Recommend quirky places to visit or places to eat/drink between London and Snowdonia...?

March 25, 2009 8:02 AM

I'm taking a journey by car from London (England) to Portmeirion (North Wales) and back a day later. The quickest route appears to be M1-M6-M54-A5 and then eastwards through Snowdonia and a variety of smaller roads. Along this route, say anywhere after Northampton, are there any lovely/eccentric places to stop either for some brief sightseeing or for a bite to eat and something to drink?

The idea is to take a break halfway through the journey or so. I don't mind a detour of a few miles off my route if it means avoiding frightful motorway service stations with terrible food and no atmosphere. I'm seeking recommendations from people who have either taken this route from London to North Wales or who live along the route. Where would you stop for a gander and for a meal if it was up to you? Quirky, strange or picturesque places appreciated.

Finally I'm willing to consider taking a different route home, travelling southwards out through Snowdonia...so if there are some great sights or some peculiar inns in a different direction that I should visit please let me know! Thanks.

posted by skylar to Travel & Transportation around London, England (5 answers total)

Although the AA Journey Planner always recommends the M1 I'm not convinced that taking the M40 isn't a better bet (depends where in London you are). It is certainly a more scenic route. There are loads of lovely market towns and villages on the route within easy reach of the motorway.

Returning Southwards from Snowdonia you can go down through the Breacon Beacons National Park and - if you are at all interested in books - Hay-On-Wye and then across the Severn Bridge and home to London on the M4.

It is a pretty long drive though, if I was to do it I'd try and have a day off in the middle.
posted by ninebelow at 9:39 AM on March 25, 2009

If you go the M40 route then it opens up Stratford, which is pretty but touristy as you're probably aware. If you're going along the A5 and want a later stop then Llangollen is very pretty indeed.
posted by biffa at 9:42 AM on March 25, 2009

We drove from Heathrow to North Wales (to the tiny town of Gwytherin near Betws-y-Coed) and stopped for the night in Ludlow, right on the border. A nice town...lots of leaning old buildings and a market cross. I believe we took the M40, because we also stopped in Stratford. Incidentally, we also went to Portmeirion--the wifely friend put up with my Prisoner geekery like a champ--and climbed up Snowden on the Miner's Trail. A bit more difficult than the regular route up, but rewarding. We also went to LLangollen and I recommend a little hike up Dinas Bran. If you're interested, there are lots and lots of neolithic burial mounds in that area well worth a look.
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2009

Ludlow also has an amazing castle.
posted by ninebelow at 10:09 AM on March 25, 2009

Don't forget Pete's Eats once you're in Snowdonia.
posted by arcticseal at 12:55 PM on March 25, 2009