Holyhead (Caergybi) is the busiest town on Anglesey and, for most visitors, just the place the Irish ferry leaves from. That’s a shame, because the town sits on Holy Island (Ynys Gybi) — a separate, smaller island joined to Anglesey by causeways — and Holy Island holds some of the most dramatic coast and the highest ground anywhere in the area. Give it a day and it rewards you.
Climb Holyhead Mountain
Despite the name, Holyhead Mountain (Mynydd Twr) is a 220-metre hill — but it’s the highest point on Anglesey and Holy Island, and the climb is short and steep with an enormous payoff. From the summit on a clear day you can see Eryri (Snowdonia) to the south-east, the Isle of Man, the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, and the whole sweep of the coast below. Near the top sits Caer y Tŵr, an Iron Age hillfort, and on the way up you pass the hut circles of an ancient settlement.
Walk to South Stack Lighthouse
Just below the mountain, the South Stack Lighthouse (Ynys Lawd) stands on its own islet, reached by 400 steps down the cliff and a small bridge. The sea-cliffs here are an RSPB reserve and one of the best places in Wales for nesting seabirds — guillemots, razorbills, and puffins from April to July. For the full visiting details, see our South Stack guide and where to see puffins on Anglesey.
Breakwater Country Park and the longest breakwater in Britain
Breakwater Country Park sits on the site of the old brickworks and quarry that built Holyhead’s harbour. From here you can walk out along the Holyhead Breakwater — at 1.7 miles (2.7 km) it’s the longest in Britain — with the lighthouse at its tip. The park itself has easy waymarked trails, a café, and wildflower meadows alive with butterflies in summer.
Eat well in town
Holyhead’s food has come on. Catch 22 does proper fish and chips near the harbour — see our best fish and chips on Anglesey roundup — and there are cafés and pubs through the old town around St Cybi’s Church, which is itself built inside the walls of a small Roman fort (Caer Gybi). It’s one of very few churches in Britain to sit inside Roman walls.
A short drive away: Trearddur Bay and Rhoscolyn
Holy Island’s south coast is its prettiest. Trearddur Bay is a wide sandy beach with summer lifeguards, ten minutes from town, and the Rhoscolyn coastal walk beyond it threads hidden coves where seals shelter — see where to see seals on Anglesey.
Practical notes
- Parking: there’s parking at South Stack (RSPB, charged), Breakwater Country Park, and in town near the marina.
- Getting there: Holyhead is the end of the A55 and the North Wales railway line, so it’s the one part of Anglesey that’s genuinely easy to reach without a car — see Anglesey without a car.
- Time: the mountain and South Stack together are a half-day; add the breakwater and a beach to fill a full day.
Treat Holyhead as a destination rather than a departure gate and Holy Island gives you the best clifftop walking on Ynys Môn.