New suggested walking trail highlights the Mawddach Estuary
The folks promoting tourism to Dolgellau and the Snowdonia National Park have suggested a new circular long-distance footpath: The Mawddach Way. The entire route is around 32 miles, and can be conveniently covered over three days as it is well-connected to public transport.
The route’s creators – Graham and Jacky O’Hanlon – suggest staying near to Barmouth train station, and dividing the walk up into three segments for daily routes which connect with bus and train stations. The website - www.mawddachway.co.uk - maps out the route.
The Mawddach Way takes walkers around the beautiful Mawddach Estuary at the south-west corner of the Snowdonia National Park encompassing woodland, pasture and open country as well as the towns of Dolgellau and Barmouth.
William Wordsworth described the Mawddach as “the sublime estuary,” and it really does offer spectacular views towards Cader Idris in one direction and the coastal estuary in the other.
I love the fact that the entire route can be reached and planned without the need of a car. In fact, the Cambrian Main Line railway route which serves Barmouth is one of my favorite train rides, especially where it crosses the estuary on Barmouth Bridge and journeys through pretty coastal villages like Llwyngwril and Aberdovey. It’s also worth continuing on to Harlech where the castle is impressive and the village pretty.
Apologies for the long wait between blog posts. Here at TravelWales.org we’ve been planning our own Wales trip as we’re showing some North American journalists and tour operators around. So, over the next week or so, expect some blog posts live from Wales as we hope to post some stories and photos on here as we travel!