First North Western Trains
Region North Wales Mid Wales South Wales National Network Route Sections Gazetteer of Stations About Wales	LLANDUDNO to BLAENAU FFESTINIOG This is a section of the First North Western Trains page. For details of other places served by FNWT, select the one of the following: Chester to Holyhead Shrewsbury to Wrexham and Bidston Search WalesRails .......... Message Board	Preserved: Standard gauge Narrow gauge WalesRails: The Grand Tour Official Websites What's New Back to Welcome page

From Llandudno, Monday to Saturday services to Blaenau Ffestiniog run at 10.14am, 1.14pm, and 4.14pm There is a bus substitute service (which does not run on Bank Holidays) at 5.15pm. Additionally, there are services which start from Llandudno Junction at 5.35am (calling only at Llanrwst and Betws-y-Coed), 7.39am, 7.00pm
On Sundays, there are bus substitute services at 10.15am, 1,15 and 4.15pm.
From Blaenau Ffestiniog, Monday to Saturday services to Llandudno run at 8.54am, 11.54am, 2.54pm,  and 8.00pm. Additionally, there are services which terminate at Llandudno Junction at 6.30am and 5.54pm
On Sundays, there are bus substitute services at 12 noon, 3.00pm and 6.00pm.

Station names shown in italics are request stops only, except on bus substitution services.
Figures after station names are approximate journey times from Llandudno, with approximate journey times from Blaenau Ffestiniog in brackets.

Llandudno (71 mins)
A classic Victorian seaside resort which still retains more than a hint of the past. In the cast-iron canopied shopping streets some of the shops fronts have glazed tiles illustrating the commodity sold therein. Bracketed by the Great Orme and Little Orme headlands, the broad bay has a pier at the western end, above which rises Great Orme. Marine Drive skirts the Great Orme cut sheer in the rock giving some splendid views of the cave-pocked shoreline. From town, the Great Orme Tramway (left) is a funicular railway which ascends to the summit, where may be found some of the most spectacular views of the North Wales coastline, and the small church of St Tudno, from whom the town takes its name. Back in town, St Paul's was once known as Jack the Ripper's Church: it was built in memory of Queen Victoria's son, the Duke of Clarence, once a strong suspect as the perpetrator of the notorious Whitechapel Murders in the late-19th century east end of London.
On a lighter note, the Alice Museum commemorates Alice in Wonderland, for it was here that author Lewis Carroll used to holiday with the Liddels, whose daughter was immortalised as the eponymous heroine of two of his best-loved works.
Degannwy 4 mins (67 mins)
Claimed to be one of the sunniest places in Britain, Degannwy is a largely residential resort on the east bank of the River Conwy. It has traces of a 13th century fortress razed to the ground by Llewelyn the Great in 1263.
Llandudno Junction 9 mins (59 mins)
Principally the interchange station with  services along the North Wales coast between Chester and Holyhead, but there is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve south of the station and Marl Hall nature reserve a little more distant to the north.
Glan Conwy 12 mins (50 mins)
This picturesque village on the river estuary has become one of the area's prime sailing centres. Felin Isaf, a restored water mill which dates back to the 17th century is about a mile south of the station.
Tal-y-cafn 17 mins (44 mins)
A mile northeast of the station are the famed Bodnant Gardens, which were laid out in 1847, and the home of many rare species of plants. The bridge over the river is the only one between Conway and Llanrwst.
Dolgarrog 22 mins (39 mins)
The station is some distance from the village of Dolgarrog, which has a Territorial Army training centre, and an aluminium works which takes advantage of the hydro-electric power generated by the falls on the Conway River. Plas Menan is owned by the National Trust, and offers splendid views over Tan-yr-allt Forest and the Conwy Valley.
North Llanrwst 29 mins (25mins)  A mile-and-a-half walk along the Gower Road is the town of Trefriw, with its woollen mill.
Llanrwst 31 mins (33 mins)
A market town and the main shopping centre for the area, it is dominated by the church of St Gwrst, the Welsh form of St Restitutus. It contains, in a stone coffin, the effigy of Llywellyn, a 13th century prince who signed the Magna Carta. The Gwydir Chapel was built in 1633 and is attributed to Inigo Jones, the renowned architect of the Age of Reason. Over the bridge across the river (left) are the restored remains of Gwydir Castle, destroyed by fire earlier this century; Trefrew Woollen Mill; and the Grey Mare's Tail Forestry Centre. There is also a leisure centre in the town.
Betws-y-coed 37 mins (27 mins)
Famed for its waterfalls and hemmed in by the Gwydir Forest, Betws-y-coed is one of the best-known beauty spots in Snowdonia. Among the attractions are Swallow Falls, Fairy Glen and the whirlpool of Pwll Du. Waterloo Bridge is of cast iron construction and was designed by Telford to commemorate the famous battle. In the station yard is housed the Conway Valley Railway Museum.
Pont-y-pant 46 mins (18 mins)
A short distance upstream, on the opposite bank of the river from the station is a youth hostel, but the bridge across the Lledr is 400 yards downstream. The area bears extensive evidence of quarrying among the wooded hills, owned by the National Trust. From the station, a steep 2-mile climb over Foel Felin leads onto the forest and on to the pony trekking centre at Ty Coch.
Dolwyddelan 49 mins (15 mins)
The ruin of thirteenth century Dolwyddelan Castle is claimed to be the birthplace of Llywelyn the Great, and tops a ridge to the west of the village commanding splendid views of Moel Siabod. In the restored tower is a museum which deals with Dolwyddelan Castle and the other Welsh fortifications.
The church dates back to the fifteenth century. It contains one of the few brasses in Welsh Churches, some fragments of glass from the sixteenth century, and woodwork from the eighteenth. It has one of the few surviving examples of moss stone roofing, in which, as its name implies, the roof was made waterproof by laying stones on a bed of moss.
Roman Bridge 53 mins (11 mins)
While of some antiquity, the bridge is not Roman, but there is little doubting its romantic setting. Dolwyddelan Castle is a mile north-east of the station, on the opposite side of the river.
Blaenau Ffestiniog 71 mins
Backed by a quarry-pocked mountain basin in the Vale of Ffestiniog, the town was once the slate capital of North Wales. There is ample evidence of this all around, where everything practical has been made from the commodity: roofs, walls, fences.
Blaenau Ffestiniog (pictured) is also the terminus of the Ffestiniog narrow-gauge railway, which offers a 13 mile trip through Snowdonia, linking with the national network's Cambrian Coast Line at Minffordd.

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PRESERVED RAILWAYS served by North West Trains

NWT trains serve the following preserved railways in this survey:
Ffestiniog Railway
The terminus of the Ffestiniog Railway is adjacent to the NWT station at Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Llanberis Lake Railway
The nearest station on the national railway network is at Bangor, from where Llanberis may be reached by buses via Caernarfon, or a less-frequent direct service from Bangor. In the summer months there is also a direct service from Llandudno, also on the national railway network.
Snowdon Mountain Railway
The nearest station on the national railway network is at Bangor, from where the Llanberis terminus may be reached by buses via Caernarfon, or a less-frequent direct service from Bangor. In the summer months there is also a direct service from Llandudno, also on the national railway network.

For details of connecting bus services, including travel planner and timetables, visit the Traveline Cymru website.

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Copyright © 1997/8/9/2000/1/2/3/4/5/6 by Deryck Lewis. All rights reserved.
Page created December 5 1997; Redesigned March 29 1999; Updated April 20 2006
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