I have just returned from a very swift tour of Wales from Sunday morning through to Wednesday night.

I was very lucky with the weather and had a lovely time searching for interesting roads and exploring some castles. Day 1 I drove to my friend's house near Crickhowell (via the A40), went for a long walk and, after conquering an iron age fort, had a few beers. Day 2 I ended up in Aberystwyth via the west end of the Brecon Beacons and then back over the Black Mountains. Day 3 I headed inland before going North West towards the coast at Barmouth. I then made my way to Llandudno via Snowdonia. On Day 4 I drove down the east side of Wales before rejoining the A40 at Monmouth and heading back to London - stopping in Cheltenham for a spot of dinner.

793.5 miles

38.4 average mpg

38 average mph

Rather than bore you with the intimate details I shall simply say that I particularly enjoyed the following roads:

B4520/B4519 - from Brecon to Garth - the road runs through Sennybridge Training Area, a military firing range with a reassuring sign: "Do not touch any military debris it may explode and kill you".

Abergwesyn Pass - from Beulah to Tregaron.

A4120 - from Ponterwyd to Aberystwyth.

B4518 and road to Machynlleth "via narrow mountain road" - from Llanidloes to Machynlleth via Dylife.

A4086 Pass of Llanberis - from Capel Curig to Llanberis.

Gospel Pass - from Hay-on-Wye to Llanfihangel Crucorney via Llanthony.

If you like exploring medieval castles, the following are all worth a visit - Carreg Cennen, Harlech, Conwy, Montgomery, White Castle.

Eve is in need of a bit of a clean now.

Glad you enjoyed this beautiful Country :)

I used to live in Beulah and used to cycle around that area a lot!

I used to live in Beulah and used to cycle around that area a lot!

That must have been hard work - my ears weren't all that happy with the constant changes in altitude as I was making my way around, I don't think my legs would have coped any better!

Lived in Beulah from when I was 5 years old till 16, used to go mountain biking a lot and went to primary school in Garth. Did you drive up a really steep switchback road in between Abergwesyn and Tregaron? I used to cycle up that haha

Lived in Beulah from when I was 5 years old till 16, used to go mountain biking a lot and went to primary school in Garth. Did you drive up a really steep switchback road in between Abergwesyn and Tregaron? I used to cycle up that haha

Yes that's the Abergwesyn Pass - some of the gradients there are crazy! It was great fun.

Think the locals give that stretch of road the name "The Devils Staircase"

Glad you enjoyed the trip, did you visist the Evo triangle?? That's somewhere I really want to go

Glad you enjoyed the trip, did you visist the Evo triangle??

Thanks. Where's that? I haven't heard of it.

It's north Wales just off the A5 and a good drive just watch for rozzers

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Shame I didn't know about it or I would have done a circuit. One for next time...

I did this route a couple of years ago

B4391 Bala to Ffestiniog

B4407 to Pentrefoelas

A543 B4501 evo triangle

B5105 to Ruthin

Only problem I have is it takes 1 1/2 to get there

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I managed to get away for another week in Wales, this time with Bastian, my Fiesta ST.

I found some more great roads and revisited some stretches from my previous trip.

1175.7 Miles (including to/from London)
37.4 mpg (taking it very easy on the motorways to and from London helped compensate a lot here!)
37.8 average mph
31hrs driving over five days

Highlights

A4059 in the middle of the Brecon Beacons
A4069 Llandovery to Brynamman over Black Mountain (west of Brecon Beacons)
A4120 / B4574 / Minor road via Cwmystwyth Aberystwyth to Rhayader (disused mine at Cwmystwyth was an interesting stop with a beautiful backdrop)
B4518 / road to Machynlleth "via narrow mountain road" Llanidloes to Machynlleth via Dylife
A4086 (Llanberis Pass) Snowdonia
Evo Triangle (A5 / A543 / B4501) east of Betws-y-Coed
B4521 Abergavenny to Ross-on-Wye (this will be my chosen route in/out of Wales from now on).

The weather wasn't quite so good this time and I spent quite a lot of the time in the first couple of days driving inside a cloud! My first stop was at Raglan Castle (not great) and then I did a bit of driving around the Brecon Beacons before heading to Swansea for the night. I then went down the Gower peninsula, but given the terrible weather, the allegedly wonderful beach at Rhossili lacked appeal! I then headed to Tenby (I'd imagine it's lovely in the summer), Pembroke Castle and then onto St David's before heading up the coast to spend the night in Aberystwyth. I then headed inland with a fantastic drive to Rhayader before making my way back to the coast and went for a lovely long walk on the huge beach at Morfa Dyffryn. I then headed into Snowdonia National Park and stopped in Llanberis and visited the National Slate Museum (mildly diverting). I continued north after that and spent the night in Llandudno. I started the next day with a trip up and around Great Orme which had great views over Anglesey and Snowdonia. I then went over to Anglesey and visited Beaumaris Castle (very good) before heading to Holy Island and visiting the RSPB centre near South Stack lighthouse. I then came back to the mainland and visited Caernarfon Castle (also very good). I then went south down the other side of Snowdon and then turned east and headed for the Evo Triangle which was so much fun I did a lap in each direction! I then headed back to Llanberis for the night. For my last day I took a bit of a random route south dictated mostly by what looked interesting on the map. I spent 20 nervous minutes going down the tiniest road I've ever driven on (near Llangadfan) desperately hoping I wouldn't meet anything coming the other way as it would probably mean that I'd have to reverse a few miles as there were no passing places at all! I continued south to Brecon then joined the A40 heading east before hitting the B4521 at Abergavenny and heading back into England.

Route

Raglan Castle

Swansea

Tenby

Pembroke Castle

St David's

Loving the view

Cwmystwyth

Dylife

Morfa Dyffryn

Llandudno

Beaumaris Castle

South Stack lighthouse

Caernarfon Castle

B4391 near the Evo Triangle

I know South Stack very well as the Mrs is from Holyhead - good little spot for sun setting photography etc! Hope you had a great time up this end!

Nice pictures!

Abergwesyn Pass is a great road, driven it a few times when on green laning trips!

Let me know when your next in Wales, would love to meet up with a fellow ford club member and go for a spin!