Ynys Môn, Wales

Things to do on Anglesey

Adventures, beaches, castles, wildlife, and family days out — everything you need to plan an unforgettable visit to the Isle of Anglesey.

41 listings

All things to do on Anglesey

Puffin Island Anglesey boat RIB seabirds Adventures

Beaumaris, Anglesey

Puffin Island Boat Trips

Seacoast Safaris runs RIB and rigid inflatable boat trips from Beaumaris Pier around Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol), a small uninhabited island at Anglesey's eastern tip that is home to cormorants, shags, guillemots, razorbills, and grey seals hauled out on the rocks.

Beaumaris Castle's concentric walls and water-filled moat Attractions

Beaumaris, Anglesey

Beaumaris Castle

The last and most technically accomplished of Edward I's Iron Ring of castles, Beaumaris was begun in 1295 and — despite never being fully completed — is considered the finest example of concentric castle design in Britain.

South Stack Lighthouse perched on its rocky islet off Holy Island cliffs, connected by a suspension bridge over churning seas wildlife

Holyhead, Holy Island

South Stack Lighthouse & RSPB Reserve

Perched on a tiny island connected to Holy Island by a suspension bridge, South Stack Lighthouse (1809) is one of the most dramatically positioned lighthouses in Britain — 400 steps down a cliff face, with the sea surging through the channel below.

Coasteerer jumping from volcanic sea cliffs into clear turquoise water on Holy Island, Anglesey Adventures

Holy Island, Anglesey

Coasteering on Holy Island

Anglesey Outdoors and Môn Adventures both run guided coasteering sessions on the dramatic sea-cliff coastline of Holy Island, scrambling, swimming, and cliff-jumping through caves and channels cut into ancient volcanic rock.

Sea kayakers paddling the Menai Straits with Snowdonia's peaks visible across the water Adventures

Beaumaris, Anglesey

Sea Kayaking from Beaumaris

Celtic Paddlers and several other operators offer guided sea kayak sessions on the Menai Straits, one of the most beautiful stretches of sheltered tidal water in Wales, with views of Snowdonia rising above the treeline on the opposite shore.

The entrance passage of Bryn Celli Ddu Neolithic burial chamber in Anglesey farmland at dawn Attractions

Llanddaniel Fab, Anglesey

Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber

A Neolithic passage tomb dating to around 3000 BC, Bryn Celli Ddu — 'the mound in the dark grove' — is the best-preserved prehistoric monument on Anglesey and one of the most important in Wales.

Penmon Priory medieval dovecote and 12th-century Norman church at Anglesey's eastern tip Attractions

Penmon, Anglesey

Penmon Priory & Dovecote

At the far eastern tip of Anglesey, Penmon Priory is a remarkably intact complex of Norman and Early Christian religious buildings — a 12th-century church, the remains of a priory, and one of the finest medieval dovecotes in Wales, built around 1600 to house 1,000 pigeons.

View from the summit of Holyhead Mountain looking south over Holy Island with Snowdonia on the horizon walking

Holyhead, Holy Island

Holyhead Mountain Circular Walk

The circular walk from Holyhead town over Holy Mountain (Mynydd Twr, 220 metres) and back via the coastal path is one of the most rewarding short hikes in North Wales — a 4-mile loop with 360-degree views stretching from Snowdonia to the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland on clear days.

Din Lligwy ancient village stone enclosure walls near Moelfre on the Anglesey coast Attractions

Near Moelfre, Anglesey

Din Lligwy Ancient Village

A late-Roman and early post-Roman enclosed settlement on the northeast coast near Moelfre, Din Lligwy preserves the stone walls of a 4th-century village in remarkable condition — enclosures and the footprints of both round and rectangular houses still legible on the ground after 1,700 years.

The famous long Llanfairpwll station name sign on the platform with visitors photographing it Attractions

Llanfairpwll, Anglesey

Llanfairpwll Station Name Sign

The railway station at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch — the longest place name in Europe at 58 characters — is the only place in the world where the full name appears in its officially correct form, on the original platform sign.

The world's longest breakwater stretching across Holyhead Bay viewed from Breakwater Country Park on Holy Island walking

Holyhead, Holy Island

Breakwater Country Park

Set on the northern tip of Holy Island around the base of the world's longest breakwater (2.

Quartzite sea cliffs and the Bwa Du rock arch on the Rhoscolyn headland on Holy Island, Anglesey walking

Rhoscolyn, Holy Island

Rhoscolyn Coastal Walk

The 4-mile headland loop from Rhoscolyn village on the southern tip of Holy Island follows the Anglesey Coastal Path around a dramatic sequence of quartzite sea cliffs, natural rock arches — most famously the Bwa Du (Black Arch) and the pale Bwa Gwyn (White Arch) — sheltered coves, and wild cliff-top heathland before returning through farmland past the 6th-century holy well of St Gwenfaen, which local tradition held could cure mental illness through ritual offerings of white quartz pebbles.

The enormous limestone capstone of Lligwy Burial Chamber resting on upright stones in Anglesey farmland Attractions

Near Moelfre, Anglesey

Lligwy Burial Chamber

Dating to around 2500 BC, the Lligwy Burial Chamber's capstone — a single limestone slab measuring roughly 5.

Anglesey Sea Zoo aquarium tank with native Welsh marine life and children pressing against the glass Family

Brynsiencyn, Anglesey

Anglesey Sea Zoo

Britain's largest natural seawater aquarium sits on the shores of the Menai Straits at Brynsiencyn, showcasing the marine life of the surrounding Welsh seas through tanks that hold live lobsters, rays, seahorses, conger eels, and shoals of native fish.

Kitesurfer riding the Atlantic swell at Rhosneigr beach with a large kite against a blue sky Adventures

Rhosneigr, Anglesey

Kitesurfing Lessons at Rhosneigr

Rhosneigr's consistent Atlantic winds and flat inshore water make it one of the premier kitesurfing schools in the UK, with Funsport and several other BKSA-accredited schools operating from the beach year-round.

Gecko Surf beginner surf lesson at Rhosneigr beach with Atlantic waves and a clear sky Adventures

Rhosneigr, Anglesey

Gecko Surf School, Rhosneigr

Gecko Surf runs surf and kitesurf lessons from Rhosneigr beach, one of the most consistent wave and wind spots on the Welsh coast — Atlantic swell in autumn and winter, flat-water kitesurfing conditions across the shallow inshore lagoon in summer.

Penmon Point lighthouse with Puffin Island just offshore and the Menai Strait in the background walking

Penmon, Anglesey

Penmon Point Coastal Walk

The coastal walk from Penmon Priory to Black Point lighthouse and back is four miles of easy path along the northeast tip of Anglesey, with Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol) lying just 500 metres offshore throughout and grey seals hauled out on the lower rocks year-round.

Llanddwyn Island beach Anglesey Wales with the ruined Twr Bach lighthouse and Snowdonia's peaks across the water Beaches

Newborough, Anglesey

Newborough Beach & Llanddwyn Island

One of Wales' finest beaches, stretching for miles along the southwestern tip of Anglesey through Newborough Warren nature reserve.

Rhosneigr beach Anglesey west coast with kitesurfers riding the Atlantic swell under dramatic skies Beaches

Rhosneigr, Anglesey

Rhosneigr Beach

A broad west-facing beach that catches the Atlantic swell and the steady south-westerlies that make it one of the UK's top kitesurfing and windsurfing spots.

Sheltered turquoise waters of Trearddur Bay horseshoe cove on Holy Island, Anglesey Beaches

Trearddur Bay, Holy Island

Trearddur Bay Beach

A sheltered horseshoe bay on Holy Island with clear turquoise water and a gently sloping sandy bottom that makes it one of Anglesey's safest swimming beaches.

Golden sandy beach at Benllech on Anglesey's east coast with low cliffs and blue summer skies Beaches

Benllech, Anglesey

Benllech Beach

A classic seaside beach on Anglesey's east coast with a long stretch of golden sand backed by low cliffs and a small car park right at the dune edge.

Vast tidal flats of Red Wharf Bay (Traeth Coch) at low tide with golden evening light across the sand Beaches

Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey

Red Wharf Bay (Traeth Coch)

At low tide, Red Wharf Bay reveals one of the largest expanses of flat sand in Wales — over four miles of tidal flats where oystercatchers and curlews pick across the mud and the light turns extraordinary at dusk.

Aerial view of Anglesey's coastline and patchwork fields from a light aircraft with the Irish Sea below Adventures

Valley, Holy Island

Pleasure Flights from Anglesey Airport

Valley Flying Group and other light-aircraft operators at Anglesey Airport (IATA: VLY) offer scenic pleasure flights over the island, giving passengers a stunning aerial perspective of the coastline, Snowdonia, and on clear days the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland to the west.

Lligwy Beach broad sandy arc on the northeast coast of Anglesey near Moelfre Beaches

Near Moelfre, Anglesey

Lligwy Beach

A broad, sheltered bay on the northeast coast near Moelfre, Lligwy Beach (Traeth Lligwy) is one of Anglesey's best-kept secrets: a wide arc of sand that faces north, backed by low dunes, and rarely crowded even in August when the more famous beaches are packed.

Church Bay Porth Swtan sheltered bay on the northwest coast of Anglesey at sunset Beaches

Church Bay, Anglesey

Church Bay (Porth Swtan)

A secluded bay on the northwest coast tucked between headlands, Church Bay (Porth Swtan) feels genuinely remote despite being reachable by road — the kind of Anglesey beach where the car park empties on a Tuesday in July and the sand feels like it belongs to you.

Porth Dafarch horseshoe cove on Holy Island with clear turquoise water and rocky headlands Beaches

Holy Island, Anglesey

Porth Dafarch Beach

A sheltered horseshoe cove on the southwest coast of Holy Island, Porth Dafarch is a quieter, more rugged alternative to Trearddur Bay two miles north — fewer facilities, rockier edges, and snorkelling that ranks among the best in Wales.

Aberffraw Beach and estuary on the southwest coast of Anglesey with the dune system behind Beaches

Aberffraw, Anglesey

Aberffraw Beach

A broad, dune-backed beach at the mouth of the Afon Ffraw estuary on the southwest coast, Aberffraw (Traeth Aberffraw) rewards visitors who make the detour: a Blue Flag winner that is almost always quiet, with the ruined court of the Princes of Gwynedd hidden in the village just behind.

Newborough Forest cycling and walking path under tall Corsican pine with red squirrel habitat walking

Newborough, Anglesey

Newborough Forest & Beach Loop

A 5-mile circular walk through Newborough Forest and back along Newborough Beach combines Corsican pine forest, red squirrel habitat, sand dunes, and one of Wales' finest beaches in a single well-paced loop.

Cemlyn Bay lagoon with the shingle bar and tern colony on the north coast of Anglesey wildlife

Cemlyn, Anglesey

Cemlyn Bay Nature Reserve

Cemlyn Bay on the north coast holds one of the UK's largest Sandwich tern colonies, with hundreds of pairs nesting on the shingle bar that encloses the lagoon from May through July — a genuinely extraordinary wildlife spectacle within minutes of the car park.

Oriel Môn gallery and museum exterior in Llangefni with modern architecture Attractions

Llangefni, Anglesey

Oriel Môn Gallery & Museum, Llangefni

Anglesey's principal museum and art gallery, Oriel Môn in Llangefni holds the most comprehensive collection of material relating to Anglesey's history anywhere on the island — from Neolithic artefacts and Bronze Age metalwork to the story of the Parys Mountain Copper Kingdom and a permanent tribute to Charles Tunnicliffe, the wildlife artist who painted Anglesey for 30 years.

Children feeding lambs at Foel Farm Park in Brynsiencyn with the Menai Strait and Caernarfon in the background Family

Brynsiencyn, Anglesey

Foel Farm Park, Brynsiencyn

A working farm at Brynsiencyn that doubles as Anglesey's finest family attraction, Foel Farm Park lets children feed lambs, meet pigs and ponies, and follow the seasons of a genuine dairy operation with views down to the Menai Straits and Caernarfon Castle across the water.

Pili Palas butterfly house interior with tropical butterflies landing on flowers and children watching Family

Menai Bridge, Anglesey

Pili Palas Nature World

A tropical butterfly house and nature world near Menai Bridge, Pili Palas (Welsh for 'butterfly') houses free-flying exotic butterflies, parakeets, giant tortoises, and a collection of snakes, lizards, and insects in heated glasshouses that stay open year-round.

Llanddwyn Island lighthouse and ruined church at sunset with Snowdonia visible across the water walking

Newborough, Anglesey

Llanddwyn Island Walk

The walk from Newborough Beach across the dunes and along the shore to Ynys Llanddwyn — a narrow tidal promontory jutting into Caernarfon Bay — takes in one of Wales's most romantic landscapes, combining white sand, Corsican pine forest, and a ruined 16th-century church dedicated to St Dwynwen, Wales's patron saint of lovers whose feast day falls on 25 January.

Heather moorland and quartzite outcrops on the summit of Mynydd Bodafon with Snowdonia on the horizon walking

Near Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey

Mynydd Bodafon Walk

Mynydd Bodafon (178 metres) is Anglesey's highest inland summit — a heather-and-gorse moorland ridge of ancient Precambrian quartzite rising abruptly from the flat farmland of the east coast, with views from the trig point that stretch to the full Snowdonia skyline, the Llŷn Peninsula, and on exceptionally clear days the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland.

Rocky coastline and offshore stacks at Moelfre on the Anglesey Coastal Path with the lifeboat station visible walking

Moelfre, Anglesey

Moelfre Coastal Walk

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The ochre and rust-coloured open-cast workings of Parys Mountain above Amlwch with the 18th-century windmill ruin visible walking

Near Amlwch, Anglesey

Parys Mountain

The summit plateau of Parys Mountain (146 metres) above Amlwch presents a landscape so extraordinary it was used as a stand-in for Mars in early film productions — a post-industrial moonscape of ochre, rust-red, violet and acid-green spoil heaps pocked with mineral-stained pools, the skeletal remains of an 18th-century windmill, and the sheer walls of the Great Opencast, an excavation so vast it is visible from the main road miles away.

The pale limestone facade of Beaumaris Gaol with its heavy wooden entrance door on Bunkers Hill Family

Beaumaris, Anglesey

Beaumaris Gaol

Built in 1829 to designs by Joseph Hansom — who also invented the Hansom cab — Beaumaris Gaol is one of the best-preserved Victorian prisons in Britain, its original treadwheel, dark punishment cells, condemned cell, and execution room still intact inside the pale limestone walls on Bunkers Hill, a short walk from the castle.

Melin Llynon working windmill at Llanddeusant with its white sails turning against a blue sky Family

Llanddeusant, Anglesey

Melin Llynon Windmill

Melin Llynon at Llanddeusant in northwest Anglesey is the only working windmill in Wales, restored in 1986 from a derelict shell and now grinding flour with its original stone mechanism when the wind allows — producing wholemeal flour for sale on-site at a rate that remains unchanged from its 1776 construction date.

Beaumaris Pier extending over the Menai Strait with Snowdonia visible on the horizon and the castle in the background Family

Beaumaris, Anglesey

Beaumaris Pier

Beaumaris Pier — a Victorian cast-iron structure extending 147 metres into the Menai Strait from the town's seafront — is one of the gentlest and most rewarding free activities on the island: crabbing from the railings with children, watching seals surface in the channel below, or simply taking in the view across the water to the mountains of Snowdonia with the 13th-century castle framing the left-hand side of the picture.

Beaches

Rhoscolyn, Holy Island

Silver Bay Beach

A small, crescent-shaped beach on the western coast of Holy Island near Rhoscolyn, Silver Bay earns its name in the late afternoon when the sun catches the water from the southwest and turns the whole bay gold.

Puffin Island Ynys Seiriol grey seals cormorants Anglesey wildlife

Off Penmon, Anglesey

Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol) Wildlife Reserve

Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol) is a small uninhabited island off Anglesey's eastern tip, managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust of North Wales.