Castles, Lighthouses and More on Our Last Day and a Half in Coastal North Wales...

In today's episode we tour a castle, visit a couple of lighthouses, stop by a famous railway station, go for another swim and have a proper tacky seaside experience. What a great way to round off our first ever visit to Wales. We'll be back!

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This video is not sponsored and all opinions are our own

I don’t pretend to be a travel expert, but I love what I do and would be honoured if you came along with me. My channel focusses on the wide-eyed wonder and excitement of finding somewhere new, and my genuine reaction to it. You might not get a history lesson in my videos, but who knows, you might pick up some useful travel tips along the way, add a few destinations to your bucket list and hopefully be entertained by what you see. Thanks for watching, it means a lot to me :)

I do ALL of this myself. Planning, filming, editing, promoting, all with a weekly upload schedule, so please understand not every video will be an epic adventure. But my pledge is to always do my best in any situation.

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FAQs:
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I was born in Glasgow but have lived in Carnoustie, Dalgety Bay, Stonehaven, Edinburgh, Montrose, and further afield (Salamanca, Spain & Devonport, New Zealand)
WHEN DO YOU UPLOAD?
Saturdays at 10am Scottish time. Occasionally a bonus midweek video will pop up.
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE?
WHY DON'T YOU SPEND LONGER AT DESTINATIONS?
The usual suspects I'm afraid - time and money! Hotels especially these days make my eyes water like a true Scotsman.
WHERE'S ALICJA?
Alicja will feature as often as possible, but I'm afraid she has a proper job so it can take weeks for our schedules to match up.
DO YOU PAY FOR YOUR OWN TRAVEL?
Yes I do. I've only ever accepted a complementary ticket as compensation for a previous problem. All my opinions are frank and honest reflections of travel as I experience it.
WHY THE ADS?
It's my income, I can't do this for free.
CAN I CONTACT YOU?
I used to list my email address but felt bad not having the capacity to respond to everything so took it down (and I got a LOT of spam so missed many genuine messages along the way).
HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE CHANNEL?
Watching my videos is of course support enough, but if you'd like to support further, I'll pop links below for Paypal and Patreon. All kind donations are super-appreciated and will go 100% towards future filming trips.
DO YOU ACCEPT SPONSORSHIPS?
I don't like to upset the flow of my videos, so I don't even include mid-roll ads anymore (at significant loss of income to myself), so I prefer not to include sponsorships either. I'm open to a small slide at the start/end of each video, but I don't want to get into talking about products, it's something I don't like as a viewer myself (especially as a viewer who pays for YouTube Premium). So it's probably a polite no, although all of this goes out the window if you offer me something which can give me the chance to make a video for my audience that would otherwise be impossible.

#SteveMarsh #Wales #SteveAndAlicja

[Williamfattyfoulke]

You missed a treat spectacular village built by an architect using a mix of new and old reconstructed old buildings in an italianet style with walks and a pottery factory in a superb setting

[philnasmith]

Loved the videos on your Wales trip. It is an astonishingly beautiful country. Thanks for sharing.

[bruceogilvie]

You melted another East Coast Scotsman's heart with your reinforcing of stereotypes in relation to admission costs 😂 Loved your exploration of Wales.

[orys]

I like Alicja's optimism, no matter which way the staircase is turning, she's always find her position to her advantage in case she needed to defend the castle with the sword :-)

[thecolneranger]

Cant believe you're dissing Portmeirion! It's a beautiful place. 18 quid is about average for a tourist attraction isn't it? Well worth the money.

[FrankC]

Six days in a paradise. Could not have picked a more beautiful and relaxing place.

[debbiehill]

Such a good video . And you're such a lovely couple x

[andybaker]

I remember watching The Prisoner as a kid, and not having a clue what was going on! But what actually persuaded me to fork out the Portmeirion entrance fee when I was up that way in 2017 was memories of an episode of Treasure Hunt with Anneka Rice back in the 80s! I remember she visited in her chopper on a beautifully sunny day, and I told myself that one day I would pay it a visit. To be honest, I wasn't disappointed, and got some great photos. It's not only the village that's photogenic, but the surrounding area too. I'm sorry Steve, but you'll just have to go back! 😁

[michaeljohndennis]

Living in Manchester 21 years and having family in Ireland near Dublin, I’ve got the overnight coach and SailRail via the Port of Holyhead and I love this North Wales Route, even at night, where it really does take on a truly magical feel and is timelessly romantic - one literally feels the sense of history when passing through North Wales, of which the (lovely) Welsh people are the custodians, which surely is a wonderful privilege for them, even if they don’t fully realise it - once out of Chester, I begin to totally relax and I feel far safer in such a beautiful part of Wales, especially late at night - it’s quiet, comforting and calming, even in daytime and when I spoke to a Welsh lady in the local (very busy) ASDA in Holyhead, she was amazed by my reaction, but it is something in Wales that is rather special and most precious - another gem is when you pass through the town of Bangor by overnight coach, the town even late at night just feels totally magical on the rural Welsh roads - Cymru Am Bith 🇮🇪☘️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

[karenhoskins]

Must agree - lived south and mid wales since the 80.s - its a very beautiful mystical place ...i feel extremely privileged to live here .

[danal.]

Wonderful video! I walked on the streets you did a few years ago. Portmeirion is a wonderful place - we got entrance for the half (9Pounds) because of a group of ten, but I would have payed more. It's a completely other world with a special atmosphere. Perhaps you get another chance! Thank you for the wonderful scenes and pictures! The bridge of Caernarfon Castle is able to be turned aside... We didn't know and had to walk a loooong way at dark night to find another possibility to get over the water. 😂

By the way: everyone of our group had to learn to spell Llanfair correctly to get to Wales with us. 😊 There is a song on Youtube, you can learn it easily.

[thebamfordman]

Highest castle density in Europe. Over 600. If you include the ones along the border, it's certainly the castle capital of the world.

[johnericneil]

I really enjoy your commentary. No unnecessary waffle. Excellent.

[namco]

Must be great to have Alicja to travelfreind.She is always so glad and full of humor.

[markjones]

Conwy and Llandudno are gorgeous and you were looking at the Great Orme when on the pier, the beach you were on is the busy side of town and called North Shore but on the other side of town is a spectacular beach called West Shore and the tide goes out a long way there too as it's also part of the Conwy estuary. If you want a long weekend in Llandudno I'd strongly recommend you go during the Victorian Extravaganza weekend which is amazing, the place is rammed but a lot of fun, some roads are closed off for the fairground rides and on the same weekend there's also the Llandudno Transport Festival with loads of vintage vehicles on display with loads of old lorries, trucks, buses and the like, it's an amazing weekend!

[yjjk]

Welsh signs: I was on a Welsh train out of Manchester, and there was a kid who was just at that age where reading is fun and needs to be done loudly enough for everyone to hear how well you're doing it. He did a pretty good job with the English part of some sign or other, then he hit the Welsh. He struggled valiantly for a bit, somehow got "chicken" out of it, then paused to think for a moment. "Mummy... Is that written in sign language?" Bless!

[RuthzacharyZachary]

We visited the North of Wales in 1976, from the States, and stayed several days in and around Canarvan. We did the castle, stayed on a farm for airbnb, went horseback riding (pony trekking) in the Snowdonia Mountains, where the British trained for their first climb of Mt. Everest. We were told that the Snowdonia Mts, though much lower, have similar terrain. We also went to Anglesea and climbed the lighthouse. It was hot and we spent time also at the beach, where the children laughed at our accents snd asked if we were Csnadians, but no, we were New Yorkers! Thank you for your adventures.

[terry-wcsw]

Hope you paid the guide(yes the cat) a treat for showing you the way in the castle, likes royal canin cat food

[SamandSteve]

Llandudno is a quintessential Victorian seaside town. We love it and go every year. It’s been a family favourite since I was little and a favourite of my brother who passed away two months ago. We were there last weekend.

[Peterraymond]

Hello both. I live in South Wales but over the years I’ve travelled most of the country. A couple of years ago I went on a coach excursion with my local coach company. I booked this because it took me to places I’d passed before and one that I’d never had the chance. We stayed in Caernarfon and our first trip was the one I was waiting for, it was the Welsh Highland Railway from the new Caernarfon station for a long trip via Beddgelert around the base of Snowdon to Porthmadog. This was an incredible ride. Then on to Portmeirion, the price for me was included! Great village to walk around. The next day we went to Bodnant Gardens and Llandudno. Your trip brought back recent memories. Did you notice the tubular bridge besides the suspension bridge in Conwy, it’s the railway bridge carrying the main line from Chester to the Holyhead Irish Ferry terminal. Perhaps a rail trip for you? To Ireland through Liverpool and return via Holyhead?