Coo. If you like choo-choos, train your sights on Porthmadog on the Gwynedd coast, just the ticket for train and vintage railway buffs. The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway starts here, the Welsh Highland Railway finishes here, and the Cambrian Coast Railway Line runs through the town on its way to Pwllheli (west) and Machynlleth (south-east). But we’re reserving our biggest puff of excitement for the Ffestiniog Railway, the oldest narrow gauge railway journey in the world, again starting from Porthmadog and this time chuffing 13 and a half miles to the old slate quarry town of Blaenau Ffestiniog. (Spend a day here if you’re camping in Porthmadog: it’s raily good.)
If you like clambering, caving, or otherwise scrambling around/under the countryside, a campsite in Porthmadog should also be a pit stop, as it’s just on the southern edge of Snowdonia National Park with all active options within. And another steam train puffs around here too: catch the Snowdonia Mountain Railway from nearby Llanberis up the 4.7 miles to the Snowdon summit.
