Conwy

From Blaenau Ffestiniog I took the railway to Conwy, a perfect walled town with a huge Medieval castle:

The first time that visitors catch sight of the castle, commanding a rock above the Conwy Estuary and demanding as much attention as the dramatic Snowdonia skyline behind it, they know they are in the presence of a historic site which still casts a powerful spell.

Conwy, constructed by the English monarch Edward I between 1283 and 1289 as one of the key fortresses in his 'iron ring' of castles to contain the Welsh, was built to prompt such a humbling reaction.

It is equally impressive glimpsed across the river as the train takes you to Llandudno Junction.