Where is the Village?
In real life, it is a seashore resort called the "Portmeirion Village Hotel" (formally "Hotel Portmeirion") in North Wales, built by the eccentric architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. It is located in the town of Penrhyndeudraeth. To find it on a map, look for Cardigan Bay on the western shore; at the north end is Tremadoc Bay; look along its north-central shore and find the town of Porthmadog; go east, and at the north-eastern corner of Tremadoc Bay, there is an inlet pointing slightly north of east. Portmeirion is on the north shore of that inlet. It is reachable by rail or car from London (see below). The Hotel Portmeirion is a hodge-podge collection of odd buildings and structures of all different kinds of architecture. Some were built on-site as examples of styles of architectures, ranging from Oriental to Italianate, and some structures or parts of structures (such as porticos, balconies, and ceilings) were moved from other places, purchased by Sir Williams-Ellis just before they were supposed to be demolished. The buildings are painted in lively, uncoordinated colors on purpose and, they say, are repainted on a carefully scheduled rotation so that some buildings look newly painted, but others look old and scruffy. On some buildings, windows are merely painted on and do not really exist. On others, they get smaller higher up to give the impression of height. The viewer's perspective changes completely with every few steps.
The land was once the estate of an eccentric old lady who never let anyone visit and who had a large pack of pet dogs. There is a dog cemetery in the woods along one of the many walks and trails through the grounds. When the lady died, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis bought the land for his architectural project. The beach is exactly as shown in the series. The tides are extreme, with high tide bringing the water up to the stone wall (on which the Stone Boat is built), and low tide exposing a very large sand beach. In fact, you can simply walk a great distance during low tide (a fact kept hidden in the TV series).
The main hotel served as the "Old People's Home" in the series. The scattered cottages and buildings served as the private homes, shops, halls, etc.
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis's daughter, Susan, went on to found a line of pottery (dinnerware and china). Her flagship design is called, of course, "Portmeirion". It is now world famous and is sold in all the best department stores, including Bloomingdales.
Portmeirion Village Hotel
Portmeirion
Gwynedd
Wales LL48 6ER
UK
Phone: 0766 770228
Fax: 0766 771331
Telex: 61540 PORTM G
How do I get there?
Resign and wait. Alternatively, travel by rail (recommended) or by car. Either way, the trip is around 260 miles and 6 to 7 hours from London.Begin by getting a map. Good quality maps showing both road and rail routes everywhere are easily and cheaply available in the UK. Portmeirion is so small that it is unlikely to be shown on any map at a scale less than three miles to the inch, but Porthmadog should provide a point to aim at.
To go by rail:
A comprehensive rail timetable for the UK can be bought for GBP6 ('the ABC Rail Guide') at newsagents' shops, the 'official' and much heavier BR timetable for GBP7.00 at stations.
The nearest main railway station to Portmeirion is at Minffordd, one-and-a-half miles away. It is an easy walk from there. Alternatively, travel 3 miles further to Porthmadog (a town, whereas Minffordd is only a village) and take a taxi from the station; it's about 3 miles from there. All trains shown below to Minffordd also call at Porthmadog.
Currently (winter 1993/4), there are six trains a day to and from Minffordd, except on Sundays, when there is only one. The line runs from Shrewsbury to Pwllheli, and this is an extract from the 1993/4 timetable (local trains with no connections to further afield are ignored):
Monday to Saturday | Sunday
(London) 0710 0940 1140 1340 | 0940 (Birmingham) 0655 0925 1152 1404 1558 | 1405 Shrewsbury 0822 1040 1255 1504 1718 | 1612 Minffordd 1202 1427 1559 1810 2028 | 1929
Minffordd 0738 0954 1307 1526 1820 | 1523 Shrewsbury 1046 1259 1723 1937 2127 | 1829 (Birmingham) 1204 1404 1853 2049 2234 | 2007 (London) 1429 1629 2103 2319 0048 | 2310
Trains do not run through from London (hence the parentheses around the times from there): a change is always needed at Birmingham or Wolverhampton, then again at Shrewsbury, and usually again at either Machynlleth or Dovey Junction. The UK railways being run as a unified system (for the present) means that trains connect, and you can book through on one ticket.
Sunday travel by train can be difficult, as most engineering work on the lines is done on this day and the longer the journey the more likely that the trip will be disrupted by this. The train times in any case make a Sunday visit difficult, although there are more trains in the summer.
So from London, a departure at 0710 will get you to Minffordd at 1427, changing at Birmingham and Machynlleth. The 1820 return train will get you to London at 0048 next day, same changes. So a day trip from London with around two-and-a-half hours in the Village is just about possible, though quite hard work. It is more realistic to see it as part of a two-day trip unless you are in Wales already.
Current off-peak return fare from London to Minffordd is GBP45.00.
A bus runs from Minffordd post office (4 mins. walk from station) to Portmeirion at 1114 and 1314; return at 1117, 1317, 1500. (Monday to Saturday only).
To confirm these bus times ring (UK) 0286 679378. To check the train times ring (UK) 0743 364041.
Portmeirion is just half a mile from Boston Lodge station on the Ffestiniog railway, a local line with no connections towards London, which intersects the main line at Minffordd: on arriving at Minffordd you could check the times of trains on this line which might save you the walk. (Aside: The Ffestiniog railway runs old steam trains, which is Porthmadog's biggest claim to fame among Prisoner non-fans.)
To go by car:
Here is the "Preferred" route from Central London to Penrhyndeudraeth as generated by the computer program Autoroute V2.02.
Time 4 hrs 48 min. Distance 241 miles.
| Time | Road | For | Dir | Towards | |
| 00:00 | DEPART London (Gt London) | A400 | 1/2 m | N | Camden Town |
| 00:02 | Turn left onto | A501 | 1 m | W | (Marylebone) |
| 00:04 | At Marylebone turn off ont | A41 | 1/2 m | NW | (St John's Wood) |
| 00:06 | At St John's Wood stay on | A41 | 1 m | NW | |
| 00:10 | At Swiss Cottage stay on t | A41 | 4 m | NW | (Cricklewood) |
| 00:20 | At Hendon stay on the | A41 | 1 m | N | |
| 00:21 | Turn off onto | M1 slip | 1/4 m | W | (M1 J |
| 00:22 | At M1 J2 turn off onto | M1 | 74 m | N | *Check access* |
| 01:35 | At M1 J19 turn off onto | M6 | 45 m | W | *Check access |
| 02:13 | At M6 J10A turn off onto | M54 | 22 m | W | *Check access* |
| 02:32 | Go onto | A5 | 12 m | W | |
| 02:55 | Turn off onto | A458 | 12 m | W | (Middletown) |
| 03:14 | At Middletown stay on the | A458 | 5 m | W | |
| 03:21 | Turn left onto | A483 | 1 m | SW | Newtown |
| 03:22 | Bear right onto | A458 | 1/4 m | W | Welshpool |
| 03:23 | At Welshpool stay on the | A458 | 16 m | W | (Llanfair Caereinion) |
| 03:45 | At Llangadfan stay on the | A458 | 11 m | W | (Dinas Mawddwy) |
| 04:00 | Turn right onto | A470 | 1 m | N | Dolgellau |
| 04:02 | At Dinas Mawddwy stay on t | A470 | 9 m | NW | Dolgellau |
| 04:16 | At Dolgellau stay on the | A470 | 2 m | W | Betws Y Coed |
| 04:19 | At Llanelltyd stay on the | A470 | 14 m | N | Betws Y Coed |
| 04:39 | Bear left onto | A487 | 2 m | NW | Porthmadog |
| 04:42 | At Maentwrog stay on the | A487 | 4 m | W | Porthmadog |
| 04:48 | ARRIVE Penrhyndeudraeth (G |
Instead of turning onto the A458, continue on the A5 through Chirk and Llangollen, then left onto the A494 at Corwen, then onto the A4212 at Bala which joins the A470 at Trawsfynydd. This alternate route is more scenic and possibly faster.
