Day 7, EVO triangle and Portmeirion

On the seventh day of the tour, we first set off to the so called EVO triangle. This is a set of roads commonly featured in the car magazine EVO. These days, there are numerous speed cameras. So, the driving experience is less exciting. Nevertheless, there are some great views. There were also a couple of trainer jets, Hawk T2, from the nearby RAF Valley.

But before we arrived to Pentrefoelas, we got to drive some really great roads. We had to refuel after checking out from Maenan Abbey Hotel. Then we followed B5381/A458/B5384/B5113. Stunning views of Snowdonia and only a few mobile homes blocking the way.

We stopped for some ice cream in Pentrefoelas before continuing toward Portmeirion. Some great roads there as well, although the traffic was a bit to intense for any inspired driving while keeping the little group together.

Portmeirion was as quirky as we expected it to be. Very interesting history, a summary is available on the web site https://portmeirion.wales/visit. Since we’d booked a night at the hotel, admission was included. Otherwise you have to pay a few to visit the village. Checking in at the hotel was smooth and the hotel room was ok. However, the doors were not very well isolated and you could clearly hear people walking in the corridor outside. Having lunch at one of the restaurants proved that this place is all about tourist. We got a sad excuse of a Ceasar sallad. Gordon Ramsey would have been pretty upset by the look and taste. This turned out to be an early warning of what to come. We did book a dinner at the Hotel Portmeirion in the evening. Even though the restaurant wasn’t nearly full, we had to wait outside. We even had to order food and drinks in the bar before we finally where showed to our table. After a long wait for drinks and food, the staff had missed out on some of the drinking orders and started to blame each other instead of just resolving the issue. Trying to get their attention to order more drinks or deserts where very difficult.

To summarize the day, neither Evora triangle nor Portmeirion is worth the effort. If you anyhow decide to visit Portmeirion, only do so for the day and spend you night and money elsewhere.