Adventures around Bangorwith PlusBus
Gardens, castles, distilleries, marvels of engineering… Bangor has some really spectacular sights and you can reach them all by bus. Add PlusBus when you buy your train ticket and explore the whole area for a day.
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1. Menai Bridge and Treborth Botanic Garden
Thomas Telford designed the marvellous 305-metre-long Menai suspension bridge, which opened in 1826. It was the world’s first iron suspension bridge and hangs 30 metres above the water letting tall ships sail underneath.
- How do I get to the Menai suspension bridge by bus? Bus X4 normally stops right by the bridge at the Antelope Inn, but the bridge currently has a weight restriction so buses can’t go over it. One good alternative way to get there is by taking one of several buses to Kingdom Hall. Bus 5C leaves from Bangor railway station Stand H every 20 minutes. Walk past the hall and turn right along the lane. Keep straight through a gate into the beautiful Eithinog wildlife reserve. Keep left down the stream and right down the main road to the bridge.
- Treborth Botanic Garden is nearby. Turn left under the bridge and keep going along the lane to reach the gateposts. You can follow a choice of trails through the trees and along the cliff beside the Menai Strait, following the Wales Coast Path. There are greenhouses, which include collections of carnivorous plants and cacti.
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2. Penrhyn Castle
The impressively towering neo-Norman stone walls of Penrhyn Castle, with its complex history, are set in spectacular gardens, full of spring flowers, autumn colours and views of Snowdonia and the coast. There is a walled garden with fountains near a watery bog garden and blossoming avenues with carpets of bluebells.
- How do I get to Penrhyn Castle by bus? Bus 5 runs every 20 minutes from Stand E at Bangor bus station to Penrhyn Castle. Hop off at the stop called Tal-y-bont, adjacent to Castell Penrhyn. Walk through the castle’s gateway and look out for a sign on the right that directs you up a path through the woods.
- From the beautiful rolling woods and parkland, you can see the Great Orme and Puffin Island. There is a play area, refreshments and nature walks.
- Inside, you can see huge arches of stained glass, silk-covered walls and carved wood. There are elabourately-carved staircases, doorways and ceilings, a beautiful library, rose-tinted drawing room and a grand state bedroom with a very early example of a flushing loo!
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3. Aber Falls Whisky Distillery
The first new distillery to open in Wales for more than a century, Aber Falls began making gin in 2017 and has recently launched its first single malt whisky after years maturing it in oak barrels. The distillery is a couple of miles’ walk downstream from the 37-metre-high Rhaeadr Fawr, the Aber Falls waterfall, and added a new £1.5m visitor centre, with a bistro and tasting rooms, in 2021.
- How do I get to Aber Falls distillery by bus? Bus 5 stops regularly at the shelter in the pretty village of Abergwyngregyn on the edge of the Snowdonia national park. Walk back a little way along the road and follow the sign under the tunnel. Continue along the road for about five minutes. Fork right to reach the Aber Falls distillery.
- You can take a great tour around the distillery, learning how the spirits are made. It ends with a series of generous tasters to sample the spirits distilled on site, including gins flavoured with rhubarb and ginger or marmalade or liqueurs that taste of salted toffee or gingerbread. You can even book an experience and try your hand at making gin for yourself.
