Hill Country Bus Services in Wales
Since the advent of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay, there seems to have been a willingness to plug the gaps in the Welsh railway network through the development of a network of interurban buses under the TrawsCambria brand. Other than this, the Welsh seem to be good users of buses generally and that ensures a none too shabby set of useful services. There are a few collected here but there are many more than this so I have got some more collecting to be doing. I hope that you find the list helpful but, if you do need to look further afield, please take a look at my public transport blog. As well as additions, I also hope to keep what’s here as up to date as I can. If there are any oversights, please do send me a message and I’ll be happy to rectify things.
5 Wrexham-Llangollen
5A Wrexham-Llangollen-Chirk
Now deprived of a connection to the National Rail network, a regular bus service is what performs sterling service in getting folk between Wrexham and the alluring place that is Llangollen. On Sundays and bank holidays, it’s the turn of the hourly 5A to do the job with the more frequent 5 operating on other days of the week. Seeing a service level of up to every 15 minutes does make you wonder if it was folly to have removed that railway in the first place, especially with a heritage railway extending west from Llangollen as well.
6 Bangor-Mynnydd Llandygai-Bethesda
7 Bangor-Tregarth-Bethesda
66 Bangor-Rachub-Bethesda-Gerlan
76 Bangor-Rachub-Bethesda-Gerlan
77 Bangor-Tregarth-Bethesda
It may look down at heel in parts and there is a quarry in its vicinity but Bethesda is another good and less than obvious access point for Welsh hills. It is also well connected to nearby Bangor by bus for those arriving by train, even if there is a ten minute trot required to get you from train station to bus station. Service 7′s timetable lists all the times for the hourly Sunday service 67 whose frequency is a complete contrast to what’s available during the rest of the week.
6 Timetable
7 Timetable
66 Timetable
76 Timetable
77 Timetable
19 Llandudno-Llanrwst(& Betws-y-Coed)
The lower Conwy Valley may not strike you as place from which to enter open hill country but you’d be very wrong. Places like Dolgarrog and Tal-y-Bont are perfect starting points for hikes towards the Carneddau and other hills, once you haul yourself up the steep wooded slopes for the first 200 metres or so of height. Being hourly on Sundays makes the service very valuable and having up to half-hourly frequency on weekdays makes it all the better, especially when it calls at Llandudno Junction station so that train travellers can use it easily as well.
32/X32 Bangor-Porthmadog-Dolgellau-Machynlleth-Aberystwyth
For a long time, I hadn’t this in the list and the reason somewhat escapes me as it passes through hill country for most of the way between Machynlleth and Portmadog. If you fancy approaching Cadair Idris or the Rhingau from a different, it might make a good option, especially with it none too shabby frequency on weekdays (there are only two each way on Sundays and bank holidays).
39/39A Brecon-Talgarth-Hay-on-Wye-Kingstone-Hereford
From the point of view of getting to Brecon and away,this seven day cross-border service would be the one that I might be using on Sundays and bank holidays when the X43 doesn’t extend as far as Abergavenny. There may only be two a day but that’s much better than nothing at all and a weekend getaway becomes all the easier as a consequence. The frequency is next to two-hourly on other days of the week and that cannot be too bad. That it also skirts the Black Mountains too has to be another feather in its cap.
704 Brecon-Builth Wells-Llandrindod Wells-Newtown
It may be part of the TrawsCambria network but it is a lesser player with its not operating on Sundays or bank holidays. Even so, the two-hourly service remains a useful option though it links to a less frequent railway in the shape of the Cambrian line. Saying that, there are hopes to have an hourly service on the section between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth.
X1 Llandudno-Blaenau Ffestiniog
This Monday-Saturday service performs an invaluable function as it makes its way up and down the Conwy valley. Its frequency is next to hourly, a very useful thing when you miss the infrequent trains that run the same way, and it calls at Llandudno Junction train station too. Both of those features make getting to Blaenau Ffestiniog or Dolwyddelan for some walking so much easier.
X43 Abergavenny-Brecon
470 Brecon-Merthyr Tydfil-Cardiff
The old X43 that linked Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Brecon seven days a week with extensions to Abergavenny on every day apart from Sunday is no more. In its place we have two services in its place that no longer on Sundays either. The new shortened X43 is operated by Stagecoach with Sixty Sixty Coaches operating a new 470 between Brecon and Cardiff. Service frequencies aren’t unrespectable with the X43 now being part of the TrawsCambria network too.
X94 Wrexham-Bala-Dolgellau-Barmouth
Now replicating a journey that was once possible by rail, this useful bus service is one that I have used quite a few times. Between Dolgellau and Barmouth, the weekday service is hourly but, east of that, a two hourly weekday service level prevails. Sunday service is much reduced from this again so care is the watchword when it comes to using it. Even with its limitations, this part of the TrawsCambria network remains invaluable and I hope that it continues to grow in usefulness and usage.
