Weekend away in Cricieth

Neil and I have been talking about going away for a long weekend since Christmas, and we finally had our little break last weekend. We wanted to go somewhere affordable, quiet and relaxing where we could forget about wedding planning and furnishing our house for a few days. Cricieth was the perfect place!

'Cricieth' is the Welsh spelling and 'Criccieth' is the English spelling, just in case you think I'm spelling the location incorrectly. I insist on spelling places in the Welsh way, especially when the English version has just added a pointless 'c' in the middle!

North West Wales is really beautiful and I think it's often overlooked when people are looking for short breaks in the UK. People always want to visit South West Wales (Pembrokeshire, the Gower etc) but no one seems to rave about the North half as much. Although most of Wales is beautiful (I'm not biased at all), I do think this particular corner of North Wales is prettier than most. Its beauty is totally natural and unspoiled, and I could gaze at the unique views for hours at a time. The scenic drive up to North Wales is also breathtaking, even if it does take approximately 4 hours.

We did originally want to climb Snowdon while we were in the Snowdonia region, but we decided against it as we were only spending two full days in Cricieth. Climbing Snowdon would have taken up a whole day and wouldn't have been very relaxing for our supposedly relaxing break. Instead, we went for long walks along the coastal path on Saturday and Sunday and saw some amazing views. We walked for miles and even got a bit sunburnt on the Saturday morning... I burnt my feet! The walks were so varied and included unforgettable views of the sea, mountains, the beach, railway track and stunning views of the horizon.

We stayed in a lovely little B&B called Bron Rhiw... blog post to follow on that! We had a massive breakfast every morning and it was only a 5 minute walk away from the sea front. It was a great place to base ourselves for the weekend and was in the ideal location. 

Although Cricieth is very small, it had everything we needed to have a relaxing and tranquil weekend... just what the doctor ordered! Beautiful views, several long walks along the coastal path, lovely places to eat, strikingly blue sea, a castle and a few quirky little shops on the high street. It really did feel as if we had the time to properly relax and unwind and to spend some very welcome quality time together.

In the evenings, we went for a meal between 6 and 7pm then went for a wander along the sea front before walking back to the B&B. There's something so peaceful about an evening stroll beside the sea! We were fortunate enough to have nice weather for the whole weekend... I don't think the sea front would have looked this inviting if the weather was bad. 

As you've probably gathered, I would highly recommend this little seaside town if you're planning a long weekend in North Wales, or if you're simply looking for somewhere to base yourselves in the Snowdonia area while you do lots of climbing. It's just so pretty! 

More blog posts will follow in the next week or so on the copious amount of food we ate in Cricieth, as well as a more detailed review of the B&B and an Outfit of the Day post from the weekend. Come back soon! 

Has anyone else been to Cricieth? What did you think?