On this post I will highlight the places we visited and the best places to see and the best things to do in LLandudno.
Llandudno is a seaside resort in North Wales and its name means “the church of Tudno” in English. Tudno is the patron saint of the town.
The resort is very popular with visitors since the 19th century, characterised by the Victorian architecture alongside the promenade of the beautiful and clean beaches.
Besides the nice beaches, the town has the fifth longest pier in Britain and the longest in Wales. It was built in an Indian Gothic style and is Grade II listed.
The pier is very busy with all the shops, amusement arcades and people walking up and down. There is a beautiful view from the pier of the promenade, the beaches, and the Happy Valley Gardens where you can catch a cable car to ride to the top of the Great Orme Mountain.
There are other places around Llandudno that are also worth visiting, places such as Conwy, Colwyn Bay, Bodnant Gardens and Caernafon. All within half an hour to 1 hour drive.
We arrived in Llandudno at about 2:00 pm and went straight to our accommodation.
We booked a B & B, “The Pebble House”, for 3 nights. On arrival, Simon (the owner of the B & B) was very welcoming, providing lots of information to help us familiarise with the town and surrounding areas.
He even allowed us to get access to our room earlier than the check in time, which was at 3:00 pm.
The room was small, but delightful with an amazing sea view. It was very well decorated and clean, and it looked like it had been refurbished recently.
The bed was comfortable, and they provided the room with a coffee machine with various pods in different flavours. We were very pleased with our accommodation.
We parked the car just in front of “The Pebble House”; parking is free in that part of the promenade and as it was a Thursday, there were plenty of spaces. After unloading the car, we went out for a walk.
The Pebble House is located towards the end of the beach, and it is about a 20 minutes’ walk to the pier and the centre of town where the shops and restaurants are.
So, we walked all the way to the pier and down the pier as well, which provided lots of good photo opportunities. We then walked to the Happy Valley Gardens and took the cable car to the top of the Great Orme. Very nice views from the top and from the cable car.
After exploring the town, we stopped for a beer in one of the pubs in the centre of town and walked back to our room. After a bit of a rest and a shower, we were ready to go out again to get something to eat.
As it was a very last-minute trip, we had problems booking restaurants. All the nice ones were fully booked, and it took us a long time to book where to eat each day.
We managed to book a Greek restaurant for the first night — the White Tower restaurant on Lloyd Street.
The food was very good, and the wine was very good quality too. We were pleased with the choice and had a fabulous evening.
After dinner, we walked back to our B & B in time to watch the fantastic sunset.
Breakfast at “The Pebble House” was between 8:00 and 9:00 am and consisted of a variety of items to choose from, including cooked breakfast. We filled a form every evening selecting the time slot and breakfast choice, which helped our hosts with the organisation.
As we weren’t in a hurry for anything, we came down and had our breakfast at 9 am every day, and normally chose a cooked English breakfast.
Unlike the greasy affair that can be found around, the breakfast here seemed to be cooked in the oven. A little bit healthier and still very tasty and satisfying!
The plan for today was to drive around Colwyn Bay and then to visit Conwy.
CONWY
Conwy is a very attractive little town with a Medieval Castle open for visits. Unfortunately, we forgot to book the visit in advance, and couldn’t visit the castle today.
Due to Covid restrictions a reduced number of visitors were being allowed in, and tickets were not being sold at the door. However, we managed to book a visit for the next day in the morning.
As we couldn’t get into the castle, we decided to take the opportunity to walk around the fortified wall that surrounds the town, which was built at the same time as Conwy Castle by Edward I.
We started the walk by using the access near the train station (once we found it) and went all the way up to the Conwy Quay where we stopped to visit the Smallest House in Great Britain.
This tiny house, that measures only 72 inches (1.83 m) wide by 122 inches (3.10 m) high, was occupied until 1900 by a local fisherman called Robert Jones, who was 6 foot 3 tall!
Since then, the house has become a touristic attraction with thousands of visitors curious to see the interior. Imagine what life was like for Robert Jones in such a tiny space.
After lunch we walked around the town centre admiring the old buildings and the castle from the outside.
We went back to Llandudno as dinner was going to be earlier than usual, because we only managed to book a table at 6:30 pm at The Seahorse Restaurant.
Dinner was very good. I had the Thai Crab fish cakes in a pickled cucumber salad with chilli and lemon dressing as a starter, followed by the Seafood spaghetti. My husband had the garlic mushrooms as a starter and the monkfish as the main.
All dishes were delicious and the wine accompanying the dinner was also very good.
On the way back to our B & B we decided to stop and have some drinks somewhere as it was still early to go to bed.
We stopped at a hotel called Tynedale on the promenade and facing the beach. They had a marquee in the front with tables and it was open to non-guests as well.
We were given a table in there and enjoyed the rest of the evening listening to nice songs, people watching and cocktail sipping.
Next day we both woke up with a hangover and headache, courtesy of the marathon drinking session of the previous night.
We had our breakfast and things started to get better by then.
Today we had tickets booked for the Conway Castle at 10:00 am, so we drove to Conwy again and headed straight to the Castle.
Conwy Castle is a 700-year-old fortress that was built by King Edward I in only four years. Despite spending a fortune to build the castle, Edward only stayed there once.
It is very well preserved and contains the most intact medieval royal apartments in Wales.
After visiting the Castle, we went to Plas Mawr. This is an Elizabethan town house built by a wealthy merchant called Robert Wynn in 1576.
I love to visit these old houses that tell the history in its rooms and contents. Very interesting and a worth visiting building.
After visiting Plas Mawr we drove to Caernafon, about 40 minutes’ drive. We wanted to visit the Caernafon Castle, but it was closed for refurbishment. We walked around it and around the small town and had lunch at a pub next to the Castle.
You can book a tour of Llandudno that include Conwy and Caernafon Castle as well as Snowdonia National Park and other visits via this LINK.
After lunch we drove to Bodnant Gardens but could not get in as it was completely booked up (thanks Covid).
The drive was nice though and we really enjoyed the area. We drove back to the B & B and had some rest before going out again for dinner.
We could only book dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mama Rosa, everything else in town was fully booked for Saturday evening.
Dinner was unremarkable and nothing special, with nothing even worth mentioning. I can cook Italian food at home that is more authentic than what was being served at this supposed “Italian” restaurant…
After dinner we went to the Tynedale Hotel again for drinks, we were on holiday after all! Of course, with the lesson learned from the previous night, we concentrated more on listening to the music and people watching than the drinking.
We had a lovely time in Llandudno and surrounding areas and would go back again without any hesitation, but it was time to pack up and go.
It was time to leave The Pebble House, so after breakfast, at about 9:30 am and drove to Liverpool. We arrived in Liverpool at about 11:00 am.
There are other posts on the blog on Wales, posts such as: Swansea and Mumbles and Tenby check them up as well.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Llandudno. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
WHAT TO VISIT
ATTRACTIONS
1 – The Great Orme – ***
2 – The Cable Car – ***
4 – Llandudno Pier – ***
5 – Happy Valley Gardens – ***
6 – Beach and the Promenade – ***
7 – Colwyn Bay – **
8 – Conwy – ***
9 – Caernafon – **
10 – Bodnant Gardens
WHERE TO STAY
HOTELS
1 – Eversley – 5* – 150 yards from beach – £££
2 – Hotel No5 – 4* – Seafront – ££
3 – Tynedale Hotel – 4* – Seafront – ££
4 – Pebble House – 4* – Seafront – *** – ££
5 – Carmel House – 3* – Seafront – ££
6 – Swn y Mor – 2* – Seafront – £
WHERE TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – White Tower – Greek – *** – £
2 – The Seahorse Restaurant – Seafood and Meat *** – ££
3 – Tynedade Hotel – For drinks and restaurant – *** – ££
4 – Mama Rosa – Italian – * – £
If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also like to read:
Leave a Reply