Page 222 - WDT Magazine Egypt

By Carl Larsen

A Victorian Experience

On the Welsh Coast

e all know how the
W Downton Abbey
crowd partied in their Edwardian finest, but what
about the rest of us?
For that, I traveled to Llandudno, Wales, to see how
the British – the factory workers and rising middle
class – enjoyed themselves more than a century ago
on Victorian or Edwardian holidays.
It’s all here, still to see, a bit of yesteryear beckon-
ing those wanting to sample a slower life. You’d call it
“value for money” tourism at this Riviera of the North.
And what a surprise this resort town, perched along
a bay on the Irish Sea, offers those who want a relax- Seen from the Great Orme headland,
ing respite. Llandudno’s promenade sweeps in a
Palm trees. A sun-drenched beach (when the gentle arc along the Irish Sea coast.
weather obliges), and its calling card – an impressive
arc of Georgian-styled buildings sweeping along a
broad seafront promenade.
Without a lot of imagination, this could have been
the stylish Promenade des Anglais on the Mediterra-
nean in Nice, France.
But this was Wales – a nation that for many Ameri-
cans is off the beaten track of packaged visit Britain
holidays.
And I was only four hours away from London by
Photo by Reinhard Kruschel
frequent, high-speed rail service. (Coming from the
west, it’s five hours to Llandudno from Dublin, Ireland,
via ferry and connecting train.)

222 WDT MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018