Am I mad to consider an October holiday in North Wales?

[TwoPersephone]

Am I mad to consider an October holiday in North Wales? We would love to show the dc loads of castles and mountains, it sounds like a really great idea, but... is the weather awful in Wales in October? Will it be dreary and awful? We are generally very good at ignoring bad weather and just getting on with it, and the summer is far too expensive for us to go on holiday in this year.

Tell me if I am sane to consider it? If so, does anyone have any cottage suggestions or locations?

Well it can't be any worse than August.
We go to Wales every year (Aberdyfi) and the last 5 years have been dreadful- gloomy, cold, wet. So much so that I refuse to do it next year, and I love the place!
How old are dcs?

The weather in North Wales is totally unpredictable, even in August, so I would say October is as good a time as any to go, especially for castles. And steam trains.

Mountains - well just make sure you are properly kitted out and know what you are doing, and don't take any risks if visibilty is poor etc. And the weather has a tendency to change up mountains - you can start off in the sun and soon get into mist and rain. Or vice versa.

We usually stay in Capel Curig.

I grew up in N wales and it rains all year round
seriously though it has some breathtaking places and if you take good waterproofs and wellies etc... you may be lucky and get a bit of this indian summer we've been promised!

Thank you all for your advice, so to summerise, yes it may rain - but its worth it

DD is 5 1/2 and DS is 2 1/2 so we wont be climbing any mountains, far too woosey to try any of that malarky! We like to do interesting things on holiday and it does look as if there is a lot to do in North Wales.

Which is the best bit, along the top or along the edge near Anglesey? Any villages that you suggest? Any indoor things for when it rains?

We're staying at Bodelwyddan just outside Conwy towards the end of Sept. We used to go almost every other year when I was growing up and stayed in a variety of places along the north coast and Anglesey. I have enduring memories of playing crazy golf in so much rain that the pockets of my rain mac filled up w water. It hasn't scarred me

I holidayed in N Wales every year as a child. Builds character.

We are actually going back in Oct half term, fingers crossed it doesn't chuck it down EVERY day.

We go to South Wales- can't rely on the weather at any time of the year so October is as good as anywhere in Wales I reckon.
We were there at the weekend getting sunburnt (obviously not the DCs ) on the beach on Saturday and in a howling gale on Sunday

'anytime' in Wales

We are off to anglesey for half term. We've only been on Uk based holidays for last three years and have always been remarkably lucky with the weather, no rain even in February or October. So you can expect good weather in North Wales between 22 and 30 October < touch wood>

:O

TY for the encouragement!

You do realise we are all going to blame you if the weather is less than impressive now, wing?

I don't mind if it rains, we can sit in the car facing the sea with a bag of chips, or go down a slate mine, or on a steam train, or just play ruddy scrabble in the caravan if all else fails.

One of the best holidays I ever had was in North Wales - a small village called Dinas Dinle (or something like that, my welsh isn't great) but it was near Caenarfon, amazing beaches, and everything was nearby. We went to this amazing tin mine that had been turned into a whole King Arthur themed tour. Our 3 year old ds loved it - he still talks about that holiday. And we went in October, it was great.

Hey - amazing I was nearly right. Place was Dinas Dinlle. Tiny village, gorgeous beach, and there were loads of cottages and a caravan park, if that tickles your fancy!

Oh god, Edam, the pressure!!! Roll on the worst weather Anglesey has seen for 20 years and I'll be spending a wet week in Wales worrying about a whole pile of MNers having a shit time thanks to me...

Can I also recommend the sea zoo on Anglesey in case of rain? Is very good and all indoors.

I always know a heatwave is extreme when I see weather forecasters saying 'and temperatures today in Blaenau Ffestiniog reached .'

It always rains in Blaenau, always.

hmmmmm, we just returned a day early from our bank holiday weekend in North Wales. There's only so much rain you can take.

Annoying, that's not the sort of attitude that won us the Empire!

I love the way you can go to a British beach on a rainy day and see people huddled in raincoats sitting in deckchairs desperately pretending to have fun.

We came home a day early from camping in Anglesey same as annoying , thankfully my tent coped with the wind and rain
wing we went to the sea zoo but were pretty dissapointed tbh we did it slowly in 45 mins and £25 lighter.

Ah well can't please everyone. We really enjoyed it but then DH somewhat obsessed with fish...

Well we are going on an autumn half term surfing hol in Cornwall! Just expect the worst weather wise (and plan accordingly) then anything better is a bonus.

The weather can be glorious in the autumn!

If you're staying in a valley, your chances of rain are quite high. Like the Lake District, the clue is in the geography. And, as someone has said, it ALWAYS rains in Blaenau.

3 golden rules from one who lives here...

1. Don't camp, get a cottage with a log fire.
2. Get a copy of 'The Good Beer Guide' and try and stay in a village with a pub doing decent beer.
3. Take wellies and waterproofs.

A great holiday guaranteed !

As they say - there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!