Reviews Sundry Wales Travel

Portmeirion

Portmeirion is a village built in the 20th century, from 1920s until 1970s, made to look Italian. Now it is a tourist destination, one in which it’s easy to spend a day without any doubt. The village is stunning, there are restaurants, cafes, shops, two walks – a woodland walk and a beach walk. There is a hotel and some of the houses are available to rent, albeit at high prices (it starts at £200-something per night in the off-peak period). The village has an entrance fee and I would suggest booking in advance if you are visiting in peak season. Check their website for more details. Annual passes are available, but unless you live nearby it’s unlikely you would use them. I would have got an annual pass if it was within an hour’s drive, but it’s over 2 hours, so not ideal for day trips.

The buildings are so gorgeous, this is a place one can spend a lot of time, as new details can be observed. I would love to go back. From the gift shop a tree trail can be bought, I didn’t think it would be something that interests me, but after seeing all sorts of interesting trees, this is something I would definitely buy if I’m in Portmeirion again.

Road to Portmeirion

This is the road towards the village. They have a camping site, but only for campers. It’s lovely, lots of hydrangeas between the camping pitches. We have a caravan and a tent, so it’s not good for us.

I bought a booklet about the village, but I’m not going to write too much as this post will be long as it is. There were a few books on the village, proper size books, but I knew I didn’t have the time these days, so I’ve decided to get just the booklet. This was created by the Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis.

Building in Portmeirion

This is one of the first buildings in the village. On one side is yellow and on the other side is orange-ish. It’s amazing to think that this is the same building when it looks so very different.

arch

The arch is just stunning, just look at that gorgeous ceiling.

Portmeirion

More buildings, all beautifully coloured with lots and lots of details. There is a shop on the ground floor of the orange building.

Buildings in Portmeirion

All the buildings are gorgeous. On the top is an art-gallery and shop, but it was not open when we visited it. On the left, in the blue building is a big Buddha.

Buildings in Portmeirion

These are two shops with all sort of different items, but there is a much bigger shop as well. There are some art pieces here that looked lovely.

Portmeirion

The village square, with a chess board, stunning houses with lots of decorations. The colours looked amazing even on a cloudy day.

Trees in Portmeirion

The fountain is placed in formal gardens with lots of places to stay and soak up the atmosphere.

Fountain

Portmeirion

Over the road is the Town Hall, used for weddings and which houses a cafe. On the ground floor are the visitor toilets. Everything in Portmeirion is just gorgeous.

Coffees

At the cafe birds were checking what we got. They were either on the stone balustrade or in the nearby bushes, keeping an eye on any leftovers we might leave. Unfortunately for them, we only stopped for coffee at that point. It was lovely to see the birds flying around and one coming to our table. Looking around it seemed all the other visitors were just as happy to see them.

Building

Swimming pool

The swimming pool is for the residents only, which include the ones who are camping. That’s the perfect ad for buying a camper.

Restaurant

Harbour

Ship Amis Reunis

Ship Amis Reunis or Friends reunited, is a stone ship in the harbour. The estuary-beach walk starts from there.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse, not a real one, but one that looks gorgeous nonetheless, which also offers amazing views, see below.

View from lighthouse

Pizza and beer

We could order vegan pizza from one of the restaurants. It was very good. We also got some Welsh beer. There were a few other types of beer and we bought those to try at home.

Woodland walk at Portmeirion

Woodland walk was just as gorgeous, about 40 minutes, depending on how fast or slow you want to go. I think we spent a bit longer as we stopped and took pictures.

Fern tree

Fern tree, isn’t this stunning? I love fern and these trees were just incredibly beautiful.

Lake

Chinese bridge

Woodland walk

Portmeirion is a must see if you want to visit North Wales.

8 Comment

  1. That fern tree is spectacular, as is the magnificent architecture. I can see why you’d want to return. There is a Portmerion china pattern of flowers and after seeing those beautiful walkways, I can see where they got their inspiration. I’ve always been intrigued by the place knowing “The Prisoner” was filmed there decades ago. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner) I remember being fascinated by the place!

    1. The Prisoner was mentioned a lot, there are things like mugs with it and I think also a book. I had no idea about the movie, but I can understand why they filmed it there, it’s such a great location.
      It’s so interesting that there is a china pattern is called after this village, I will look it up.

  2. What a charming village! I love all the colors of the houses, but how odd that the first is painted differently on either side. I really like that chessboard, too. I’m drooling a bit over the pizza and beer…
    Kelly recently posted…Instagram photos #31My Profile

    1. There were a lot of houses like that, one style and colour on one side and very different on the other side. It’s just a perfect place for a day or even a couple of days. I would love to go back.
      There were a few types of beer and we got one of each to try at home, a beer tasting night sort of thing. I used the leftovers for making bread as it was way too much beer for the two of us. 😀

  3. Portmeirion was one of the first places our friends took us to when they moved back to John’s North Wales roots some 30 years ago, so that was the last time we visited and I can see from your picture library, all the things we missed, so I think a return trip might be on the cards next time we go up to stay! 🙂

    1. I loved our holiday in North Wales. My next post will be about a beach nearby, which looked amazing. North Wales is stunning.

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