Panorama Walk in Llangollen
Panorama Walk is a road which passes along the side of the valley above Llangollen. However, it is much more than just a road. With its views, this is one of my favourite places to visit, with its numerous vantage points, especially with the iconic Castell Dinas Bran perched up on its own hill. It’s also surrounded by a network of paths and is also part of the historic Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail.
This is one of the locations you can keep visiting and never grow tired of the scenic views over the Vale of Llangollen and beyond.
Getting there
Walking
Llangollen, especially the area around the bridge crossing the Dee River is a popular area with nearby parking. Walking from the bridge up to the panorama walk takes around 40 minutes. However, consider that this includes about 500ft/150m of elevation, therefore times will vary depending on your fitness level.
Given the elevation, you may want to consider your camera and lens choice and opt for a lighter-weight setup. This avoids lugging a large bag full of kit up with you. This will ensure you save your energy to explore the area while also giving space to carry enough water and food with you.
I tend to take my Tamron 16-300mm super-zoom as it’s compact, lightweight a highly versatile. This is a lens that never leaves my bag as one of my favourite all-purpose lenses for my Nikon D7200.
By car
Panorama Walk can be accessed by road from four different directions as indicated in the map below:
Parking
There are no official car parks up at Panorama Walk, however, there are several laybys of various sizes. At busy times such as bank holidays or weekends, it can be challenging to find a space. That being said, there are quite a few options in case the first few laybys are full.
Laybys are indicated by the stars on the map above, they can also be viewed on Google Maps using a satellite or street view.
One of the main benefits of arriving by car is that you can get close to the best viewpoints without restrictions on the amount of gear you’re able to carry. Panorama Walk is also a good location for a tripod, which isn’t something ideal for long hikes.
By bike
Panorama Walk is a popular route for cyclists who like the challenge of the hills. If you’re staying nearby and have your bike with you it’s a great way to access the area without the need to park a car.
If travelling by bike, think through your camera and lens choice carefully, as you would if you were walking.
Panorama Walk – walking routes
The Panorama Walk section of the road is 2.6 miles /4.2 km long. Just walking along the road provides many opportunities for photography down into the valley and up towards Eglwyseg Mountain.
If you’ve driven up to The Panorama, then incredible vantage points can be reached in minutes from many of the laybys across the road.
There is also a wide range of longer walking routes, some of which are signposted, others have worn tracks which can be followed.
My favourite route is simple and short but in my opinion, offers some of the best views for photography. This involves parking in one of the laybys and heading up the hill from this location then along the edge of the rock faces. The reason I love this route is because it gets you above the elevation of Castell Dinas Bran.
There are also other paths that can be seen from this route which offer a different perspective of the Valley of Llangollen and the surrounding hills.
Eglwyseg Mountain
Above Panorama Walk is Eglwyseg Mountain, there are countless paths to explore which provide many different walking routes. There is also a considerable amount of history to Eglwyseg Mountain.
Rock faces
The steep rock faces are popular with climbers but also make great subjects or foregrounds for landscape photography.
The best time to visit
Time of day & temperature inversions
Panorama Walk and the surrounding Eglwyseg Mountain are great places to visit at all times of the day.
Morning
In the morning, if the conditions are right, usually in the Autumn and Winter It’s a great place to capture a cloud/temperature inversion. Generally, these occur during high pressures and low temperatures, however, it’s not that simple.
At these times of year, the nights are longer and colder, which gives time for the air to cool. Cooler air requires less moisture for it to become saturated giving a higher chance of mist. The Dee Valley is a great environment with both the Dee River and the canal, especially with calm conditions and little wind.
If the conditions are correct, as opposed to it getting cooler with higher elevation, a layer of warm air traps the cool air by the ground. If the dew point is close to the air temperature, then fog will form as the air is holding its maximum amount of water vapour.
A diagram for a temperature/cloud inversion is shown below:
If you’re down in the valley and surrounded by mist, it can be difficult to imagine that it could be clear at higher elevations. But it’s best to persevere and where possible get to the highest ground you can, as you increase the chances of getting out above the mist.
Once the sun comes up, the land will start to warm up and the mist will often quickly start to dissipate, therefore make sure you arrive with plenty of time before sunrise.
Be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast to give yourself the best chance of capturing images during a temperature inversion.
I’m still waiting to capture a temperature inversion around Castell Dinas Bran!
Evening
Panorama Walk is also a great location for sunset where my favourite focal point is Castell Dinas Bran from up on the side of Eglwyseg Mountain. As shown in the photo below, the low light creates shadows on the trees and uneven ground providing texture which is pleasing to the eye.
A zoom lens is a great way to focus on the castle on the top of the hill. A superzoom or telephoto zoom lens can come in handy for other compositions which can be elevated with the use of lens compression at long focal lengths.
The silhouette of Castell Dinas Bran against the colours of a sunset in the sky.
Seasons
Each season has something different to offer up at Panorama Walk. Spring brings colour, in particular, the blight yellow Gorse flowers.
Summer brings vibrant green and warm sunsets in the evenings.
Towards the Garth end of Panorama Walk, the road is surrounded by both ferns and forest which in Summer is vibrant green, as seen above. If you keep walking towards the junction and turn left up the hill, it’s possible to see the iconic Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
Autumn & Winter – In Autumn the purple heather is in full bloom and it’s the best time to be in with a chance to witness a temperature inversion. In Winter the colour in the heather starts to become more subdued and the greens from summer have turned more to brown. This is when the many different rock races become great features for photography. These are perfect leading lines and can be used with both a wide-angle and long-focal-length lens.
How to take panoramic images?
If you don’t have a wide-angle lens, or you don’t want to travel with it (if you’re planning a long hike), panoramic images are a great solution. This is when multiple images are stitched together, using a longer focal length lens. Further details are included below.
Guidelines
Follow the steps below as a guide to taking panoramic photos:
- If possible use a tripod which has a level bubble to ensure it’s positioned flat if you’re on uneven ground.
- Use the virtual horizon feature on your camera to ensure the camera is parallel to the horizon. Before taking photos check the virtual horizon by panning your camera along the horizon.
- Ensure your tripod head is fully tightened and the tripod is secure. Slightly loosen the panning part.
- Check again that the horizon is straight and open up your histogram or check your exposure across your planned set of images. Adjust your exposure to achieve a balanced exposure across all images.
- Use a remote shutter or set a two-second timer to reduce any camera shake. Especially important with slow shutter speeds.
- A tip that really helps me in Lightroom is to take a photo of my hand over the lens. This makes it easy to identify the series of shots when back in Lightroom.
- Start to take your shots, keeping the interval between shots as short as possible, especially if there are moving clouds or water in the scene.
- Portrait orientation is usually best as it allows you to capture both the foreground and sky, but it depends on the scene.
- Overlap each image by 30-50% over the previous image to ensure the software has no issues stitching the images.
- Check all your images for focus and exposure, it’s also worth repeating the whole process, just to make sure you have no issues.
The image below is a 5-portrait image panorama, with each shot at 16mm with Nikon D7200 crop sensor camera.
The final panoramic image was assembled using the following process in Adobe Lightroom.
Lightroom –> Right-click on selected photos –> Photo Merge –> Panorama –> Merge.
Sheep around Panorama Walk
Sheep are subjects which are present at Panorama Walk and Eglwyseg Mountain almost throughout the entire year, with the addition of lambs in Spring. These are some of my favourite subjects and are almost always moving which gives opportunities for many interesting compositions.
Lambs can move surprisingly fast and you will need to increase your shutter speed to ensure your shots are sharp. In low light ensure your aperture is as wide as possible. This not only lets more light to your sensor but also increases your depth of field, creating separation between your subject and the background.
Timelapse opportunities
If time-lapse photography is a genre that you enjoy then make sure to bring a tripod. The video below shows a few which are all taken within a few meters walk of the Panorama Walk road.
Facilities
Bear in mind that there are no cafes or toilets up at Panorama Walk, and the nearest are down in Llangollen.
Nearby areas
Following Offa’s Dyke National Trail path further around the side of the valley from Panorama Walk will lead to Craig Arthur, Craig y Forwyn and then World’s End. These rock faces on Eglwyseg Mountain can be stunning, especially as they catch the light at sunset.
The photo below was taken from the other side of World’s End as the sun was starting to set.
If you’re looking for other places around Wrexham and North Wales, check out the following posts:
- Top photography locations around Wrexham, North Wales
- The ultimate North Wales one day road trip itinerary
- North Wales landscape photography (including Snowdonia)
- Ogwen Valley: a stunning photography location in Snowdonia
Summary
Overall, Panorama Walk and Eglwyseg Mountain are incredible locations for photography which are unlikely to disappoint. No matter what time of day or season, there are plenty of photography opportunities.
The many paths and routes to leading from the Panorama Walk provide a large range of compositions and viewpoints over the Dee Valley.
