Blaenau Ffestiniog

Blaenau Ffestiniog is a small town in the Snowdonia Mountains in Wales. Blaenau Ffestiniog is a former slate-mining village and consists of one main road with all the others leading off it.

Understand
A narrow-gauge railway, the Ffestiniog Railway, was built from Blaenau Ffestiniog to take the slate down to the sea at Porthmadog. The railway ceased operation after some 110 years of operation due to the run down of the slate industry, road competition, and the Second World War. It was fully reopened to Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1982 and is one of the town's main tourist attractions.

By car
The best option to get to the town is by car - mostly because there aren't that many buses or trains to get around. The town is on the A470 from Llandudno to Dolgellau and the A487 from Porthmadog. There are no fuel stations in the town, so fill up your tank well before you get there. There is a Shell station near Betws y Coed on the A5 (11 miles from Blaenau). Other options are at Porthmadog.

By bus
There aren't that many buses to Blaenau. X1/84 run from Llandudno and Betws-y-Coed, every 1-2 hours on workdays. There are also buses to Porthmadog (1B - approximately every 70 minutes) and Dolgellau.

By train
The Conwy Valley Line runs from Llandudno to Blaenau, but only has a train every 3 hours or so. The main is also the terminus for the narrow-gauge heritage Ffestiniog Railway from Porthmadog. On some summer days it has more frequent departures than the "real" railway.

Get around
As the town is quite small you can easily get around on foot and the town has undergone a face lift to help attract visitors to what was the 'Slate Capital of the World' in its hey-day. The Llechwedd Slate Caverns, which celebrate the town's famous history, are a mile's walk from the station on the road to Dolwyddelan over the Crimea Pass - or go by car. As all the main roads in and out of town are very narrow main roads with quite fast traffic, so the bicycle isn't a good idea - and for mountain biking other towns in the area are better bases. Blaenau Ffestiniog is celebrated as the only town in North Wales where all roads lead into the Snowdonia National Park. At 850 ft above sea level, it makes the town an ideal base for exploring the park.

Go next

 * Porthmadog
 * Betws y Coed