing with the site. Was a really nice break from walking. Between Dolgarrog and Llanrwst our pace slowed down a fair bit, I think this was down to the heat, and it became clear Betws-y-Coed was going to be the end point for the day! We reached the village and the road kindly dropped us off at the Spar shop and bakery so was able to stock up on some essential cakes and drinks. Shout out to the TfW guard on the train back to Llandudno Junction who kindly wavered the fare for the journey. Was much appreciated!
Day two of the walk saw me walking from Bangor to Llandudno Junction. This day was a lovely walk mostly along the North Wales Coast Path. With getting ahead of schedule the day before I was able to relax a little today. So the target today was Penmaenmawr, anything after that was a bonus. On this day I was joined by friend and boss. Special mention to Ian, honestly without him keeping me on full pay while on these charity walks they simply wouldn't be able to happen! We stopped at the beach café at Penmaenmawr where comically we was counting out pennies to pay for our lunch as the café didn't accept card! While having lunch we looked at how far we would be able to walk. We set our target on Glan Conwy. We was going well following the A55 right until we arrived at Conwy where we went to a pub for a pint... After this we decided that with beer in us we wasn't going to be making it to Glan Conwy. Instead we slowly made our way to Llandudno Junction where we called it a day!
Day one of the walk would see me walk from Holyhead to Bangor. This was not the original plan. The original plan was to only walk to Bodorgan. But upon reaching Bodorgan and just missing a train I decided to push on and just see how far I could get! Sadly on day one I was on my own that day. But that was probably a good thing, I don't think many would of approved of walking 32 miles!
Kildale station is located on the very scenic Esk Valley Line that runs from Middlesborough to Whitby. From the June 2024 timetable change the station will see 8 trains per day, 4 in each direction! Although this is a limited service it does give you the opportunity to do some exploring of the area.
I set of on a walk with my sisters dog and headed for the disused canal from Kendal. I followed along disused canal to the village of Natland. I then swapped the disused canal for the river. After following the riverside path, I came across a footbridge that I had planned to use, annoyingly it was closed! Annoyingly I was planning to use this footbridge, due to this there was a lenghty diversion. Thankfully the diversion wasn't a total waste of time, I was able to walk through the beautiful Sizergh Castle and then head back up to my original route plan and headed to Helsington church and view point. After spending a little time chatting with my Dad (who's ashs was scattered there) me and Bailey then headed up to Scout Scar before setting of back down towards Kendal. Upon reaching the River Kent I decided that my feet was still feeling good and I headed back along the river to Hawes Bridge. I then headed up into the village of Natland and then up to Oxenholme where my walk came to an end!
A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.
This walk was a tail of two halves! The day started with walking through Reading suburbs and then through the city centre. Things mid morning took a positive turn as we headed to the The Kennet and Avon Canal which I then followed for the remaineder of the day. Only hopping away from the canal to go on to station platforms. A very enjoyable walk, even in the scorching heat! Stations visted today was: Reading, Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston & ended the day at Midgham. By walking between Aldermaston and Midgham I actually have managed to get a station ahead on my plan which can only be a good thing as I head down to the more difficult reagions of Somerset & Devon next week. Until tomorrow :)
Todays walk was a little bit of a tough one, mainly due to the excessive heat which is only going to get worse as the week goes on. Thinking there will be some early starts coming up to try and miss the worst of the heat! Today was a mixture of roads and walks across fields. Discovered there is some beautiful countryside between Maidenhead and Twyford. I strongly encourage you to take this walk! Stations visited today: Burnham, Taplow, Maidenhead and ended at Twyford. Was great to have Nick Badley along with me today. Make sure to check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@NickBadley . After the walk myself and Nick headed to Windsor where we met up with Coastway Will and had a Nandos dinner where the unlimited refils was very much used again and again! Until tomorrow :)
Todays walk saw me starting at Southall and heading straight to The Grand Union Canal. We followed this for most of the walk today. Stations called at today was: Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Iver, Langley before finishing the walk at Slough. Was great to have pals Jack and Dave with me today. Laughed for the most part, especially when we got the wrong place for the London/Buckinghamshire borders. That video on twitter got filmed twice lol. Massive thank you to everyone supporting the event via donations to either/both: Donate to Samaritans: https://justgiving.com/page/greatwesternwalk Support me with the challenge: https://www.gofundme.com/f/GreatWesternWalk My photos from today are below. Daves photos from today can be found here on his Flickr photostream: https://flic.kr/ps/3ppCTV Until tomorrow :)
The first day of the walk from London Paddington to Southall saw me call at Acton Mainline, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing & Hanwell. On the way we saw unexpected viaducts, fancy McDonalds, pretty gardens & nice market squares. Today I was joined by a couple of friends who can be found online at the following places, Please do check their accounts out. Jack All Station: twitter.com/JackAllStations Midland London: youtube.com/@MidlandLondon Below is a selection of photos from today.