Today we welcome Gemma to the blog. She blogs at Yorkshire Mum of 4. Recently, she made the trip from West Yorkshire to North Wales with her family where they spent five days exploring what the region has to offer.

Here’s more from Gemma…..

Rhyl and Prestatyn

We stayed in a caravan in Prestatyn that was reasonable in price on a Park Resorts camp and then did some research before we went so we knew how we would spend each day.

So we set off around 11am Monday morning to travel to North Wales, from Yorkshire it is about 3 hours journey and we have Monday to Friday booked in a caravan costing around £250 which I think is reasonable for 6 of us. We had planned an itinerary for the week because I am sad, I love Trip Advisor and I like to have plans to keep us all busy rather than the kids moaning about being bored or just sat in the caravan watching television.

So we arrived, emptied our cases had a nice drink and then went for a walk. Luckily we were on the stretch of a beach that if we walked along took us to Rhyl. The beach was small but nice enough for us and had more rocks than sand so luckily we had taken a kite and a ball.

On Tuesday we set off early with the pushchair along the front on our walk to Rhyl, it was very picturesque, we passed a couple of theme parks with a variety of rides on our way and after a couple hours walking we arrived in the seaside town of Rhyl. It is just like many other seaside towns in that it has a beach, lots of shops and a small frontage with a few rides for the younger kids. Our kids all being under 10 loved the rides so that was good, we went for a walk around the town and then headed back to our van.

Llandudno and Conwy

The second day we took a short drive to Llandudno, another seaside town. We parked early in the morning as there are loads of spaces at the front and then had a nice walk down the pier to the arcades. Our son loves the arcade and can spend £1 worth of 2p’s in around 7 minutes, probably less! Then we booked tickets for the open top bus. Unfortunately, it was chucking it down with rain but we still sat on the top deck. It does a great tour all around the places with many different drop-off points but we decided to get off in Conwy.

Conwy is the home to the smallest shop in the UK and also the fabulous Conwy Castle, which is well worth a visit – the views are exquisite. The kids loved climbing up the towers and the entrance price isn’t that expensive. You can also walk on the castle walls. The sleepy town also has crab fishing and a massive lake. The food is pretty expensive as it is like a retirement town but it is very family-friendly. Then we hopped back onto the bus and got back to Llandudno just in time to see the Punch and Judy puppet show on the front. The kids loved the show, they are free but donations welcome and they gather such a crowd.

Bodelwyddan Castle

The third day we headed to a stately home called Bodelwyddan Castle, the house of which was a hospital in WW1 and the grounds used for training in trench warfare. It isn’t like a proper castle so no running up and down the swirling steps however they do have a large playroom that is very good for the kids’ enjoyment; they have dress up Victorian clothes, old toys from years gone back, a magic trick illusion and some play toys from now.

We spent a good couple of hours in the house. If the weather is nice there is a large park to walk around, a lovely outdoor play area with the best zip slide we have ever found and we spent another couple of hours in the gardens, we even had our picnic there. Entry is about £20 – £25 for a family but it is well worth the full day if you take a picnic.

Caernarfon & the castle

Day 4 of our journey to North Wales and another castle, this time Caernarfon Castle. This beautiful little town had a magic show in the centre when we got there so we stayed to enjoy that and then went on a tour of the Castle. It was another Heritage property and around £30 to get in but again the views and possibilities to explore the castle were great. We had a good few hours here then called at the pub down the road for some food.

There are so many other things to do in North Wales and so many places we want to visit when we go back such as the Great Orme Tramway that takes you up the hills in Llandudno, Anglesey just for its natural beauty and possibly to catch a ferry over to Dublin, or even to travel a little further down to Snowdonia.

On our last day on the way home we called at Southport and hired a boat to drive on the lake, there was an arcade so we spent an hour in their and then on the promenade next to the lake they have a large play area for the kids and also a bandstand with regular entertainment so it was lovely to spend our last day somewhere different.

Thanks to Gemma for this insight into how they spent their family time in North Wales

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