Wales on a motorcycle

Riding through Wales means a blend of quiet country lanes, rugged hills and hidden valleys where the air feels fresh and the pace slows. Over seven days and approximately 1900 km, the four of us set off from the ferry in Hull and explored the heart of the country — from the peaks of Snowdonia National Park to the wild terrain of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The video below shows a few highlights from the ride. In the sections that follow, you’ll also find the full route, downloadable GPS tracks, and some notes on the roads and accommodation along the way.

• We drove with 2 adventure bikes, a Harley Davidson and a big BMW. If you want to drive these routes on a Harley Davidson, you should not be chicken about dust, mud and some very small gravel parts.
• The routes provided (and Google Maps) differ slightly from the ones in the video. In the gpx files the offroad parts were taken out and we had to deal with some closures (like the Gospel Pass).
• Most main routes have some parts that can be skipped to shorten the ride.
• For most days, there are optional or additional routes available.
• Naming convention of the route files:
  • [day][sortnumber][a: alternative route, o: optional route] [from]-[to]
  • 10 Hull - Llangollen.gpx: Main route for day 1
  • 11o Llangollen loop.gpx: Optional loop for day 1
  • 50a Cardiff - Aberystwyth (if Gospel pass closed).gpx: Alternative main route, if the Gospel pass is still closed