The second largest county in Wales, Gwynedd featured both stunning coast and the beautiful mountains of Snowdonia. The varied, beautiful landscape of the county is extremely valuable to its residents, who not only enjoy the outdoors themselves but often make tourism their livelihood, too. Gwynedd was one of the longest strongholds of independence from English rule, and this has resulted in an area that is proud of its strong ties to Welsh language and culture. Larger towns like Bangor are where many of the work opportunities are, though from some areas it is possible to commute to other North Wales towns and English towns including Chester. Parts of the area also has good rail connections, and trains to London take about three and a half hours.