Bangor (Wales)

Bangor is a small city in Gwynedd.

Understand
Bangor is a small coastal city in North Wales, and is a picturesque city offering views over the Menai Straits (especially attractive at sunset), and also serves as a convenient base for visiting the nearby Snowdonia National Park. The city is also a popular place to spend the night for travellers leaving for Ireland on the Holyhead to Dublin ferry.

With a population of only around 14,000, Bangor is one of the UK's smallest cities. Bangor is a university city and has a large student population, and is home to Bangor University, established in 1884.

Around half of the people in the city can speak Welsh, but if you took away all of the students in the university, this figure would be much higher.

By train
lies on the North Wales Coastal Line, and can be reached from either the direction of Holyhead, for those travelling from Dublin, or from Chester, for those travelling from the mainland. Bangor is on the Holyhead → Chester track, and can be reached from either with trains running roughly every hour. Bangor can also be reached the following ways:
 * Liverpool Lime Street → Chester → Bangor - about 2 hours travelling time. £18.10 for standard day ticket.
 * Manchester Picadilly → Chester → Bangor
 * Cardiff → Bangor
 * London Euston → Crewe → Bangor - roughly every hour, taking about four hours. £96.50 for a standard open single, £62.90 for a saver single (available most days). Booking in advance may get you a ticket for £51.
 * London Euston → Bangor direct - three times a day. Takes just over 3 hours, but same price as above.

By car
Bangor is just off the intersection of A5 and A55 between Conwy and Holyhead. Bangor is directly on the A5, which runs directly from London to Holyhead making it easily accessible from the capital city of England. This 250-mile (400-km) journey takes roughly 4½ hours.

From the north west of England, Bangor can easily be reached on the coastal road A55, which provides a nice safe journey on a road which serves all of the North coast of Wales. The journey takes as little as an hour and is about 65 miles (105 km).

Bangor is also served by the A487 from the west coast of Wales, from Haverfordwest via Aberystwyth.

By bus
Students visiting or moving to Bangor with a lot of luggage may find it safest to travel by coach.



See




Eat
Welsh lamb and beef feature prominently as does freshly caught fish such as salmon, brown trout, white crab and lobster. Vegetarian preferences are also well catered for with organic fruit and vegetable producers in the area. Some of the local eateries include:



Drink
Bangor's waterholes vary from the traditional to the student popular venues, to somewhere for a quiet drink. Students who have money to spend can also find a great night out.



Night out
The Students' Union has no venue, as it was demolished, along with the cinema and theatre, Theatr Gwynedd. They are due to be replaced by a complex called Pontio.



Go next

 * Buses run up into Llanberis, at the edge of a crystal clear mountain lake and the jumping off point for trips into Snowdonia National Park.
 * Anglesey particularly the Anglesey Sea Zoo, Pili Palas (a butterfly palace), the 13th-century Beaumaris Castle and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Llanfairpwllgwyngyll for short)
 * Caernarfon to see the majestic 13th-century castle and the cute tiny town.
 * You can buy ferry tickets to Dublin (departing from Holyhead) at any of the travel agents on the town's one main road (the High Street).