Looking at going here on a family holiday in May for 2 weeks. I'm familiar with the the likes of ffestiniog, Snowdon and llandudno but is the peninsula any good in terms of nice beaches, pubs and stuff for kids to do etc...
Any advice would be welcomed...!
Beaches are nice in Abersoch but not a lot to do if weather is bad. Having said that in my experience its a micro climate and is more often than not dry and warm.
Abersoch town is quaint but full of Cheshire types in designer surfing gear.
Its quite nice in general though and friends of ours own a cottage on the headland which we use occasionally and we sometimes camp their in the summer hols. If you camp I would avoid the area near Hells mouth, picturesque as it is it can be quite exposed and windy.
Ty Coch Inn is essential for chilled day, decent cove style beach at Tudweliog, Whispering sands is good also. I like the area and yes, the weather tends to be better than the Snowdonia area.
Lived ther for 5 years!Abersoch is insanely busy in the summer and full of muppets.The north coast is much quieter.Porth Coleman,Porth Oer (whistling sands) and Porthdinllaen are all good and a little more authentic.
It does seem to have its own micro climate aswell-it can be black and raining in Porthmadog and sunny as you like on the llyn!
The cottage I have just reserved is apparently owned by the same people who own that pub...
And on the north coast, so looking good thanks all!
that pub is great - fantastic location.
Don't go out in Nefyn for a beer on a friday night-unless you are fully fluent in cymraeg 😉
Don't go expecting tons of stuff to do like Devon where every farm is a petting zoo or mini theme park, it's not there. Walks, beaches, bit of surf if that's your thing, boating etc. Abersoch/The Warren is full of Audis and Rangeys but there aren't many towns and it keeps them all in one place. Road bike best for exploring, not many bridleways, lots of little lanes. Great place.
One of the best beaches is Porth Iago. Totally sheltered, beautiful diving, unspoilted and just £2 parking, With a map just North of Whistling Sands but much more sheltered. Other great things to do The Rivals, Morfa Nefyn beach, Plas Rhiw... Hirdre Fawr is a great relaxed exploring base...
you also have the castles of caernarfon, beaumaris, Criccieth nearby as well as portmeirion.
Lovely little family friendly bike route which follows the railway to Caernarfon. The Welsh language and culture centre is well worth a visit - lovely beach and a great cafe.
Will post some location info later.
Port Meirion, narrow gauge railways, castles at Cricceith, Caernarfon, Beaumaris (not too far away). The Octagon (if it still exists)at the weekend for a punch up! Watch the boats at Abersoch, Aberdaron is (used to be?) nice, plenty of great beaches. Can you still drive on to Black Rock Sands?
South coast for beaches, north coast I think is a bit rockier.
If it rains there's Go-Karting and bowling just outside Pwllheli and a bunny farm inbetween Pwllheli and Criccieth which is pretty good with quite a few animals to see but just beware as Mrs SB took my 3 grils last summer and came back with 3 guinea pigs!
Rorschach - we've had a house there for the last 40 years and we live in Cheshire! Not sure what that makes me but I agree that it can get pretty manic in August but May and June are fab.
Great for kids.
DS you are not a Koffi are you ?
Octagon has been renamed iirc
Llyn is ace if you want to get away from all civilisation and just chill. I used to go as my blackberyy could not get a signal HEAVEN at the end by Aberdarran nice beaches and walks for the kids to be chilled etc
Looks like I made a good choice then, just got to endure the 5-6 hour journey from London with 2 toddlers in tow
[url= http://www.cyclingnorthwales.co.uk/pages/lon_eifion.htm ]Here's [/url] a site for the Lon Eifion cycleway.
[url= http://www.nantgwrtheyrn.org/LanguageChoice.aspx?page=1 ]This [/url] is the link to the Welsh Llanguage (sorry) and culture centre.
Both worth a pop IMO.
You could combine a trip to Nant Gwrtheryn with a circuit of the Rivals - you'd be properly knackered by the end though.
DS you are not a Koffi are you ?
Octagon has been renamed iirc
No I bloody well am not! I've got a couple of friends that I went to uni with from up that way. A couple of colourful characters shall we say, I shan't mention Meibion Glyndwr on an open forum. 😉
My lot are a from a bit further south, Harlech, Barmouth and some of the less populated villages.
Can you still drive on to Black Rock Sands?
Yes. I stay there a couple of times a year usually. Great beach for a nice long walk as well.
I've had lots of holidays up there, even had my honeymoon in Criccieth! But I'm not sure I'd go for a fortnight in May to be honest.
There's a little hill you can climb on the north coast with what I think was an iron age fort on top. Brilliant.
I didn't like Abersoch either, feels like it belongs in a snooty bit of Cornwall instead of Wales!
The views from Porthmadog across to Snowdonia are jaw-dropping. I'm up there again in a month.
🙂
The sea zoo on Anglesey, is good **wanders off to check its sill there - yes it is 😆 **.
The toddlers will love (or be scared senseless) by the touch tank.
There's always the Slate Museum and the Hydro Electric power station tour in Llanberis if you fancy a drive out for a day.
Both surprisingly good for kids as well as adults.
just trying to annoy you DS 😉
Oh why not I always remember the pub by that name by the beach on Ynys Mon. Never went in myself
First Welsh sentence I learnt though was I come from Scotland originally
This is the second post about the Lleyn this morning - was it on telly last night or something?
Would agree with all of the above. +1 for Aberdaron - it's really nice, we stayed in our van at a fantastic, semi-wild campsite out on the point just outside the town. There is a pub with terrace overlooking the beach - can have a pint while the little ones are playing. Good walk up to Mynydd Mawr with great views. Boat trips to Bardsey Island worth doing.
Most bits of Lleyn are only an hour from the mountains for some proper biking too!
I sense a bit of tension about the Welsh language from some folk here - I'm from Anglesey (or at least was brought up there). Welsh is a lot of people's first language both there and on Lleyn, in most cases they're genuinely not speaking it just to wind up the grockles, although like anywhere there are a few folk about with a chip on their shoulders.
Abersoch = Bramhall By The Sea
Great memories of camping on the beach at Hell's Mouth back in the day *wistful look*
If you do pop over to Anglesey, there's a Dinosaur/geology exhibit in a good old fashioned "enthusiast in a shed" way that's worth a look. Seems to be called "Stone Science" now, but I'm sure it had a previous name. Good fossil/rock shop on site too. Anglesey Sea Zoo is nice too and often have hands on stuff.