There is one more castle in the four Unesco World Heritage Site castles that we haven’t visited yet, Harlech castle. It is late in the day but in for a penny in for a pound I guess and it is also on our route southwards. The route itself is quite scenic but it doesn’t lend itself to high speed limits as it is very curvy and it would be a nightmare to drive on an icy day.
We arrive at the castle about one hour before close so in we go as soon as possible after admiring the castle from outside. We agree that we were right to stop as it is different from the other castles, it sits on top of a rocky crag and the sea is far in the distance, not right next to it. The entrance is on a new bridge, luckily no drawbridge awaits today’s intrepid explorers.
The main entrance is suitable impressive but we are more flummoxed by a red blocker with a person informing as that we cannot enter the courtyard from here. We ask “Then from where?” and she shrugs “I am not from here, so I do not know the layout”. Ok, that is a bit weird but we decide to explore at least the main towers that we have access to from here and then find a way around the blockage.
The climb is suitably impressive and after a lot of huffing and puffing we are at the top with a 360 view of the surrounding countryside. We can see the sea in the distance which is a surprise as we know that Edward I specifically built his castles near the sea for easy resupply, what happened?
Looking towards the entrance we can see the parking lot far below and we are wondering how the archers/gunners were able to hit the people on the ground, they are like ants from here?!
Descending we explore the towers a bit more – they are impressive even in their ruined state and a good breeding ground for pigeons and gulls given their number of ledges and easy access.
Now it is time to explore if there is a way to get around the blockage. We find cannon balls and dead ends and then…success…we find a way outside around the walls and we start on it, maybe there is an entrance on the back. Here we find an informative panel explaining that the water actually reached the foot of the rocky crag and there is a stair that was going from the castle to the mooring point. But since then the water retreated significantly and now the castle seems to sit inland.
As we round the walls, besides the informational panels, the most interesting point is a toilet chute that you can look inside and see the toilets on the walls far up. We really do not want to think how the walls were looking in medieval times….And then we find an entrance and now we have a good view of the repairs happening at the entrance gate. They look extensive but not that dangerous to not let people through but who knows.
Now it is time to explore the walls, it is an easier climb than for the gate towers and soon we are on the top enjoying the great views.
The walk itself has really low parapets which could be dangerous for little children but we enjoy the uninterupted views on both sides.
One of the things we are eyeing along the way is a weird staircase that descends from the wall towards one of the towers. It looks narrow and dangerous exactly what we like :). We are surprised that we are allowed to descend and ascend on it, it is quite exhilarating and we take lots of photos along the way.
Before we leave we enter the gift shops along the main square to buy some souvenirs and also take a few more photos of the castle from multiple angles as it is quite photogenic. And then it is time to continue south towards Cardiff which is still quite a distance away.
