Sunday 29 May

Off we go to Wales this time with Alfa Travel. We were a bit late setting off and the coach wasn't an Alfa one but apart from that all was well.
The plan was to get to the Beddgelert area and have a walk before proceeding to the hotel. However it was a sunny Bank Holiday Sunday so there was plenty of traffic around and it became apparent that the plan would have to be changed as time was running out. This was a bit disappointing for me as I had hoped to visit Beddgelert and find a cottage I had stayed in as a young teenager and walk by the river.
The revised plan dropped people off at Porthmadog to walk along the coast into Criccieth or to go direct to Criccieth and settle in. The latter was my choice and after passing the hotel at least three times the driver Alan managed to park outside and the luggage was unloaded and taken to our rooms.

George iv Hotel

It was a very nice hotel, clean and tidy with comfortable beds, very important!
I was sharing with Anita and we set off to explore Criccieth and have a paddle and an ice cream.
There is a fantastic local ice cream shop called Cadwaladers on the way up the hill to the castle so of course we had to join the queue and try one of the many flavours.

It was certainly a popular spot and there was always a queue but they had loads of staff so it soon went down.
Criccieth is dominated by its castle which stands proud between the two beaches.

Of course a paddle was our main focus of the day and we went to the sandy beach for this. Very refreshing after spending a few hours in a coach.

The main group arrived in Criccieth before six to collect their belongings from the coach and get ready for dinner at 7.30, followed by entertainment in the hotel or checking out the local pubs.