Anglesey faces the right way. Its western and southern coasts look out over the Irish Sea, with the Llŷn Peninsula and the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) stacked along the southern horizon — which means that on a clear evening the sun sets behind a skyline, not just an empty sea. These are the places to be when it does.
Llanddwyn Island
The classic. From the tip of Llanddwyn Island, with the white Tŵr Mawr lighthouse in the foreground and the Llŷn and Eryri peaks catching the last light, this is the sunset that sells Anglesey. Walk out along Newborough Beach in the last hour of light — but check the tide times, and bring a torch for the walk back through the dunes and forest.
Rhosneigr
The west coast village of Rhosneigr faces due west into the open Atlantic swell, which makes for big, uninterrupted skies. Kitesurfers and windsurfers are often still out as the light goes gold, and the dunes give you somewhere to sit. The village behind has cafés and the White Eagle for afterwards.
Aberffraw
Quieter and wilder, Aberffraw Beach sits at the mouth of an estuary backed by some of the finest dunes on the island. Cross the old stone bridge and the footpath through the marram grass, and you get a wide, empty arc of sand facing the sunset with barely anyone on it.
Church Bay
On the northwest coast, Church Bay (Porth Swtan) is a small, rocky, west-facing cove that glows at the end of the day. There’s a thatched cottage museum and the Lobster Pot nearby if you want to make an evening of it.
South Stack
For drama over substance, the cliffs at South Stack on Holy Island (Ynys Gybi) put the lighthouse on its rock between you and the sinking sun. The seabird colonies quiet down, the cliffs go orange, and the whole western horizon opens up. Mind the cliff edges in fading light.
Cemlyn Bay
The shingle ridge at Cemlyn Bay on the north coast gives a low, wide, wild sunset over the lagoon and the sea — a good one to combine with the spring tern colony if you’re there in early summer.
Tips for sunset watching
- Check the time and the tide. Sunset on Anglesey ranges from before 4pm in midwinter to nearly 10pm around the June solstice — plan accordingly, and check tides for Llanddwyn and any beach where the sea can cut you off.
- Bring a layer and a torch. Even a warm day cools fast once the sun drops, and west-coast paths back through dunes get dark quickly.
- Stay for the afterglow. The 20 minutes after sunset, when the sky turns pink behind the mountains, is often better than the sunset itself.
- Leave no trace. Take your litter, and keep clear of nesting seabirds in spring and seals hauled out at dusk.
For more on the coast these sunsets sit on, see our ranked guide to the best beaches on Anglesey.