Planning Summer riding break of 7-10 days and thinking of a "Tour de Wales" 😀
Would be travelling light, mixture of B'n'B-ing, bivvying and hostelling.
Relying on trains to get to/from, starting out from London area....
...any ideas or links welcome
EDIT - 'natural' point-to-point trails preferred
You are most welcome to start in Cardiff and I can show you some local trails. I can show you how to get from here to Afan or Cwmcarn off-road and continue up into Mid Wales..
North-South Wales (or in reverse) is a project that is frequently considered so there are quite a few routes and resources afaik.
Get some Bothies in!
molgrips - Member
You are most welcome to start in Cardiff
Sounds good, I think Cardiff's probably the easiest to "train" to from London as well 😀
scratch - Member
Get some Bothies in!
would love to, how do you find out about them ??
I didn't know there were any bothies as such.. lots of YHA though. However, if you're prepared to bring lightweight camping stuff it'd be a shame not to camp out 🙂
You could probably plan a tour linking together trail centres if you were so inclined.
Check the Mountain Bothy Association Website,
has everything you need to know.
Check the Mountain Bothy Association Website,
has everything you need to know.
😀
Give us a shout if you need any route advice, there's a fairly straight forward route that'll take you through the spine of Wales linking up 3 or 4 bothies. I've done the end to end a few times and used them for a nights kip.
Just re-read the OP, a relaxed end to end, Cardiff to Colwyn or something, maybe drifting out west to enjoy the coast for a few nights...be ace that, both times I've done it has been over 3 days,
kind of pushing it time wise and not a great deal of time to relax and take in the views.
I'd recommend avoiding Mountain Ash and Aberdare on a Friday night, though there's good riding to be had in the hills.
The Mach 3 semi-official trail would get you from Nant yr Arian or Hafron area to Mach town, which could be useful.
Dolgellau to Coed Y Brenin via Pont Scethin route.
If you didnt want to start in Cardiff you could always ride up the Wye Valley from Chestow to Monmouth area (just about Wales, mostly).
Methyr to Brecon via a modified Gap route.
Or doesnt Sarn Helen take you most of the way?!
Thanks for all the suggestions - I'm slowly getting my ideas together, end2end with coastal diversions sounds about right 🙂
Get an all wales travel pass allows train abnd bus travel all over wales
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/ExploreWales/ExploreWalesPass/
Just looked up the Sarn Helen, seems ideal 😀
http://www.mbruk.co.uk/mbruk_SarnHelenTrail_details.htm
Happiness! is Wales in your rear view mirror.
www.davebuchanan.co.uk
Have a look at the route he did, does a lot of Wales in one trip - drop him a line, he'll be glad to hear from someone about his route.
I believe a couple of chaps from here did the route in 7 days too recently.