Prestatyn to Llandudno along the coast questions.

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I think the smart thing to do may be to hop on a train in Prestatyn and get off at somewhere like Shotton. I'm guessing it wouldn't be expensive and if it was me with kids and a trailer I would do this. This way you get all the nice NCN5 bits to Talacre (and they are really nice) then the nice stuff on the Wirral afterwards and you can avoid what is almost certainly the only unpleasant bit of your route
That's what Mrs C. did last year on her Wales sojourn. I persuaded her to give the A548 a miss on the grounds it's shooter than a shoot thing.
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
Actually @Crackle has made me think a bit about the A548 stretch from Talacre to Connah's Quay

It really is a bit rubbish...it's busy and not at all scenic

I think the smart thing to do may be to hop on a train in Prestatyn and get off at somewhere like Shotton. I'm guessing it wouldn't be expensive and if it was me with kids and a trailer I would do this. This way you get all the nice NCN5 bits to Talacre (and they are really nice) then the nice stuff on the Wirral afterwards and you can avoid what is almost certainly the only unpleasant bit of your route

It is a shame that that stretch doesn't have any decent cycling facilities as it'd surely open up that route for anyone coming from the Chester direction. We're taking the train for a number of reasons from Holyhead to Llanfairfechan after we get off the ferry then riding to Colwyn Bay for our first night.

A quick search says we'll pay £23.50 for a single 19 minute journey from Prestatyn to Shotton. I can't believe the price of the trains. £8.50 can get you a 2 1/2 train ride from Belfast to Dublin here, albeit booking advance online. Are there any ways of booking smart on the Arriva trains bar a few weeks before on their site?
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
It looks like you're following the Wirral circular trail, which is a mixture of shared use pavement next to the road, some nice bits through Eastham and some quiet roads and industrial roads. I've never done it but as you say, it should get the job done.

All the trains have cycle spaces at either end of the train, marked by a bicycle on the door. So the three train carriages have spaces front and back, so it is definitely an option. Bache will probably be the closest one from the zoo.

I've ridden all the roads @Sixmile and @Crackle have mentioned, as I live near to Birkenhead and work at the Countess of Chester Hospital, right by Bache Station. Get the train from Bache and forget trying to ride it, as your only route choices are relatively poor, especially if you have a trailer with children.

There is only one good route that you can take, but it's quite long, around 35miles to get you from Chester to Birkenhead, basically you head back into Chester from the Zoo and pick up the Greenway from there and head towards Burton Marshes. There is a short stretch through an industrial park, but it's all cycleway and signposted. Once on the marshes you stay on them until Neston, then pick up the Wirral Circular and follow it to Seacombe, all around the peninsular. It is a lovely route, and totally safe, being 90% cycle / dual use footpath and one I often ride for pleasure, but being realistic, it will take you 3 hours or so with a trailer, possibly closer to 4, so with your need to catch a ferry, I'd take the safer option.

The route @Crackle suggested is a good one, although that stretch of the A41 is very very busy around 5pm, and the cycle provision along that stretch is poor. There is a footpath you can cycle along, but its surface is shockingly bad, and the gutter of the road is often strewn with debris and glass. I ride primary all the way down that section.

Your original route is quieter, but again not one that I would choose to take with a trailer. The roads around the back of the Zoo are appalling, it is very rough and pot holed, and often dirty as well, so if the weather is wet you will have a miserable few miles. You should be fine then until you get to Ellesmere port and the route you've chosen looks like it goes down North Road past the Vauxhall plant. You have to pass under the M53 if that is the case, and the subway to do that, is quite tight and twisty, but manageable, however once you are on North Road, there are a lot of lorries and again the road surface is quite poor and littered with glass and other things which have fallen from the lorries, and remains like that more or less until you get to Eastham Country Park, at which point the ride becomes nice again, and you can stay on a good route more or less to Birkenhead.

I'm not trying to say it's a difficult route, because it's not, and for the most part it's rideable and I would have no problem taking someone on that route, but there is a raised risk of puncture, and with a trailer and a deadline I'd suggest the train.
 
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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Just as a final thought you could follow @Crackle's route for a distance, and then cut across the wirral using country lanes through Willaston and Raby, which would put you in Bromborough, and from there the route is mostly suburban, and quite cycle friendly with places having good cycle provision.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
It is a shame that that stretch doesn't have any decent cycling facilities as it'd surely open up that route for anyone coming from the Chester direction. We're taking the train for a number of reasons from Holyhead to Llanfairfechan after we get off the ferry then riding to Colwyn Bay for our first night.

A quick search says we'll pay £23.50 for a single 19 minute journey from Prestatyn to Shotton. I can't believe the price of the trains. £8.50 can get you a 2 1/2 train ride from Belfast to Dublin here, albeit booking advance online. Are there any ways of booking smart on the Arriva trains bar a few weeks before on their site?

I had a quick look at train tickets. For Prestatyn to Shotton there is only "Anytime" tickets available. However, for example, you can book an "Advance" (

you have to book a specific train) all the way from Llandudno to Manchester for only a couple of pounds more.

There must be some Advance tickets available for some part of Llandudno to Manchester that you could use Prestatyn to Shotton for some saving. The way they work is, for example, you have a Llandudno to Manchester ticket you can just get on at Prestatyn and get off at Shotton

I like a challenge...I'll have a play around with a booking site
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
Thanks again for the replies and suggestions. I'll definitely consider them and see what is possible. If the weather is bad then more than likely the trip won't happen but it's the UK, it's July, it'll be glorious... fingers crossed!

Getting the train certainly would help but we intend to try and bike as much as possible. So far we're definitely getting the train from Belfast to Dublin, then from Holyhead to Llanferfechan then it has been suggested we get a train from Prestatyn to Connahs Quay and another from Chester to Birkenhead. If we do them all, we'll not be on the bikes much. I like the challenge of working these things out and our timings are flexible enough to do certain parts of the trip when it's quieter or just do it in smaller chunks.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Thanks again for the replies and suggestions. I'll definitely consider them and see what is possible. If the weather is bad then more than likely the trip won't happen but it's the UK, it's July, it'll be glorious... fingers crossed!

Getting the train certainly would help but we intend to try and bike as much as possible. So far we're definitely getting the train from Belfast to Dublin, then from Holyhead to Llanferfechan then it has been suggested we get a train from Prestatyn to Connahs Quay and another from Chester to Birkenhead. If we do them all, we'll not be on the bikes much. I like the challenge of working these things out and our timings are flexible enough to do certain parts of the trip when it's quieter or just do it in smaller chunks.

Prestatyn to Connahs Quay is doable, provided you don't mind a bit of climbing, if I was going to do it, I'd go more or less this way, it's not too bad, mostly what you can consider rolling rather than hilly, and it gives you a nice roll into shotton where you can pick up the main cycle routes around Chester easily enough, including the Greenway route directly into the city centre (all off road).

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19926803
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Thanks again for the replies and suggestions. I'll definitely consider them and see what is possible. If the weather is bad then more than likely the trip won't happen but it's the UK, it's July, it'll be glorious... fingers crossed!

Getting the train certainly would help but we intend to try and bike as much as possible. So far we're definitely getting the train from Belfast to Dublin, then from Holyhead to Llanferfechan then it has been suggested we get a train from Prestatyn to Connahs Quay and another from Chester to Birkenhead. If we do them all, we'll not be on the bikes much. I like the challenge of working these things out and our timings are flexible enough to do certain parts of the trip when it's quieter or just do it in smaller chunks.

Why take a train from Holyhead to Llanfairfechan? Or am I misreading your post?

Here is the route I took from Llandudno to Holyhead (plus a few diversions along the way).

https://www.strava.com/activities/293209422

I made a mistake and went on the A55 for a mile or so which isn't recommended. The A4080 is a quiet road around Anglesey

That bit is really nice, as is the bit from Colywn Bay to Talacre.
 

mybike

Grumblin at Garmin on the Granny Gear
I think you asked for lunch places, the Tides, west of Abergele is rather good. It has a big car park and racks for bikes between it and the sea.
 

Sixmile

Veteran
Location
N Ireland
Why take a train from Holyhead to Llanfairfechan? Or am I misreading your post?

Here is the route I took from Llandudno to Holyhead (plus a few diversions along the way).

https://www.strava.com/activities/293209422

I made a mistake and went on the A55 for a mile or so which isn't recommended. The A4080 is a quiet road around Anglesey

That bit is really nice, as is the bit from Colywn Bay to Talacre.

You read correctly. There's no way I could do 3000ft of climbing on a 15kg bike pulling a 55kg trailer.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
You read correctly. There's no way I could do 3000ft of climbing on a 15kg bike pulling a 55kg trailer.

Having done all of the Holyhead to Talacre route myself (albeit in reverse) I have just created the route I would take

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/20004000

There may be better options on Anglesey but this one worked OK. After Bangor this is pretty well the prescribed cycling route of NCN5 except I've missed out Llandudno. I agree it is going to be hard work with the heavy trailer but this really is about as flat as you can make the route. Prevailing wind is a tailwind which, if you get it, will help a lot as it's quite exposed in places
 
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