Look, I’m going to be making a lot of references to the TV show The Prisoner in this post, because this is where the outside scenes were shot. So if there’s something that makes even less sense than usual, that’s why.
Getting to Portmerion is kind of a pain in the arse it you don’t have a car. There are options, including them coming to collect you from the station if you’re staying in the hotel, but if you’re a day visitor, the options are train+walk or bus+walk. I went with the bus option because it avoids having to change; The bus to Bangor from Aberystwyth goes through Minffordd, while the train option involves changing at Dovey Junction or Machynlleth, so … Less chance of missing something.
It is, as they say, a long-ass bus trip to get there; A shade over 2 hours, around 90km. Surprisingly, the ticket was only £4. I’ve more or less given up on trying to take photos from a bus, because they always end up looking awful, so instead I’ll just say that the scenery is very pretty, and the bus goes through some tiny little villages, including one where they need to back around a corner to turn the bus around because it’s not a big enough place to do a loop through.
The station at Minffordd is interesting because at street level, it’s a narrow gauge line (and I’d never seen one before; hadn’t realised how narrow they really are ), but running underneath it at almost a right angle is the main line. If I’d taken the train, I’d have arrived at the mainline station.
I’d packed a waterproof layer, but never needed it. First thing I did was to find the bus stop for the trip back, and then investigate the station in case the stop there was better. ( It was – The one closer to the path to Portmerion had little visibility of the road, whereas the one at the station had a bunch, si you could see the bus a good distance away ) Maybe a bit paranoid, but with only one bus every two hours, I didn’t want to risk not being seen.
The walk down is quite pleasant; Maybe 1½km, most of it on a little path that parallels the road. There’s a gatehouse where you buy an entry ticket & they give you a map, and from that point on you’re free to wander. There’s one road that loops through the place, but lots of little bits branch off from it.
When I was travelling around the UK while working I did look at Portmerion as a place to stay, but had to rule it out based on how difficult it seemed to be to get there. Also cost, availability, and internet access. But it’d be a great spot to work remotely from, if only for the ridiculousness of the background in Teams calls.
It’s hard to describe the place; You just kind of have to see it. It’s whimsical and a bit ridiculous, and some of the architectural features were designed for people shorter than me, but it’s a fun spot to exist in, and to imagine what staying or living there might be like.
I got a bit lucky when I walked back to the station; There were a couple of folks lurking on the platform to photograph the Ffestiniog Railway train as it passed through, which alerted me to the idea that I should pay attention too.
It runs from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and it’s tiny. The rails are 1′ 11½” apart, according to Wikipedia, and I have no clue how three people fit in that engine compartment.
The bus back arrived pretty much when it was expected, and the whole route reversed itself. A long day, but a very enjoyable one.
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