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Portmeirion
Located two miles south of Porthmadog, this magical Italianate village is open all year and, set beside the beautiful Dwyryd estuary, is a must for every visitor to the area. You do have to pay to go into the village, but it is worth every penny to enter this wonderland created by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis between 1926 and 1972, and its magnificent botanical style gardens. The village provided the setting for the cult television series ‘The Prisoner’ and continues to draw many visitors simply from that.
The Ospreys
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ‘ Glaslyn Osprey Project’ is only a few miles from Porthmadog. Travel along the A498 from Tremadog to Prenteg and then right along the B4410 to Llanfrothen. Since 2004, the Glaslyn Valley has been the home of the only pair of ospreys breeding in Wales. Visitors can enjoy views through high-powered telescopes at the hide and via three large, widescreen plasma monitors in the adjacent visitor centre. These broadcast live images directly from the nest, getting you even closer to the nesting family as the ospreys carry food to their developing chicks. You may even be lucky enough to catch the youngsters’ first flights!
Walking
There are many lovely walks in and around Porthmadog with wonderful views. Perhaps the most picturesque is the PICTURE POSTCARD WALK (See Map). Walk down Snowdon Street towards the mountains and, at the bottom after crossing the tramway, you see the Tremadog cliffs of Moel Hebog and Moel Ddu on the far left, Snowdon in the centre, Cnicht and the Moelwyn Mawr on the right. Pass over the bridge crossing Y Cyt (the “Cut”, a small canal built for Madocks to drain the Traeth) feeding into the inner harbour, known locally as “Llyn Bach” (Small Pool). This was originally planned to be an all-tide harbour with a sea-lock at Britannia Bridge and a freight branch line from the Cambrian
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