Holyhead Cruises
The north west corner of Wales is named after its predominant mountain range – Snowdon. It is an area of great natural beauty, and has been designated as a National Park. Here can be found not only splendid mountain scenery, but also charming villages and small towns, as well as traces of the early industrial activities of mining that brought some wealth to an otherwise poor, but beautiful area.
Holyhead itself stands on the far side of Anglesey, which is technically an island separated from Wales by the narrow Menai Straits. In contrast to Snowdonia, Angelsey is quite flat, but the distant mountains provide an ever-present backdrop, enticing the visitor to investigate their beauty. The rural charm of North Wales is juxtaposed with some unexpected features, for, perhaps to the casual visitor's surprise, this is an area that has participated in some of the great moments of our history. Traveling through Snowdonia, the visitor will be charmed by the stern magnificence of the many medieval castles, for this was a period of great unrest during which the Welsh battled against the English unsuccessfully to retain their own independent kingdom. It seems that every town was fortified, and many of these castles remain in a remarkable state of preservation, despite their battle scars! Such castles as Conwy, Caernarvon and Harlech are well known, but there are many more, both large and small, all seeming to blend effortlessly into the landscape as a living reminder of the tenacity of these mountain Celts of times past. However, even to this day the Welsh still retain a strong sense of their own identity, preserving their own Welsh language and cultural traditions, many of which are to do with music and the performing arts.