As you’re probably aware, Travels with my Coffee follows me and my coffee around various photogenic parts of the world. Typically these are non-UK locations (the previous one was Iceland, from July this year), but last weekend (and this) Amanda and I have been travelling around North Wales and, unsurprisingly, our coffee has been coming with us.

This is Amanda’s first time west of Holywell, the small town where I was born and grew up, so while (almost) everything is familiar to me, it’s all new to Amanda, who has been delighted with both the scenery and the history. For my part, I never tire of exploring North Wales, although this is the first time I’ve been this way for many years, so you’re going to be seeing a few bonus North Wales Coffee Spots.

When I wasn’t playing tour guide, I was busy taking photographs of my coffee, mostly my Global WAKECup, although my HuskeeCup also had a day out (other reusable cups are available). This was partly because it was Zero Waste Week (which ended yesterday) and, to mark the occasion, the Coffee Spot and Global WAKEcup are running a giveaway (details at the end of the post).

You can see where Amanda, my coffee and I got to after the gallery.

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Webpage Slideshow by WOWSlider.com v4.6

Our travelling actually took place over a long weekend, Friday to Monday, although Friday was spent in Chester, where we visited The Flower Cup for breakfast and Kookaburra Bakehouse for coffee and pastries. We also wandered around the city walls, popped into the Cathedral, visited the Roman Amphitheatre and finished by eating our pastries down by the river. However, no coffee photography took place until we were on our way back and I made an impromptu decision to detour via Ewloe Castle, one of the many castles built by the local Welsh princes in the 13^th Century.

The Welsh leg of the tour got underway the following day, Saturday, although I started by keeping things local, driving to Prestatyn via the Gwaenysgor lookout, so we could have breakfast at the recently-opened Caffeina Coffi. From there, we cut back inland to Dyserth to visit the waterfall, one of Wales’ less well known falls, but a charming one at that. Our final stop to see Rhuddlan Castle, the first of Edward I’s concentric castles, begun in 1277 as part of his first campaign against the Welsh.

We travelled further afield on Sunday as I took Amanda on a Welsh landscape tour, west along the A55 to Llandudno Junction, south down the Conwy valley to Betws-y-Coed and up the A5 to our first stop, the Swallow Falls. We carried on west into the heart of Snowdonia, following the A5 to Llyn Ogwen and then north down the Nant Francon pass before cutting across to Caffi Caban for a late lunch. Then it was briefly back on the road again to Llanberis and another coffee stop, this time at Rumdoodles, where we took our coffee to the shores of Llyn Padarn and on to Dolbadarn Castle, another of those built by the Welsh princes. From there, we carried on up and over Pen-y-Pass between Glyder Fawr and Snowdon itself before making our way home.

Our last day out, on Monday, took us to Llangollen via the Horseshoe Pass. I’d been there in late May when I stayed at Riverbanc. On that trip, I’d promised Sam of Sam’s Coffee that the next time I visited, I’d bring Amanda for lunch, so that’s what we did, before heading off to explore the area. We went around Valle Crucis Abbey, then visited the Horseshoe Falls, built to feed water from the River Dee into the Llangollen Canal. Finally, we headed back into Llangollen itself before stopping Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which carries the Llangollen Canal high over the River Dee as it crosses from the north side of the Dee valley to the south.

As I said at the start of this Travels with my Coffee, to mark Zero Waste Week, the Coffee Spot and Global WAKEcup are running a giveaway. Just follow both our accounts on any social media (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram), then tag a friend who’d like to go travelling with a new WAKEcup using the hashtag #TravelWithWAKEcup and include a link to this Travels with my Coffee Post.

The Global WAKEcup team will pick a winner at random on Friday, September 17^th and will be in touch with details of how to claim your new WAKEcup!

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