Holyhead

Holyhead (Caergybi) is Anglesey's largest town and its most complex. The ferry port dominates the harbour — Stena Line sailings to Dublin depart multiple times daily — and the town has the energy of a working port: functional, a little weathered, full of people going somewhere. But look harder and Holyhead rewards it. The Roman walls of Caer Gybi still stand around the medieval parish church in the town centre; the church itself has the longest documented continuous use of any in Wales.

Holyhead is actually on Holy Island (Ynys Gybi), a smaller island connected to Anglesey by twin causeways. That geography means the scenery changes dramatically within a few miles. Drive west from the ferry terminal and within 15 minutes you reach South Stack — a lighthouse on a tiny sea-stack connected by a suspension bridge, with 400 steps down the cliffs and an RSPB reserve above holding the island's largest puffin colony.

Holyhead Mountain (Mynydd Twr) rises behind the town to 220 metres — modest by mainland standards, but the circular walk from the town takes in Iron Age hill forts, coastal views from Snowdonia to Ireland, and the Coastal Path's most dramatic section. Trearddur Bay is 3 miles south: a sheltered horseshoe of turquoise water that functions as the island's beach resort.

The town centre is in regeneration, with new investment coming into the waterfront. It is not a picture-postcard place, but it has genuine grit, a diverse community, and the most dramatic immediate surroundings of any town on the island.