Guides
Guides
For a list of ideas of things to do and places to visit, the most comprehensive site is Go North Wales:
https://www.gonorthwales.co.uk/things-to-do
For ideas specific to the local area around Llanfairfechan try Visit Conway and Discover Llanfairfechan:
Distillery
We have a local whisky and gin distillery, the Aber Falls Distillery, that is open for tours and sales:
https://www.aberfallsdistillery.com/en/
Beaches
Llanfairfechan, Penmaenmawr. and Conwy Marina all have big sandy beaches at low tide once you are past the sea defences. If you’re happy to travel then Lleiniog Beach in the other side of the Menai Strait is worth the drive and faces South East instead of North West. The car parks are free and they aren’t well signposted so tend to be missed by most tourists who can’t see an obvious way to reach them. Here’s some directions but please don’t tell the day trippers! Llandudno’s West Shore beach has lots of free on-street parking (the car park is pay and display) a large playground on the promenade, and sand at low tide. But you need to get the tides right. I use the Beaches app or you can check on the link below, and enter Llanfairfechan or Penmaenmawr in the search box:
https://www.tideschart.com/United-Kingdom/Wales/Conwy/
Further Afield
A little further afield and you can explore the Llyn Peninsular, just over an hour away, with some of the most expensive homes in the UK at its far end. There is an indoor karting track, Redline, at Caernarfon for budding F1 Champions. Or the unique Italianate village at Portmeirion famous as the setting for the cult TV show The Prisoner.
How about a trip on one of the heritage railways that encircle Snowdonia. Or buy a one day Sherpa bus pass for £5 and do a complete circuit of the national park at your own pace. For full information on Snowdonia:
https://www.visitsnowdonia.info/
We have a several great towns and many beautiful villages in the area. Conwy is a fantastic place to visit, full of charm and character, probably the best castle in Wales, a marina, and locals from miles away go there for the fish and chip shops. There are always queues which is the downside. Llandudno has lots of shops, not so quaint as Conwy though, a tramway, a pier and a theatre, and typical seaside town things to do but much classier than Blackpool or Rhyl. Llandudno Junction, confusingly a few miles from Llandudno, has a multiplex cinema and a drive through McDonalds.
Bangor isn’t a place on the tourist trail. There is beautiful countryside around Tal-y-bont on the way in, and Penrhyn Castle, but in the main it is where you go to shop in the retail parks and then leave. Caernarfon too, famous for its castle, is also famous for the most horrendous traffic jams a town of under 10,000 souls could ever create. It’s almost impossible. But take the A487 towards Porthmadog and you will pass the most incredible scenery on Earth.
You are not that far from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch just over the bridge on Anglesey. This was a Victorian contrivance to attract tourists so be attracted and visit if you want a selfie next to the world’s longest railway station sign. However, you are likely to spend far more time in the adjacent James Pringle Weavers department store for all kinds of quality gifts. Subject to Covid restrictions, from Llanfairfechan you can get a train directly to Llanfairpwll (from one St Mary’s Church to another). Though sadly the only tickets with the full name will be the tourist souvenirs – fitting given the origin of the name itself.
If you are driving over to Anglesey then do take a trip to Beaumaris famous for its stunning castle and historic village. If you take a picnic on a sunny day head for Lleiniog Beach but don’t tell anyone else, we don’t want it to get too crowded.
How many castles so far? Four I think. More castles than branches of McDonalds around here!