Sunday, 25 July 2021

The Tour of Wales

In this blog The Daphne Diaries takes you on a tour of Wales in pictures. Ivan & Jane toured Wales in their motorhome Daphne, towing their Ural motorcycle and sidecar and taking along their Dachshund Otto in May, June & July 2021.

Ivan, Otto and Jane on the tour of Wales


You will see amazing sunsets, views from hikes and some fantastic sites. Most of the tour was on motorcycle and sidecar which afforded the freedom to get out more, explore tiny country lanes, mountain sides and find the hidden treasures Wales has to offer. Enjoy castles and coasts, canals and countryside, mountains and rivers and streams: 

Ivan and Jane are happy to be travelling again!

Despite being a relatively small country Wales has over 100 castles to visit, there are many more abandoned, ruined and tucked away. Pictured below are some the castles visited:

The border of Wales and England is littered with castles galore. This is Whittington castle in Shropshire, England and is free to visit with a lovely tea room 😋. 

Flint castle is on the north coast of Wales and free to enter.
Denbigh castle was closed for the time being
Harlech castle sits majestically on top of Harlech town overlooking the sand dunes and beautiful beaches on the west coast of Wales. We parked Daphne overnight at the leisure centre at a minimal fee of £5 per night. 
Penrhyn castle in Bangor is free for national trust members 
Cricceth castle overlooks the beach on the Llyn Peninsula and is managed by the National Trust
Gwerch castle in Abergele was probably the most sprawling and majestical castle visited. It also hosted the 2020 “I’m a celebrity” TV show. It was £10 each to enter and well worth the visit.  The castle was built relatively late in the 1800s and was originally a stately home built to look a lot older. In the 80s a young lad of 12 was so upset to see it in disrepair he started up a preservation trust to try and restore it to its former glory. It’s still being worked on today. 

Cardiff castle grounds are free to visit in the centre of the capital of Wales
Ivan, Jane and Otto enjoyed travelling on their Ural Dalesman

The small mountain roads are ideal for the Ural motorcycle and sidecar with some gated roads going through forestry high up in the mountains.
You cannot tour Wales without finding plenty of water 💦. There are many reservoirs and over 800 lakes, rivers and waterways plus the lush green of the land means a fair amount of rain ☔️ 
Nant Stigallt Reservoir in Snowdonia National Park

Relaxing at Llyn Brenig Reservoir 

Ivan at the Horseshoe falls in Llangollen 

Looking out over the Menai Straight from Anglesey

Waterfalls are a favourite ❤️ 


The Llangollen canal runs from south of Cheshire in England to Llangollen in Wales. It is famous for crossing the highest aqueduct in the UK. Jane, Ivan & Otto had the privilege of hitching a ride abroad Heron across the Aqueduct. Trudy steered expertly across with Ivan next to her and Jane sat at the front of the boat with Otto & Paddy. Chris braved the narrow walkway across to film the epic voyage. 





The beaches are hugely underrated and often have spectacular backdrops. There is 1,680 miles of coastline in Wales and this ranges from huge commercial type beaches to tiny coves and cliff tops. Ivan is looking out over Cricceth beach on the Isle of Anglesey. The mountains of Snowdonia are in the background. 





One of the best times had in Wales has been meeting up with friends, either those who live in Wales or those visiting. Below are some of the friends met up with.

Phil and Reg out in the Ural. Otto is also in the sidecar somewhere!
Janes Mum and Dad were also at a vintage motorcycle rally and met them there
Chris hosted the rally and gave Jane, Ivan, Phil, Reg and Otto a lift to Pendine to view the hot rods racing in his 1925 Bentley. This was one of the highlights of the trip
Sarah and James were on holiday in Pembrokeshire. Ice creams all round. Photo by Sarah
Ian and Sue were on holiday in Cardigan Bay with thier dog Missy.  A few days were enjoyed in their company in Ceredigion. 


Thank you for reading. The tour of Wales has been wonderful especially as its the first opportunity to travel in 2021. This blog is the most difficult to write as the amount of photos has been overwhelming after 9 weeks exploring the beautiful country of Wales.  However its highly recommended and The Daphne Dairies will be back!
Even if its only for the sunsets!

Bye for now, Ivan, Jane and Otto