The next stop is just a stone throw away from the National Slate Museum at Caernarfon Castle, one of the four castles part of a World Heritage Site linked to Edward I castles built to impress and subjugate the Welsh. Parking is easy enough to find, even though it is paid, and then it is time to find the entrance to the castle as we walk around the castle.
At least the parking is right below the castle walls so we don’t have a lot to walk but still we get an idea of the size of the castle…it is immense. At the entrance we have to buy our three day CADW passes that will cover most attractions that we will visit in the next days. It takes quite a bit for them to complete them but finally we are in what looks to be a fairy tale castle. It has big towers, small towers, scenic towers and of course walls galore.
We continue exploring the courtyard enjoying the great weather and avoiding the loud school group that seems to be everywhere. One of the things we are wondeing is why there are step like indentation in the towers, did giants live here?
After exploring the courtyard we are looking to climb towards the walls using a tower but the first two tries are a bust, one is a small exhibit only and the second one is open air with no stairs.
We finally make it up the walls to a nice view of the city and river and then continue through the walls (literally) from tower to tower. The covered passages are quite cool to explore and we never know exactly where we are until we can actually see outside.
We climb to the top of a few towers, an exhausting feat but well rewarded with nice views of the castle and surrounding area.
Our exploration ends abruptly in a museum dedicated to the Royal Welch Fusiliers. While it is interesting it is a bit jarring to see the new uniforms and weaponry in a medieval castle…
We try finding a different way to return and we do so on the parapets with some additional great views of the castle from different vantage points.
Of course there are some crows and gulls that are eyeing as wary especially as we examine the flowers. Maybe they have a nest nearby who knows. But we escape unscathed and then it is time to exit the castle and return to the parking.
We decide to take the long way around exploring the other old buildings along the way. While they are old though they seem to be newer than the castle which makes sense, there shouldn’t have been any buildings near the castle walls while it was used as a defensive fortification.
We also enter in a few gift shops and buy some souvenirs. As overall in England the coronation information is everywhere, we couldn’t escape to know about it even if we tried. And then it is time to move on towards the next castle which is the only one that was unfinished but is supposed to be the most scenic one, we will see.
