Portmeirion Village, Portmeirion

This was a truly unique place to visit! It's a charming quirky world of meandering streets and clifftop towers at this famous village resort on the coast of Snowdonia. The architecture and views are just amazing although we probably enjoyed the extensive gardens the best. It was made famous when 'The Prisoner' was filmed here back in the 60s, although it was more famous to my little ones (and me!) as being the place where Captain Adorable from Gigglebiz is filmed for Cbeebies! There are lots of shops and cafes but Portmeirion is probably more suited to older children, as there is nothing here specifically for children. All the same, we had a really lovely time here. We also took advantage of entry being half price after 3.30pm but still found that there was plenty of time to have a really good stroll around.

The architect who created Portmeirion wanted to recreate the feel of the italian riviera, although it actually had more of a feel of southern germany to us. All the buildings are beautiful and painted in lovely colours, but all seem to be about 3/4 of a normal size. Many of them have now been converted into cafes, restuarants and shops. The village is situated on a beautiful estuary and also has a botanical garden which you can walk around (although we didn't have time). The view over the estuary is beautiful and the children loved playing on the stone yacht which has been built into the wall. There is a hotel which you can stay in overnight and enjoy the village when it has been closed to other vistiors, but it is expensive. We arrived at 3pm at which point it becomes half price, which in addition to the family ticket made a visit reasonable. It is a lovely and interesting place to wander around but no activities specifically aimed at young children. Older children would get more out of a visit.

Portmeirion was the setting the popular 70's tv series the prisoner. It has a beautiful mediteranean feel when you arrive with its decadent architecture and it is wonderful to know that people actually live here. It is set right on the coast so there are beautiful views across the sea and it is definately a place to go one a bright summers day. The gardens were the main feature for us and you can spend hours walking through the surrounding park land with many exotic plant types. We particularly enjoyed the walk up the the pets graveyard deep in the forst. Whilst here you can purchase portmeirion pottery andalso lots of 'The prisoner' trinkets for any fans. This is a lovely day out and is suitable for older children.