Retracing Charles Darwin’s travels across North Wales

13 May 2024 - 6 days for £2,995

Uncover the best of Wales as you explore the dramatic Welsh landscapes of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park and examine the regions geology and how it has been transformed by volcanic and glacial activity over the years. Discover the story of Charles Darwin's 1831 and 1842 tours of Wales, and retrace his travels on this small group journey to Shrewsbury and Snowdonia. 

The Snowdonia scenery has been hundreds of millions of years in the making, and is dominated by sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. You will also be accompanied throughout by Darwin expert Michael Roberts, who will immerse you in the story of Darwin’s life, as you explore the famous evolutionary biologist's hometown of Shrewsbury, as well as enjoying short walks in Snowdonia to the exact locations Darwin visited on his tours. Geology Professor, Rob Knipe, will also join you to delve deep into the beautiful landscape and geology of this area.  

Admire sites such as South Stack Lighthouse on Anglesey, scenic Llyn Ogwen and the incredible glacier-formed landscapes around Llanberis and Cwm Idwal. See signs of Welsh history and conflict around ruined forts and well-kept castles.

You will be joined by Darwin expert, Michael Roberts, who will immerse you in the story of Darwin’s life, as you explore the famous evolutionary biologist's hometown of Shrewsbury, as well as enjoying short walks in Snowdonia and see incredible sights. Hear how Darwin trained in understanding the Welsh landscape and geology before his famous voyage of discovery on HMS Beagle, which led to the groundbreaking Theory of Evolution. Visit the beautiful Anglesey, with its rich geological treasures and impressive coastlines, learn about Darwin's travels here with Cambridge Professor Adam Sedgwick.

Enjoy comfortable accommodation throughout your tour, starting with a Darwin-themed Georgian townhouse in Shrewsbury that boasts a relaxing garden and well-appointed rooms. Travel on to a welcoming country house hotel and restaurant in north Wales, offering an exceptional menu of delicious Welsh dishes.

Take away a unique experience of travelling in Wales and Snowdonia, with a fascinating look at Darwin’s life and work, and enjoy walks to areas of incredible beauty and interest.

In partnership with GeoCultura.

DAY 1: SHREWSBURY – DARWIN'S HOMETOWN

Your journey begins in the welcoming town of Shrewsbury, where you will meet up with your tour leader and Michael Roberts, your Darwin expert guide and Rob Knipe from GeoCultura, and the rest of the group at Darwin’s Townhouse, your hotel for the night. Named after and dedicated to the man himself, this boutique hotel is the perfect springboard for your journey into Wales.

Michael will set the scene for Charles Darwin’s tour of Wales with an engaging talk on the theories of the time, Darwin’s own beliefs and ideas, and the importance of the 1831 Wales expedition to Darwin’s landmark voyage on HMS Beagle, which departed later that year.

DAY 2: INTO WALES - ON DARWIN'S TRAIL

Enjoy breakfast in Shrewsbury, before travelling over the border into Wales, and following Darwin’s route through the rolling foothills of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

On the way, stop off at a number of sites where Darwin was taught to ‘read the rocks and landscapes’ by Professor Adam Sedgewick. You will also see the impressive Chirk Aqueduct, 800-year-old Chirk Castle, and the hilltop ruin of Castle Dinas Bran. 

Rounding off the day, you will travel through Gwydir Forest Park to reach your accommodation for the next few days, Ty’n Rhos. This comfortable, 19-bedroom country house hotel is the ideal place to unwind after the day’s expedition.

DAY 3: CWM IDWAL – MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS AND LAKES

Heading out from Ty’n Rhos, the morning’s drive will take you to the Cwm Idwal, the very first Welsh National Nature Reserve, and an important site in Charles Darwin’s scientific life.

With its own plant life and distinctive, fossil-filled boulders, Cwm Idwal and Llyn Ogwen Lake helped to spark Darwin’s understanding of rock movements and deep time. He also revisited the area in later years, and enhanced his knowledge on how glaciation created the extraordinary landscape.

Leaving the valley, you will take lunch at Plas y Brenin, an old coaching inn where Darwin stayed and dined. Plas y Brenin has superb views of Wales’ tallest mountain, the towering Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa, in Welsh). Snowdonia is an uplifted, 400-million-year-old volcanic centre, and a product of a millennia of ice ages and glacial movement – all key inspirations for Darwin as he developed his understanding of landscapes. 

You will spend the afternoon tracking Darwin’s journey across Snowdonia. Highlights include assessing the glacial landscapes of Nant Peris and a visit to the National Slate Museum at Llanberis, a site dedicated to one of Wales’ most famous and contested exports (the origin of slates was a significant scientific controversy in Darwin’s time). The Museum contains the largest working waterwheel in Britain, and exhibitions showing how slate workers lived and worked.

DAY 4: ANGLESEY - INTO THE UNKNOWN

Today you will be exploring what is now considered part of Darwin’s first tour. No official records show that Darwin visited the Isle of Anglesey, but Michael’s research has uncovered plenty of evidence to suggest that he accompanied Cambridge Professor Adam Sedgwick to the island.

Your Anglesey tour will take you to the north-west corner of the island and the dramatic coastal scenery and 1809 lighthouse at South Stack. Darwin and Sedgwick’s tour was guided by John Stevens Henslow and his pioneering new geological map of Anglesey. Also a Cambridge Professor, Henslow became Darwin’s friend and mentor, a sounding board for his developing thoughts and ideas, and the man who ‘fixed’ Darwin’s place on board the Beagle. 

Darwin’s finds on Anglesey, including small areas of rare serpentinite rocks holding fragments of ancient oceans, helped him propose a new hypothesis for the origin of the St Peter and St Paul Archipelago in the Atlantic, which he visited during his voyage on the Beagle.

You will also visit the fascinating Parys Mountain, a huge source of copper which has been mined for 4,000 years, leaving vivid streaks of colour spattered across the landscape. On our way off the island, you will pick up some culture at the Oriel Môn, a gallery dedicated to Welsh art and artists, such as the famous landscape painter Sir Kyffin Williams.

DAY 5: RETURN TO SHREWSBURY: SITES OF SNOWDOWNIA

It’s time to bid farewell to Ty’n Rhos and head back to Shrewsbury, but don’t worry – the journey back is through the spectacular landscapes of southern Snowdonia.

After a pleasant morning stop in a Welsh vineyard, head south through Snowdonia, following part of the ‘long walk’ Darwin made in 1831 to meet his Cambridge friends in Barmouth. A few stops along the way will reveal some of the key geological wonders Darwin and other geological giants of the 1800’s visited. Like Darwin, we will lunch in Barmouth. 

From here, you will pass around the Cadair Idris mountain, with its shark-toothed profile, and hear the tales about earlier giants from Welsh folklore that have ‘inhabited’ this landscape.

DAY 6: DARWIN'S TOWN AND JOURNEY'S END

It’s nearly the end of the Wales tour, but there’s time to explore the start of Darwin’s story, with visits to key locations from his early life.

After a restful night at Darwin’s Townhouse, you’ll have the morning to take a guided tour around Shrewsbury. Accompanied by your expert, take in the significant sites from Darwin’s childhood. Darwin was born in Shrewsbury in 1809 and the town still holds his historic home, The Mount, and the distinct rounded church of St Chad’s where he was baptised. We also plan to have a private visit to the famous Shrewsbury School to view some of Darwin’s letters and manuscripts, not normally accessible to the public.

Other places of interest are Darwin’s old school (now the town library), and the enigmatic ‘Bellstone’, a mysterious rock that was later demystified when Darwin returned to the town armed with geological knowledge. Famously, Darwin’s tour of Wales (which you have just retraced) concluded in Shrewsbury, where he received the coveted invitation to join the Beagle voyage and sailed into history.

The tour will conclude in the late morning, and you’ll be able to continue exploring the historic delights of Shrewsbury or begin the journey home.