Welcome to Porthmadog

Porthmadog is in Gwynedd in the northwestern area of Wales.  It is an old port town formerly used for exporting slate mined from nearby quarries. The now-scenic Ffestiniog Railway was originally built to carry the slate from the quarries to the docks. Another scenic railway, the Welsh Highland Railway, operates on a short route nearby. A maritime and a motor museum add interest for visitors to this popular resort town.

The Madog Motor Museum has an interesting collection of motor cycles and automobiles and related artifacts.  Porthmadog also has a maritime museum that commemorates related activities associated with this port.

The Welsh Highland Railway Working Museum in Porthmadog has historic steam locomotives and coaches, slate wagons, goods vehicles and other railway memorabilia.  Work is in process to convert the whole site to a replica of the Welsh Highland Railway as it operated in the 1920s.

Snowdonia National Park is adjacent to Porthmadog.  The Bala Lake Railway and the Ffestiniog Railway run through the park.  There are many other attractions to be discovered in the park.

Criccieth Castle is to the west of Porthmadog overlooking the town of Criccieth.  The castle dates from the early 13th Century.

The Lleyn Peninsula is another scenic and interesting area that is convenient to Porthmadog.  Among the attractions to be found here are the Lleyn Historical and Maritime Museum at Nefyn, near Pwllheli; the Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Arts Centre housed in a magnificent Victorian Gothic Mansion, also near Pwllheli, providing views of Cardigan Bay and the mountains of Snowdonia; and Plas yn Rhiw, a small 16th Century manor house to the west of Pwllheli maintained by the National Trust also offering spectacular views across Cardigan Bay.  (Pwllheli has a rail station on the Arriva Trains Wales network.)

Portmeirion is a small village adjacent to Porthmadog that attracts visitors from great distances.  It was a run-down estate in 1925 when the Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis acquired it and proceeded develop into a model of architectural design incorporating a variety of styles.  See also the BBC web pages on Portmeirion.

The Llechwedd Slate Caverns are to the northeast of Porthmadog in the Snowdonia National Park.

The Gwynedd County Council has a good selection of information to assist visitors with travel planning and sightseeing.  See also national and regional links on the Wales home page.    The BBC Wales North West is a very good source for current local information and other topics that will be of interest to visitors.

Transportation resources serving Porthmadog include good highways leading to other parts of Wales and bus and rail services operating from the town.

The nearest airports with trans-Atlantic service are Birmingham (138 miles/222 km to the east) and Manchester (102 miles/165 km to the northeast). London’s Heathrow (243 miles/390 km) and Gatwick (281 miles/451 km) airports to the southeast also have direct flights to North America. Regional flights are also available at Liverpool airport (94 miles/152 km) to the northeast.

Trains of the Arriva Trains Wales network operate from Porthmadog, west to Pwllheli, south to Aberystwyth and east to Newtown, Welshpool and Shrewsbury where major rail lines can be connected to.   Visit the Cambrian Line web site for particulars of this service.

Bus and Coach services: Regional bus services operate from Porthmadog.

Ferry services:  Go to the ferry pages for Wales and England for ports offering these services.

Porthmadog has a number of amenities that make it an excellent hub for exploring the Welsh coast and North Wales. The following is a partial list of other towns and cities in the region that may be of interest to visitors. All are accessible by car and most by train or bus. Distances are provided for highway routes that are deemed most efficient.

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