Caernarfonshire

Caernarfonshire (Sir Gaernarfon in Welsh, formerly known as Carnarvonshire and then Caernarvonshire in English) is one of the traditional counties of Northern Wales. The county council was abolished in 1974; after about 20 years administered by Gwynedd it is now split between Gwynedd and Conwy.

Geography & Economy

Pen-y-Clip Tunnel on the A55

Caernarfonshire consists of the northwestern section of the Welsh mainland and includes the Creuddyn and Lleyn Peninsulas. The latter is largely low-lying but further east the county moves into the mountains of Snowdonia, including the eponymous mountain itself. The county's eastern border runs along the Vale of Conwy. Although Caernarfonshire has a long coastline with most of its large settlements along it, it is not well-known for being by the sea. Porthdinllaen, near Morfa Nefyn, was nearly chosen to be a major port but lost out to Holyhead so remains a small fishing village. Llandudno and Pwllheli are both seaside resorts. Caernarfon and Conwy each have a famous castle and town walls but the majority of tourists come to Caernarfonshire to visit Snowdonia. Bangor claims the oldest bishopric and longest High Street in Britain.

Roads

The A4086 near Llanberis

Caernarfonshire's road network is built around its geography and centres of population. Roads in Snowdonia are forced to follow the passes, with the A55 even having to tunnel due to the lack of space between the hills and the sea; this road also tunnels under the River Conwy. Although Lleyn has much more suitable terrain for road construction, its lack of large settlements means few roads are needed. The North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent maintains the county's four trunk roads: the A55 along the north coast and into Anglesey, the A5 from Bangor into Snowdonia, the A470 skirting the east of the county, and the A487 skirting Snowdonia to the west. Most non-trunk roads in Caernarfonshire are maintained by Gwynedd Council, whilst the few roads in the east (mostly around Llandudno and the Vale of Conwy) are maintained by Conwy CBC. Two bridges connect Caernarfonshire with Anglesey: the Menai Suspension Bridge carries the A5 but most traffic crosses the Britannia Bridge, which carries the A55 and railway line.

Route	From	To	Length
A5	London	Holyhead	252 miles	View
A55	Holyhead	Chester	88 miles	View
A470	Cardiff	Llandudno	185.1 miles	View
A487	Haverfordwest	Menai Bridge	173.8 miles	View
A497	Minfford	Nefyn	22.5 miles	View
A498	Porthmadog	Pen-y-Gwryd	14.8 miles	View
A499	Llanwnda	Abersoch	23.7 miles	View
A544	Waterloo Bridge, Betws-y-Coed	Llandudno	19.4 miles	View
A546	Llandudno Junction	Llandudno	4.8 miles	View
A547	Conwy	Prestatyn	24.0 miles	View
A4085	Penrhyndeudraeth	Caernarfon	19.7 miles	View
A4085	Tremadog	Llanwnda	15.0 miles	View
A4086	Caernarfon	Capel Curig	17.9 miles	View
A4087	Bangor	Capel-y-Graig	3.2 miles	View
A4087	Menai Bridge	Capel-y-Graig	1.8 miles	View
A4244	Brynrefail	Llys-y-gwynt	6.6 miles	View
A4971	Bodawen	Porthmadog	2.5 miles	View
A5110	Conwy	Tal-y-Cafn	4.5 miles	View
A5122	Llys-y-Gwynt	Capel-y-Graig	6.3 miles	View
B4354	Chwilog(E)	Tan-y-graig	9.2 miles	View
B4366	Caernarfon	Groeslon roundabout	5.3 miles	View
B4406	Conwy Falls	Penmachno	2.4 miles	View
B4407	Pont yr Afon Gam	Pentrefoelas (W)	9.9 miles	View
B4407	Llan Ffestiniog	Conwy	29.3 miles	View
B4409	Bethesda	Glasinfryn	3.2 miles	View
B4410	Tan-y-bwlch	Prenteg	5.4 miles	View
B4411	Glan-Dwyfach	Criccieth	4.3 miles	View
B4412	Bryncynan Inn	Morfa Nefyn	1.1 miles	View
B4413	Aberdaron	Llanbedrog	12.7 miles	View
B4414	Llanbedrog	Abersoch	2.7 miles	View
B4415	Nanhoron	Efailnewydd	6.1 miles	View
B4416	Nefyn	Bryncynan Inn	1.0 mile	View
B4417	Pen-y-groeslon	Llanaelhaearn	16.2 miles	View
B4418	Penygroes	Rhyd Ddu	7.5 miles	View
B4419	Victoria Dock, Caernarfon	St David's Road roundabout	0.86 miles	View
B4547	Capel-y-graig	Groeslon roundabout	2.1 miles	View
B5106	Conwy	Betws-y-coed	15.1 miles	View
B5107	Caernarfon Road	Holyhead Road	0.1 miles	View
B5113	Colwyn Bay	Pentrefoelas	22.2 miles	View
B5114 (Llanrhos)	Llanrhos	Tywyn	2.3 miles	View
B5115	Colwyn Bay	Tywyn, Llandudno	6.4 miles	View
B5279	Tal-y-cafn	Ty'n-y-groes	0.9 miles	View
B5443	Llanddulas	Abergele	2.7 miles	View
T11	London	Holyhead		View
T19	Chester	Bangor		View
T81	Fishguard	Bangor		View
T85	Maentwrog	East of Conwy		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Caernarfonshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Caernarfonshire