Thank you for the encouraging words and suggestions!
I spent a day in Llanrwst and had a great time trying my Welsh. You should hear a lot of it spoken there.
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Thanks!
I probably wonât be able to get to Llanrwst during my upcoming trip (itâs just one full day), but I hope to come back to Wales for a longer period next time.
What sort of things are there to do in Llanrwst, or places to go? Is there anything you can remember that you recommend?
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Llanrwst (one of my âhome townsâ) is BRILLIANT and definitely a great place to go to speak Welsh. Itâs a market town - so, if you can make your trip on a Tuesday, the whole square will be full of local people and vendors who would all be good candidates to speak Welsh with.
My favourite place is actually just over the Inigo Jones hump-backed bridge (which I used to play on as a child - no bubble-wrapped generation at that point) - Tu Hwnt iâr Bont tea house - Tu Hwnt iâr Bont Tea House home page This place is so pretty from the outside, that Microsoft has actually used a picture of it for one of their stock wallpapers (I think it was for Windows 8 or Windows 10 - canât remember). Wait until you get inside, though! Youâll have to ask the people there, but I believe it was the beams in the ceiling that are made of driftwood from the Spanish Armada. (It may have been the fireplace, but I think it was the ceiling beams - friends of my parents used to run the tea house in the 1970s, and they told me about it at the time.) The tea and scones are FABULOUS as well. There will be Welsh speaking staff there. This is another reason to go on a week day, rather than a week end, as it can get insanely busy on the weekends; and the busier it is, the less likely youâll get a chance to speak with anyone to practice your Welsh.
If you carry on just past Tu Hwnt iâr Bont, thereâs Gwydir Castle, which is apparently a bed and breakfast now: http://www.gwydircastle.co.uk/about-gwydir.htm Itâs a small, but fabulous, Tudor castle with peacocks in the gardens. (LOL! You have to keep in mind that I was 11 when I left Llanrwst; so, youâre seeing a lot of the attractions from my younger eyes.) Now, this one is NOT open on Mondays or Tuesdays (wouldnât you know it), but it is open the other days of the week if you donât make market day.
Thereâs quite a good local bakery on Denbigh street (right across from where my old house used to stand - gone now) where I know theyâll speak Welsh and sell you scrumptious things that will undoubtedly make you so fat you wonât be able to leave. 
However, you can walk it off just wandering around the town and meeting plenty of people on the street to practice your Welsh with.
If you do go, let me know what you thought. Iâd love to hear.
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Philip: I appreciate that you probably wonât make it to Llanrwst on your only day. But for the future, and perhaps for the benefit of other Forum readers, hereâs my pennyworth.
Llanrwst is a lovely, quiet place to just walk around. The whole area is beautiful. I was lucky engaging in Welsh in one of the cafeterias there, and there are a few. There is also a public library where at least some of the staff speak Welsh, and where you may find, in the reading room, local newspapers in Welsh only (i.e. not bilingual). There is a Welsh gift shop called Bys a Bawd where I heard more Welsh than English, and where I bought some Welsh birthday cards for my loved ones (much to their surprise later). Thereâs also a Welsh language resource centre, Menter Iaith, on one of the squares. I walked in there and caused a few smiles by asking politely if anyone spoke Welsh. âWe all do!â
I summarised my experience briefly in another Forum topic that youâll find in the Welsh/General/Questions if you scroll down to August 2016, entitled âI came, I spoke, I was understood!â Just remember that not everyone you see who speaks Welsh may wish to drop everything and start speaking to you: show the respect that you would want yourself.
Best of luck, wherever you go!
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Lovely; thank you!
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