ABOVE: Arriva Wales 3186 (BV72 KLP), a Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, drops passengers off in Mostyn Street, Llandudno, at the end of a run from Bangor. All photographs in this article were taken on Tuesday 16 June 2026, except where stated.
Still on My Way to Holyhead
4 July 2026
Sometimes you need to follow your instincts. The sign outside Llandudno railway station, in North Wales, says that I should go left for the Town Centre. But the route I had planned earlier says straight on.
I head straight on. There is a majestic parade of shops on the right, part of a block called "Imperial Buildings", with a date of 1898 included to save any guesswork on my part! It's all very grand, as is so much of this delightful town, which was largely built in the Victorian age. They knew how to do things on a grand scale in those days.
In 1848, Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, had presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday destination, and this popular resort was born.
Its popularity remains strong to this day, and it's easy to see why. There's plenty to see and do, and the town has an elegance that is so often lacking in modern seaside resorts; even the pier (built in 1877) is Grade-II listed. And the town sits in the shadow of the Great Orme, the limestone headland that juts out to the north. In fact, the whole town is slightly out on a limb, geographically, with more than a three mile trek to the main west-east road and rail routes across North Wales.
And it has a White Rabbit...
The White Rabbit is part of the "Alice in Wonderland Town Trail" - one of 12 statues across the town. I loved the Alice in Wonderland books as a child. Charles Dodgson, who wrote the books under the pen name Lewis Carroll, is said to have been inspired in Llandudno. The eight-year-old Alice Pleasance Liddell (the real 'Alice'), spent the first of many summer holidays in Llandudno is 1861.
If I had turned left when directed I would still have reached the Town Centre, but not necessarily the part I needed. I am heading to Holyhead, on the north-western tip of Wales, and the bus stop at North Western Gardens on Mostyn Street is perfectly adequate.
ABOVE: Llew Jones LJ14 LLJ, an Optare Solo SR, heads along Mostyn Street in Llandudno, on route 19 towards Betws-y-Coed
I have timed things perfectly for the 09:59 departure on Arriva Wales route 5D to Bangor, which is due in three minutes.
But it doesn't show up. I have to wait for the 10:14 departure on route 5 (same basic route except for a different way out of Llandudno. When the bus arrives, at 10:16, it is very busy. So busy that the only inside seat on this 12m-long Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora is at the very back of the bus.
If you have ever sat in the Upper Circle in a theatre you will know about sitting "in the Gods", and that's what this feels like. The Evora saloon rises rapidly as one heads towards the back, and my seat is best described as being at "roof level". My head is touching the ceiling and all I can see of the outside, without bending down, is the pavement.
I do of course have a good view of the rest of the bus:
It strikes me that the middle back seat on this bus could be a very dangerous place to be if the bus stops suddenly - with nothing to catch one, it's a long way to fall. Perhaps that seat should be blocked out of use, as it has been on many other modern types.
Fortunately, I am able to secure a better seat further forward quite quickly, and feelings of claustrophobia quickly dissipate. We pass Llandudno Junction and head west towards Conwy.
ABOVE: Crossing the A55 North Wales Expressway, and about to cross the River Conwy, with the town itself visible across the river on the left.
We cross the River Conwy and get a fabulous view of Conwy Castle. Well, I do. But I'm sitting on the wrong side of the bus to be able to capture one for you, so Google Streetview will have to step in. King Edward I and his architect Master James of St George built both castle and walls between 1283 and 1287. Basically still complete after seven hundred years, it is a World Heritage Site.
There are three bridges across the water here. Thomas Telford designed a Gothic-style 1800s bridge, complete with tollhouse, which is no longer in regular use. The railway bridge is just behind that. There's a fourth crossing as well, but it's not visible as the trunk A55 goes into a tunnel to cross the river.
Conwy itself, standing on the western bank of the River, is the location of the official "smallest house in Great Britain". The house stands near the Castle walls and measures 10 feet by 5.9 feet. It is no longer occupied but visitors are allowed to look inside for a token fee.
Most of the people who are on my bus leave at Conwy, allowing me a second change of seat for the remainder of the journey. A new set of passengers join, but they are fewer in number and it's much more comfortable.
ABOVE: The main stop in Conwy has a view over the railway station. This picture also shows the very unhelpful signage that exists in stops across the Conwy County Borough in lieu of a timetable, which basically blames Covid for being unable to provide timetable information.
The remainder of the journey to Bangor sticks closely to the main A55 road, nipping off it from time-to-time to serve local villages, such as here at Abergwyngregyn:
Further west, we come to the entrance to Penrhyn Castle, a much more modern structure commissioned in the 1820s:
The two minutes that had been lost at the beginning of the journey are made up by the time we reach Bangor at the scheduled 11:18. Incidentally, BusTimes.org suggests that the missing 5D did run, to a fashion, having started out 35 minutes late, skipped the Town Centre of Llandudno and also missed Conwy by using the Expressway Tunnel. By doing all this, it somehow managed to get to Bangor on time!
The Bus Interchange in Bangor sits alongside the main shopping centre.
ABOVE: At Bangor Bus Station, O.R. Jones YX18 KVS, an ADL Enviro200, passes Arriva Wales 3187 (BV72 KLS), a Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora.
Bangor sits at the end of the mainland in this part of Wales, and I am now looking to cross the Menai Strait to the Island of Anglesey. I have timed things so that I can catch Arriva Wales route 62 to the town of Amlwch, on the northern coast of the island, before taking the Lewis Y Llan 61 from there along the north-western side to Holyhead. I can then return along the more direct route through the heart of the island.
But the (same-stop) connection at Amlwch is only 11 minutes, so feels a little tight, especially when the scheduled 11:40 departure time of the 62 comes and goes without any sign of the bus. It turns up about five minutes late, translating the 11 minutes into a potential six if it doesn't make up the lost time. This gets tighter as it takes a couple of minutes to load up, and the driver then remonstrates with a Council worker who has chosen to park his car right in our bus stand. It's now a four-minute connection if we don't make the time up...
The vehicle is one of Arriva's still-ubiquitous VDL SB200 Wright Pulsar 2s - a bigger bus than I was perhaps expecting on a route that I envisage is going to be mainly open country and small villages. There are more passengers than I was expecting as well.
First, the bus has to get across the Menai Strait. The Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford and built in 1826, was the world’s first major iron suspension bridge, but it now has strict weight and height limits that preclude buses, so we have to take a detour to the Britannia Bridge, a mile further down the river. The bus then has to retrace its steps on the opposite side to get to the town of Menai Bridge.
It's a curious timetable on the 62 - every 45 minutes. With a very generous layover time of about 20 minutes in Amlwch, and a further 15 in Bangor, I really don't understand why the bus was late setting out.
Anglesey is very much as I expected it to be - a few villages sparsely spread out with lots of open countryside in between. There are quite a few customers on the bus and we even see some churn.
ABOVE: Benllech
There's a long double-run, of about a mile-and-a-half in total, to serve the village of Moelfre. The coastline includes a rocky headland and many ships have been lost off this coast. These include, in 1859, the steam clipper the Royal Charter, which saw 400 lives lost so close to the end of its journey from Australia to Liverpool.
The catalogue of losses is long: according to Wikipedia, on the 500m stretch of coast south of Moelfre, the Brothers (1826), the Sarah Davison (1881), the Riviera (1892), the Dart (1888), the Alexandrina (1890), the Margaret Elizabeth (1906), the Dinas (1907), the Jewess (1910) and the William Henry (1915) have all been shipwrecked.
There's a special alcove for buses to turn around here, known, slightly generously in my opinion, as Moelfre Bus Station:
ABOVE: the entirety of Moelfre Bus Station
We have to stand time here, which means that those 'lost' seven minutes have been recovered, making my tight connection feel more comfortable again.
I have 'rehearsed' my changeover in Amlwch by looking at the Streetview image of the stop I need to change buses at. But, when we reach the last stop of the route, in Amlwch, it's completely different from what I was looking for. The bus drives off but there's no Bus Stop flag to indicate that this is the right spot. This does look like the main street in town so that at least is something - I'm not in the middle of nowhere!
We have arrived on time (12:54), but I have no idea where I am or where my 61 is going to be departing from in 11 minutes' time. I wander about but there's no sign of a bus stop anywhere. Then I find a stop that serves the 61, outside the Library. This is for the incoming service so you would think there would be another stop on the other side of the road, yes?
No. And it transpires that the 61 only serves this particular stop on one journey per day, and it's not this one! The problem I have is that the 61 only runs six times a day. If I miss the 13:05, the next departure is at 15:10. So where is it?
I have missed the most obvious clue. The road alongside where I was dropped off by the 62 is closed for roadworks. With three minutes to go, I work out that I need to go back to that road. Sure enough, a walk down the closed road brings me to the bus stop I was expecting to arrive at. But it comes with bad news, that can be made out from a distance...
My 61 bus is not coming in from the other end - the bus stop is closed. There is advice, of a sort, on the bus stop:
But I have two problems. I don't know where the A5025 is, nor the Central Garage. And it's now 13:05. Wherever that temporary bus stop is, the 61 is leaving from it right now.
I have no idea how to say the name of this town. The Welsh language is well known for its lack of vowels (later in the week, I will pass through Glyndyfrdwy - look, no vowels at all)!
However you might say it, Amlwch grew rapidly in the 18th century with what was then the world's biggest copper mine, and became the centre of a vast global trade in copper ore. The harbour inlet became a busy port and significant shipbuilding and ship repair centre, as well as an embarkation point for boats sailing to the Isle of Man and to Liverpool.
The 61 is lost to me for today. I find a cafe to get a cup of tea and consider my next steps. There's a debate going on inside about a two pound coin with a 1986 minting date that someone has come into possession of, as two pound coins were not introduced until 1997. I can't contribute to the conversation, but a later online check reminds me that some two pound commemorative coins were issued before 1997. A 1986 two pound coin was indeed issued to commemorate the 13th Commonwealth Games (held in Scotland), and I suspect this is what the man had come into possession of. Unfortunately for him, such coins are reportedly only worth their face value.
Unfortunately I have to dash off, leaving half a cup of boiling hot tea undrunk. Very unlike me, but, having worked out where the temporary bus stop is (just one street away), the next bus out of town is leaving in five minutes, and I need to be on it! I do have time (just) to admire the Anglican St Eleth Church before I dash:
I have identified the 13:25 departure on Eifion's Coaches route 32 to Llangefni - a useful strategic point for buses on Anglesey, for reasons that I will come back to later. As I come in sight of the temporary bus stop, the bus is already there. The driver is having a problem with his ticket machine, and has to do a reset, which delays our departure for a couple of minutes. The bus is an Iveco Daily Ilesbus i-City MAX minibus (picture below), but, unlike other minibuses that I have travelled on recently, this one is comfortable, with sufficient legroom and seat-room. It's a very smooth runner as well.
There are only two of us leaving Amlwch this way, and my companion leaves a few minutes into the journey. It's then just me (and the driver of course) all the way into Llangefni.
The scenery, in the heart of Anglesey and off the beaten track, is unspoilt:
... except for an occasional reminder of Amlwch's former copper mining industry:
The bus reaches the village of Llannerch-y-medd - once a market town that, in the 18th and 19th centuries, was home to up to 250 shoemakers, who would trade all over Anglesey and beyond. With the island of Anglesey being an area of 276 square miles, they must have worked through plenty of shoe leather!
To the south of the village I find this striking building. It has the appearance of a windmill (without the sails) or an oast house (although we're in the wrong part of the country for the latter):
As far as I can make out, it's a 19th century boiling house and pigsty, and Grade-II listed. Certainly very striking!
The 32 arrives in Llangefni at 14:00, three minutes early. It's been a lovely ride, and it's so reassuring to discover that there are minibuses on the market that don't compromise on legroom and so forth.
ABOVE: Eifion's Coaches RV23 EWJ, an Iveco Daily Ilesbus i-City MAX, in Llangefni Town Centre
I said earlier that Llangefni was a useful strategic point for buses in this neck of the woods. The town stands around a mile to the north of the A55 Expressway, and is the meeting point of the main bus route west to Holyhead (route 4) with that east to Bangor (route 4A), both of which terminate here, as well as various local services (such as the 32) that serve the outlying villages on the island. I am slightly puzzled as to why there isn't a through service offered from Bangor to Holyhead (journey time would only be just over two hours) but maybe I'll find out one day.
Away from the buses, Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey. It's the second-largest town in the county, and the largest on the island of Anglesey (the largest town in the county, Holyhead, is actually on a separate island). The town also once hosted the biggest cattle market on the island.
I have just missed the hourly bus to Holyhead and, as it is now mid-afternoon and my hotel is in Chester, I reluctantly decide to head eastwards. Holyhead will have to wait for another day.
The first bus to appear is route 42 towards Bangor, a service operated by O. R. Jones. The driver wants me to use the 4A, as he goes the long way round. I reluctantly agree, but, with hindsight, and having looked at the map of the route, I should have stuck to my guns. It would have been a fascinating run, and only 20 minutes longer than the 4A.
The 15:15 departure on route 4A turns up shortly afterwards, and I am soon heading back towards Bangor, via the direct route this time.
The main claim to fame for the 4A is that it passes the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll / Llanfair PG for short(er)! With 58 characters split into 18 syllables, it is purported to have the longest place name in Europe and the second longest one-word place name in the world (the longest, in New Zealand, has 85 letters)!
The long name was supposedly contrived in 1869 as an early publicity stunt to give the station here the longest name of any railway station in Britain, and to develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre. Both ploys worked - a few thousand local residents welcome about 200,000 visitors to the village every year!
The area has been occupied since the Neolithic era, with agriculture and fishing being the most common occupations for much of its early history, at which stage the island of Anglesey was of course only reachable by boat.
The bus brings us back to the Menai Strait, and another double run to Menai Bridge, the town, before passing Menai Bridge, the bridge, and heading for the Britannia Bridge. We can see the Menai Bridge from the Britannia Bridge:
The area of the Menai Strait between the two bridges is known as "The Swellies", and is notorious for being a treacherous stretch of water due to the rocks, and the whirlpools and surges that are the result of the tides washing around the island of Anglesey at different speeds.
You will also have noticed buildings in the middle of the water above. The island of Ynys Gored Goch (Welsh for 'red weir island') is occupied by a main house and a converted smoke house where locally caught fish were once processed. The island is private property and accessible only by boat. When the tides are high, the buildings can apparently look as though they are afloat.
The arrival into Bangor is punctual, and I make a very quick change to the 15:10 departure on route 5 back to Llandudno. This will be a busy run all the way, probably because of the time of day.
We pass back through Conwy of course, and, as I am still sitting on the wrong side for the Castle, I take this picture from the Conwy Road instead (the river crossing) looking across to Deganwy, a neighbour of Llandudno. Llandudno itself is behind the range of hills, out of sight from this angle.
ABOVE: The River Conwy, with Deganwy on the far bank (right). Beyond (centre) is probably Gogarth, to the north of Llandudno, and in the vicinity of the Great Orme headland. Conwy is on the left.
It's another punctual arrival into Llandudno at 16:20, where the town is very busy.
ABOVE: Arriva Wales 4410 (J100 ABW), an ADL Enviro400 of 2009 vintage, passes along Mostyn Street on an inbound service on route 12 from Rhyl.
Time to head for 'home' now. I want to stay on the buses for a bit longer, but it's likely that I will end up on a train. Route 13 to Prestatyn is the ideal choice. A scenic alternative to the more direct 12 to Rhyl, I profiled route 13 for my 100 British Bus Routes series.
Rather than the expected full-length single-decker, an Optare Solo turns up. Four minutes late for its scheduled 17:02 departure, and in the middle of the rush hour, this little bus isn't ideal for what is a very busy service. But what makes it worse is that, five minutes into the journey, an alarm starts to go off in the driver's cab, in the form of a loud slow beep-beep-beep. It stops after a while but starts again a little further along the route.
These alarms are quite common on modern buses, and the ethos is usually to carry on and ignore it. But why on earth said alarms cannot be switched off and reported later I have no idea. Perhaps it's a dangerous fault that should render the bus being taken out of service...?
It's really unpleasant, and, by 17:46, when we reach Colwyn Bay, I have had enough. It will take another hour to get to Prestatyn and I don't think I can stand another hour of the beeping, or the possibility that whatever fault has developed might lead to the bus being terminated early, somewhere inconvenient.
The 13 is paralleled by route 12 over some of its length, and I note a 12 coming up behind, so jump ship (er ... jump bus). This will obviously take me to Rhyl now rather than Prestatyn, but the difference in ambience is palpable - plus I now have a top deck front seat to enjoy the ride on.
ABOVE: Arriva Wales vehicles 0729 (YJ15 AYD, left), an Optare Solo SR, and 4547 (CX14 BXK), an ADL Enviro400, pass at the Hesketh Road stop in Old Colwyn, east of Colwyn Bay. The Solo is working route 15 (Conwy to Llysfaen), and is an identical bus to the one on route 13 that I have just vacated - hopefully lacking the piercing alarm though!
Route 12 is a wonderful ride, and always seems to be the bridesmaid on this website. This is my second mention of the route, and it still hasn't been the star! It didn't make the 100 British Bus Routes either... I will come back to it for a future article at some point.
There are some lovely views to be had, and it's not just of the coastline - stunning though that is. Below is Llanddulas, between Old Colwyn and Abergele, looking east:
It's a longer run from Colwyn than I expect, at 47 minutes. But is is a lovely drive. There's very little traffic by now and we're soon in the environs of Rhyl. With apologies to anyone who lives there or loves the place, I'm afraid that I don't find much to commend the town to me. It feels quite run-down, and the admittedly-popular seaside resort is the complete opposite to Llandudno in my book.
It does, however, have the large and attractive Marine Lake on the edge of town. This view, looking north, has been taken from the train:
Despite some pauses for timing points, the arrival into Rhyl, at 18:33, is seven minutes early. The bus station is right outside the railway station:
ABOVE: On Thursday 18 June 2026, six Arriva Wales buses can be seen at Rhyl Bus Station, including two of the brand-new Wright StreetDeck Ultroliners acquired for route T51 (Rhyl to Wrexham via Denbigh) and in red and silver TrawsCymru livery. Nearest the camera is 4484 (CX61 CDN), a VDL DB300 Wright Gemini 2, which will shortly commence a journey on route 11C to Chester.
I would love to finish the day by bus, but I can't. The next bus through to Chester will not leave for another hour, and it won't get into Chester until 21:41. I jump to a train and get back to town, over two hours earlier, at 19:22.
I have enjoyed the day, but it hasn't gone to plan, and I'm still on my way to Holyhead, as Ernie Wise almost said...
BELOW: An approximation of the route described above, including the unsuccessful section to Holyhead that I intended to complete but didn't!
