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Llandudno

Wales' biggest seaside resort straddles a peninsula with long sandy beaches on either side. Developed as an upmarket holiday town for Victorian visitors, Llandudno still retains much of its 19th-century grandeur, with graceful wedding-cake architecture lining its sweeping waterfront promenade. Innumerable B&Bs and small private hotels cater to mainly mature-aged travellers in the low season, while young families descend with their buckets and spades in summer.

Alongside the lost-in-time charms of the British seaside (pier, promenade, Punch and Judy shows), Llandudno's main attraction is the near-wilderness of the Great Orme on its doorstep, a striking, rough-hewn headland offering breathtaking views of Snowdonia and miles of trails.

A slim connection to Alice in Wonderland (Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's fictional Alice, used to holiday here with her family) accounts for statues of the book’s characters around the town, linked by a trail marked with 55 bronze rabbit footprints.

Explore Llandudno

Great Orme Bronze Age Mines
Sitting unobtrusively near the top of the Great Orme is the largest prehistoric mine ever discovered. Nearly paved over for a car park, this site of…
Great Orme
From sea level it's difficult to gauge the sheer scale of the limestone chunk known as the Great Orme (Y Gogarth), yet it's 2 miles in circumference and…
L
Llandudno Pier
A trip to Llandudno isn’t complete until you’ve strolled along the Victorian pier, eating ice cream and shooing away seagulls. At 670m, it's Wales'…
L
Llandudno Promenade
Llandudno's iconic 2-mile promenade is one of its distinctive sights. It was here that Queen Victoria herself watched Professor Codman’s Punch & Judy Show…
M
Mostyn Gallery
A sensitively restored, heritage-listed 1901 terracotta-and-brick exterior hides the sharply angled innards of North Wales’ leading contemporary art…
G
Great Orme Tramway
Head to the top of the Great Orme without breaking a sweat in an original 1902 tramcar. It's one of only three cable-operated trams in the world (the…
M
Marine Drive
Starting by the pier, this one-way, 4-mile narrow road loops anticlockwise around the Great Orme, with immense sea vistas opening up on your right-hand…
W
West Shore
When the main beach gets too frantic, go west to this considerably less built-up Blue Flag beach on Conwy Bay. The views over Anglesey and the mountains…
L
Llandudno Cable Car
Britain's longest cable car runs a mile from the Happy Valley Gardens above the pier and, if it's not too windy, whisks passengers up to the summit of the…

Great Orme Bronze Age Mines
Sitting unobtrusively near the top of the Great Orme is the largest prehistoric mine ever discovered. Nearly paved over for a car park, this site of…
Great Orme
From sea level it's difficult to gauge the sheer scale of the limestone chunk known as the Great Orme (Y Gogarth), yet it's 2 miles in circumference and…
L
Llandudno Pier
A trip to Llandudno isn’t complete until you’ve strolled along the Victorian pier, eating ice cream and shooing away seagulls. At 670m, it's Wales'…
L
Llandudno Promenade
Llandudno's iconic 2-mile promenade is one of its distinctive sights. It was here that Queen Victoria herself watched Professor Codman’s Punch & Judy Show…
M
Mostyn Gallery
A sensitively restored, heritage-listed 1901 terracotta-and-brick exterior hides the sharply angled innards of North Wales’ leading contemporary art…
G
Great Orme Tramway
Head to the top of the Great Orme without breaking a sweat in an original 1902 tramcar. It's one of only three cable-operated trams in the world (the…
M
Marine Drive
Starting by the pier, this one-way, 4-mile narrow road loops anticlockwise around the Great Orme, with immense sea vistas opening up on your right-hand…
W
West Shore
When the main beach gets too frantic, go west to this considerably less built-up Blue Flag beach on Conwy Bay. The views over Anglesey and the mountains…
L
Llandudno Cable Car
Britain's longest cable car runs a mile from the Happy Valley Gardens above the pier and, if it's not too windy, whisks passengers up to the summit of the…

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Llandudno.

See
Great Orme Bronze Age Mines
Sitting unobtrusively near the top of the Great Orme is the largest prehistoric mine ever discovered. Nearly paved over for a car park, this site of…
See
Great Orme
From sea level it's difficult to gauge the sheer scale of the limestone chunk known as the Great Orme (Y Gogarth), yet it's 2 miles in circumference and…
See
Llandudno Pier
A trip to Llandudno isn’t complete until you’ve strolled along the Victorian pier, eating ice cream and shooing away seagulls. At 670m, it's Wales'…
See
Llandudno Promenade
Llandudno's iconic 2-mile promenade is one of its distinctive sights. It was here that Queen Victoria herself watched Professor Codman’s Punch & Judy Show…
See
Mostyn Gallery
A sensitively restored, heritage-listed 1901 terracotta-and-brick exterior hides the sharply angled innards of North Wales’ leading contemporary art…
See
Great Orme Tramway
Head to the top of the Great Orme without breaking a sweat in an original 1902 tramcar. It's one of only three cable-operated trams in the world (the…
See
Marine Drive
Starting by the pier, this one-way, 4-mile narrow road loops anticlockwise around the Great Orme, with immense sea vistas opening up on your right-hand…
See
West Shore
When the main beach gets too frantic, go west to this considerably less built-up Blue Flag beach on Conwy Bay. The views over Anglesey and the mountains…
See
Llandudno Cable Car
Britain's longest cable car runs a mile from the Happy Valley Gardens above the pier and, if it's not too windy, whisks passengers up to the summit of the…

Guidebooks

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