Top 5 stations in Wales

Stuart Boyd • 18 March 2021

When ever I do a Q&A on Twitter one of the questions I always get is "Which is your favourite station so far?" It is very tough to choose a top 10 nationwide... So I have decided to split it up into a collection of Top 5's...

It's time to head to the land that they call Wales, although this top 5 should probably be called 'Top 5 in North Wales' as I have been to only three stations in South Wales... Anyway, on with the countdown.

5. Conwy

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Station: Conwy

Line: North Wales Coast Line

Managed By: Transport For Wales


A station within a castle, I mean for that alone meant it had to be included in my top 5!  If you think the station is in a lovely setting, take a walk around the local area and your in for a shock. Even more beauty!


I first visited this station when on a planned trip to visit the North Wales Coast Line and Anglesey. I even stayed in Conwy. I quite often try to stay in places that interest me, it allows me time to visit the area. I stayed at the YHA accommodation which was only a 15 minute walk from the station, all be it all uphill. 


Sadly this station is very poorly served due to Covid restrictions, only 2 carriage trains can stop here. Which makes me wonder, would it be possible to lengthen the platforms here? or even relocate to allow for longer trains to call here. Such a tourist destination surly justifies it???

4. Bodorgan

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Station: Bodorgan

Line: North Wales Coast Line

Managed By: Transport for Wales


Like old stations signs? like old station buildings? like barrow crossings? like remote stations? Then this is the station for you. This station was a complete surprise to me. Having done very little research on this line before travelling I really didn't know what to expect.


I remember the day well. My previous two stations included a walk between Ty Croes & Rhosneigr which took me much longer than I had expected. This meant I missed the train I was meant to be boarding at Rhosneigr. So I had to head north again to Holyhead and then back down to Bodorgan. I was rather fed up by the time I alighted at Bodorgan. That mood soon changed when I had a look about the station. It was lovely. It was everything I like about rural stations.


Then to just make the station visit totally complete, the sunset was absolutely terrific! Memorable is an understatement!

3. Pont-y-Pant

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Station: Pont-y-Pant

Line: Conwy Valley Line

Managed By: Transport for Wales


The Conwy Valley Line is in a league of its own when it comes to branch lines in Great Britain. In a top 10, 6-10 could easily all be stations from this line. It's a credit to the rest of North Wales that this is the only station on the line to make the top 5.


This was a lovely day, after visiting both the stations in Llanrwst I then boarded a bus that would take me down towards Pont-y-Pant. The bus drops off about a 15 minute walk from the station. Down a narrow country lane this was just beautiful, with the river flowing to the right it really was very tranquil and relaxing.


When I arrived at the station I decided to just sit on one of the lovely benches and read a book while enjoying the sounds of the Conwy Valley.

2. Tygwyn

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Station: Tygwyn

Line: Cambrian Coast Line

Managed By: Transport For Wales


Some stations wow you with beauty, some stations amaze you with their location, some stations impress you by their facilities and some simply just leave you jaw dropping amazed... Tygwyn ticks every single box on this list!


Visiting this station was definitely a highlight for me, I boarded at Abererch and immediately put my request in for Tygwyn. The guard was less than impressed, me requesting Tygwyn meant that he now had a request for every single request stop on the line. I guess for guards on the Cambrian Coast its the same as when guards have to stop at every request stop on the Cumbrian Coast.


After I had eaten my lunch in the shelter I headed to the road end to catch the bus to my next station, coincidentally that was the next station in this countdown...

1. Llanaber

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Station: Llanaber

Line: Cambrian Coast Line

Managed By: Transport for Wales


It's Just perfection. Simple perfection, When you think of places to go where you cannot be disturbed for hours on end you really need to add Llanaber to the very top of the list. Crashing waves, birds singing, wind howling, trains few and far between. It is simply heaven on earth.


After visiting Tygwyn I took the short walk down the lane and caught a bus which was destined for Barmouth. I wouldn't be going all the way to Barmouth, or I wasn't meant to I should say. Despite me ringing the bell for the nearest bus stop to Llanaber station the driver decided to have a death moment and drove straight past. Despite me getting up and going to the front of the bus the driver would not stop until the next stop, on the outskirts of Barmouth. Meaning a hefty walk back up the hill. 


Having done very little research on this line I was not prepared for the beauty that was to meet me at the end of the footpath to the station. At this point I was cursing the bus driver as my hour fester I had at Llanaber now had been cut to only 25 minutes. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every minute of it. I will be back again, just try and stop me!

DAY 3 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 21 September 2024
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 2 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 21 September 2024
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 1 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 20 September 2024
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!

Stations to visit: KILDALE

by Stu • 28 April 2024
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.

Afternoon walk with Bailey

by Stuart • 27 January 2024
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!

The Northumberland Line

by Stuart • 21 January 2024
A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.

Walking the Great Western Railway - Day 4

by Stu • 6 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 3

by Stu • 4 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 2

by Stu • 3 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 1

by Stu • 2 September 2023
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.
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