Painting Inspiration in North Wales
Seascape and landscape painting inspiration is in abundance in North Wales. We choose to spend the half term week in Porthmadog nestled between the Snowdonia National Park and the glorious coastline of the LLyn Peninsula.
Secret Garden Cottages was our base in Tremadog.
A charming slate built cottage overlooking a luscious green walled garden with the Welsh coastline in the distance. A peaceful and relaxing setting to unwind and relax.
Behind our cottage we climbed up to a viewpoint looking out over the coastal landscape of Porthmadog. A vast coastal estuary filled with bird life nestled between the mountainous valleys. It was a steep 25 minute climb to the top but the view was with it.
North Wales Beach Huts
Abersoch was our destination for our day at the beach. This charming village with two lovely beaches walled with rows of colourful beach huts made a perfect family day out. The waters were warm, clear and safe for our children to swim.
Criccieth Beach & Castle - Seascape Painting Inspiration
This coastal town with medieval castle perches above two splendid pebbled beaches. Exploring rock pools and making pebble art sculptures kept the children busy for hours. Views of mountainous landscapes in the distance makes Wales a special place to capture in a painting.
Portmeirion - Colourful Village in Wales
We couldn't visit North Wales without a day trip to the colourful village of Portmeirion. The architectural village was designed in 1925 by Clough Williams-Ellis with clusters of colourful properties cascading down the cliffside amongst the trees and overlooking the sandy estuary. It certainly was a splendour of colour on the eyes. I couldn't resist doing a painting of the scene!
Mountain landscape painting inspiration - Watkin Path Waterfall and Plunge Pool
On my bucket list was to swim in a plunge pool and visiting Snowdonia National Park seemed the perfect opportunity. We walked up the bottom section of the Watkin path which takes you up to the top of Snowdon. The mountain scenery was amazing and the path was lined with swathes of bluebells adding a splash of colour to the landscape.
We broke off the path to visit the plunge pools. It was about 8.30pm in the evening after a very hot bank holiday Monday. Our luck was in and we got the place to ourselves for a while. It was a truly exhilarating experience swimming in the plunge pools surrounded by such a dramatic landscape. One I will never forget.
Ffestiniog Welsh Highland Railway
Celebrating the heritage of the world’s oldest narrow gauge railway with almost 200 years of history took a 13½-mile journey from the harbour in Porthmadog to the slate-quarrying town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. We comfortably travelled through the Snowdonia National Park in a first class compartment looking out over the tree tops at the mountainous Welsh landscape.
Zip World
This one's for the kids! Just a stone's throw for Betsy-y-Coed this trip was for the kids. Trampolines and rope bridges suspended high in the treetops followed by the forest rollercoaster. Lots of fun in the amazing Welsh forest landscape.
I can thoroughly recommend a family holiday in North Wales. There is so much to do for young and old family members while experiencing a great combination of coastline and mountain scenery. It certainly won't be our last trip to Wales!
