Mid Wales

Once again, the coronavirus pandemic put paid to our annual group cycle tour. Instead, a smaller group – Andy P, Andy S, Neil and Sarah – decided to undertake a replacement challenging small group tour. We would start on the Welsh coast and cycle through Mid Wales back home.

Mid Wales is described as the green heart of Wales. Clear seas, bright harbours, and hidden coves, busy market towns, and dramatic hills. It is a huge, beautiful region, crisscrossed by mountain passes, dotted with characterful little towns and never far from water – whether sparkling rivers, great lakes, or the sea of the Cambrian coast. This is the least-known part of Wales, and it’s here that you’ll find Welsh culture at its most natural, folded into the contours of the land as it has been for centuries.

For this tour we started from the seaside resort of Aberystwyth, then along the way cycled through the coastal towns of Tywyn, Barmouth, and Porthmadog. There were also the traditional market towns of Machynlleth and Dolgellau, the eerie lakes of Trawsfynydd and Bala, the castles of Harlech, Chirk, and Chester, and the famous Llangollen Canal and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. All this, and those green-green Mid Wales hills and valleys.

Finally, of course, we finished by cycling back into England and through the Cheshire lanes. For this was a cycle ride from Aberystwyth all the way home! It was another truly memorable cycle tour.