Funded by the vast profits from the slate mine of Caribbean sugar-plantation owner and anti-abolitionist Baron Penrhyn, and embellished by his great-great-nephew, this immense 19th-century neo-Norman folly pushes the boundaries of good taste. Flanked by a magnificent Victorian walled garden, the creeper-clad stone walls of the Norman "fortress" embower the neo-Gothic hall with its darkly extravagant rooms, carved ceilings, stained-glass windows, opulent furniture and early flushing toilets.
Penrhyn is 1.5 miles east of Bangor; Llandudno-bound buses stop at the gate.
Look out for the UK's largest private collection of paintings that includes a Rembrandt portrait. During the 1940 Blitz, Penrhyn Castle briefly served as a refuge for 1800 masterpieces from the National Gallery, until Churchill had them relocated to the disused Manod slate mine when the curators caught Lord Penrhyn staggering drunkenly among the paintings.
Also notable are the on-site industrial railway museum and Llandygai village, a model settlement for Penrhyn's quarry workers that abuts the estate walls. The 1848 Fire Queen locomotive is a highlight.
