Hi everyone! I’ve been messing around with SSIW on and off for a while now, but I’ve really started practicing consistently this summer and just finished level 1 (Northern) because I’M FINALLY VISITING WALES! I am so excited! I’m Canadian, living in Chicago, and have only visited the UK once for a conference before. I will be in Wales October 3-7 and I was wondering if people had recommendations for places to go. I’m travelling with my sister and we will not have a car so will be getting around by train/bus. Obviously I would love to practice my Welsh while I’m there!
I was thinking of having a base in Northern Wales near Snowdonia for a couple nights, and then maybe going to a different part of Wales, perhaps Pembrokeshire? Dw i ddim yn siwr hyd yn hyn! but I could sure use your help.
Hi Anabel, croeso i’r fforwm. If it’s a high volume of Welsh speakers you are after then North-West is your best bet I would say, but you will be able to find Welsh speakers in most areas of Wales if you look for them. Caernarfon and Bangor are easy to get to by train. Buses go all over so you can get to the more remote (more picturesque) places like BeddGelert, Llanberis, Capel Curig, ayyb.
Are you landing at Heathrow? If you want North Wales, it might be easier to land in Liverpool if flights from US go there. You need advice from those better placed to give it re-travel, but Pen Llyn is gorgeous and Caernarfon is a lovely little city. All @gruntius’s suggestions are excellent.
If you go south there is St. Fagans and I suppose Cardiff might be worth a look, depends what you want!! Swansea (Abertawe) is much prettier - Dylan Thomas’s ‘ugly lovely town’ is much more on the lovely side now the pollution from the copper works has gone!
Wherever you go - have a great time!
One thing to bear in mind - Wales looks pretty small on a map but travel by train or bus from one end to the other takes quite a while - our road and rail networks aren’t exactly ‘21st century’! - so do allow for that in your itinerary.
I’m landing in Heathrow because my sister and I will be in London before going to Wales (we’re seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ). Diolch for the suggestions!! I really appreciate them!
Yes, that is the sense I’m getting, haha! Do you think it’s feasible to have two different bases, or should I really just pick one area if we’re only there for five days? I just want to see as much as possible!
Also, I should say that SSIW and the forum are FANTASTIC! I learned French and German growing up and I wish I could have learned them using this method, which is so much more intuitive. I really can’t believe how much I can say after the first level–thank you!! <3
Anabel, wherever you go, you’ll love it - Wales is a BEAUTIFUL country!! Make sure to get up a ‘hill’ or two, if you are in Snowdonia. Or the Brecons. Or the Black Mountains… So many to choose from!
She can always go up on the train!
One cold October half-term I dragged my then 11yo son up Snowdon - we saw a guy in an army back pack go up three times to our one (he was running!), and we felt pretty bad until we got to the top to see loads of people in flip flops (yes even in october) eating pasties, having gone up on the train! We did feel a bit better about our slow slog after that!
Yes, I agree with robbruce. When I fly in from Canada (usually through the States), I always go to Manchester. It always seems much more expensive to fly into Liverpool from here for some reason.
It’s feasible but it depends what’s on your ‘must see/do’ list! For instance, Caernarfon to Pembroke on train/bus is going to take you about 8 hours, the best part of a whole day, so although you’ll see plenty of Wales through the window it’ll cut down on your time to explore either end. And of course bus travel just in a relatively small area here also takes time (about 1.5 hours to go 30 miles e.g. between Caernarfon and Blaenau Ffestiniog), and it would be such a shame for you to go home feeling you seemed to have spent the whole week on a bus!
You’ll just have to come back again to see more!
5 days will get eaten up pretty quickly by travelling around, so I think you’d be best off choosing one place and being able to go into a little more detail. If you had a car, I’d recommend Eryri (Snowdonia) and then maybe a quick fling down to Cardiff - but north/south without a car would take up most of a day…
Just to let you know, I chat every week to a lady from Chicago who wants to practice her Welsh. I realise that Chicago is a big place but how wonderful it would be if you were in the same area. She’s coming over to the bootcamp in September. It’s the Ffrindiaith thing.
Thanks for the help! This confirms that it will be best to just stick with exploring the Eryri area. Lots to see there already, and I’ll just have to make sure I can come back again in the future!
Despite being brought up in the south I would say get a train from Euston to north wales. It’s the Holyhead train. Get off at Bangor and base yourself possibly in Caernarfon or in Bangor. If you book early enough you might get change from an arm and a leg too.
The llyn peninsula is accessible as is snowdonia and Anglesey.
You will hear the Welsh that you are learning spoken. Very quickly! Also there are plenty of learners groups that meet and I’m sure if you get in touch with these they would be delighted if you joined them one morning or evening.
If you private message me your email I can send you a list of meetings that take place in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon.
