GRAND TOUR - WALES (June 2016)

Road trip through wales - june 2016

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DAY 1 - WIMBLEDON TO PORT TALBOT

Left London mid-afternoon. Welcomed by beautiful grey skies and Welsh drizzle. Overnight in glamorous Port Talbot...

DAY 2 - A4069 Brecon > ABERGWESYN PASS > LLANIDLOES B4518 > DOLGELLAU

First stop: A4069 “Top Gear” road in the Brecon Beacons (Neath > Upper Brynamman > LLangadog - www.total911.com/a4069-black-mountains-wales/). Great road, amazing scenery… but has been victim of its own success with 40 mph speed limit and “extra attention”. For next time, I think I will choose one of the "parallel" roads e.g. A4067 or A4059?

A4069 “Top Gear” road in the Brecon Beacons - Great driving road, nice views... but 40 mph!

A4069 “Top Gear” road in the Brecon Beacons - Great driving road, nice views... but 40 mph!

Picked up the Caterhams from Caterham Hire Wales – Brilliant cars and service! www.caterhamhirewales.com/

Abergwesyn Pass + Devil’s Staircase to Tregaron: a first proper test of the Caterhams. It is a single track, very scenic, but not exactly a "driving road". I think it was best described by Total 911: “Forgetting about speed – or perhaps the lack of it at times – for a driving road through an interesting landscape, the Abergwesyn Pass is one of the best in the UK in my view, second only to Scotland.” (Total911)." First encounter with the Welsh weather at Llyn Brianne, with an epic shower… Realised that Caterham’s weather protection is as rudimentary as putting a plastic bag on your head when faced with a hurricane.

Abergwesyn pass

Abergwesyn pass

Abergwesyn pass

Abergwesyn pass

Abergwesyn pass

Abergwesyn pass

Tregaron – Excellent Lunch @ Y Talbot (outside, in the sunshine) - ytalbot.com.

Continue North of Tregaron to Pontarfynach via B4343, then A44 and A470 to LLanidloes. Then Llanidloes > Llyn Clywedog > Staylittle > B4518 to Machynlleth (great views). Difficult to write much on these stretches of roads as we drove them in pouring rain… so were concentrating on trying to keep the cars on the road. Realised that the Caterhams need windscreen wipers INSIDE the car as well…

Dolgellau – Overnight @ Pandy Isaf Country House B&B – strongly recommended. www.pandyisaf-accommodation.co.uk/

DAY 3 - Lake vyrnwy > A212/B4391 (best!) > EVO Triangle > zip World > llanberis

Dry, dry, dry!!
Day 3 starts with Lake Vyrnwy and the Hinant pass (Tal-y-LLyn to Dinas-Mawddwy via A487 and A470 / Dinas-Mawddwy to Lake Vyrnwy >> Rhiwargor >> Hinant pass >> Bala) = mostly single track and quite similar to the Abergwesyn pass with almost zero traffic.

Next up is the best road we drove all week-end: Fron-Goch to Ffestiniog via A4212 and B4391. We did the B4391 three times; it was by far the best road driven all week-end... a perfect mix of fast and technical corners, good sightlines and almost no traffic.

B4391 - Best road driven all week-end... and considered by many as the best in Wales. Perfect mix of technical and fast-flowing corners, good sight-lines... and almost no traffic. I would even put it ahead of the Col de Turini...

B4391 - Best road driven all week-end... and considered by many as the best in Wales. Perfect mix of technical and fast-flowing corners, good sight-lines... and almost no traffic. I would even put it ahead of the Col de Turini...

Next up was the EVO TRIANGLE. Cerrigydrudion via B4501 >> Evo Triangle B4501 / A543 = the EVO Triangle was initially “the objective” of the whole trip… but ended up a slight disappointment. Maybe because we drove it after the superb B4391, but mainly because I felt it was "too fast". It is indeed very fast and flowing, and it would therefore probably have been more enjoyable at the wheel of a 911 than in a Caterham. The issue was you quickly - and easily - got to frighteningly high speeds…

Good lunch @ Betws y Coed - www.tygwynhotel.co.uk

Break from driving @ Zip World Titan – Highly recommended - www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/detail/titan

Zip World Titan @ Bethesda

Zip World Titan @ Bethesda

After Zip World we started making our way back South towards Llanberis pass via the A4086 = very pleasant and great scenery, but not a “driving” road as there was far too much traffic.

Llanberis pass

Llanberis pass

Llanberis pass

Llanberis pass

Quick stop at Beddgelert (supposedly the "most beautiful village in the UK" - I dont know about that, but the ice-creams are absolutely sublime!) via A498 then back onto the B4391 for one last “lap”.

On our way towards the B4391 from Bedgelert

On our way towards the B4391 from Bedgelert

Harlech Castle – Excellent dinner @ Castle Cottage - www.castlecottageharlech.co.uk/restaurant.htm

DAY 4 - Elan valley > brecon

Rain is on its way so we decide to head South fast to drive the Elan Valley before it gets wet: the A4120 to Devil Bridge Falls and B4574 to Rhayader was voted "Best Driving Road in Wales" by The Independent, and yes it was a great driving road, but was missing the “flow” of the B4391. Met up with other petrolheads in an AMG and Donkervoort at the Elan Valley visitor centre.

Elan Valley

Elan Valley

Elan Valley - "Top Gear" dam

Elan Valley - "Top Gear" dam

Finished off the trip with the B4358 Newbridge-on-Wye to Beulah which is a rollercoaster of a drive! Then, B4519 and B4520 to Brecon = very good roads over moors-like scenery.... The sheeps still remember the sound of the Caterham... some of them also remember seeing closer than they would have wanted...

Below the maps of the routes.

Day 1

Day 1

Day 2

Day 2

Day 3

Day 3

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