ANGLESEY FROM ALL ANGLES www.visitanglesey.co.uk www.croesomon.co.uk ALLWEDD / KEY © Isle of Anglesey County Council Croeso i Ynys Môn Lle i’r enaid gael llonydd yw Ynys Môn. Ymlaciwch, mwynhewch y croeso cynnes ac ymgollwch yn lonydd bach troellog neu arfordir ysblennydd yr ynys. Mae yma hefyd ddigon i’r holl deulu ei wneud gyda digwyddiadau, a tyniadau a gweithgareddau awyr agored mewn ardal brydferth. Mae’r map yma i’ch helpu chi ddod o hyd i’ch ffordd o gwmpas yr ynys, os hoffech gael ychwaneg o wybodaeth, ewch i’n gwefan, croesomon.co.uk Welcome to the Isle of Anglesey Anglesey is a place where you can get away from it all. Relax, enjoy the hospitality and lose yourself in the islands winding lanes or on its spectacular coast. There’s also plenty to do for all the family with events, attractions and outdoor activities all set in beautiful scenery. The map is here to help you find your way around the island if you would like any more information log on to visitanglesey.co.uk ‘Time on an island can change your life.’ What is it about islands? Well, for a start, they are places apart. That gives them an instant identity and personality – something you can’t say about other destinations. And that’s probably why you’re either thinking of visiting the Isle of Anglesey – Ynys Môn in Welsh – or have already arrived. So assuming you’re here on Anglesey soil (or sand), where do you start? It’s a good question. We mightn’t be a big island but – like Doctor Who’s Tardis – it seems as if space and time expand as soon as you cross the Menai Strait. There’s a huge amount to see and do here – far more than our size suggests. So to help point you in the right direction we’ve come up with this guidebook – Anglesey from All Angles. It’s not the usual boring list of places to visit. That’s not our style. We know you like to explore and be inspired, enjoy activities and adventure, seek out secret places and special experiences. So we’ve organised this guidebook along those lines. Our Anglesey Angles are full of ideas. They include the best ways to enjoy the island’s beaches, walks and watersports, where to find quirky hidden haunts, how to delve into our truly historic past, what to do on a rainy day, where to watch wildlife and what to do for free… all presented in a fresh, fun way that reflects the personality of the island. Hope you enjoy the read – we’re certain that you’ll enjoy Anglesey. CONTENT Figure it out 4 The wish list 6 For beach boys (and girls) 10 For adventurers 14 For getting wet (well sometimes) 18 For landlubbers 22 For families 26 For time travellers 30 For green days 34 For walkers 38 For rainy days 42 For viewfinders 46 For explorers 50 For arts, crafts and shopping 54 For foodies 58 For wildlife 62 For quieter times 66 For festivals and events 70 At a glance 74 Where to stay 78 Need to know 80 www.visitanglesey.co.uk www.croesomon.co.uk FIGURE IT OUT Anglesey by numbers – it all adds up to an There are seven golf clubs spread across the island full of things to see and do. island, offering a grand total of 99 holes just waiting to be played. Hope you With 143 scheduled monuments on an remembered to bring your clubs. island measuring just 276 square miles, you’re always close to history here on You’ll find delicious Halen Môn Anglesey Anglesey. Peer thousands of years into Sea Salt on tables in more than 22 the past at our ancient and atmospheric countries. Call in at the new £1.25 million burial chambers, standing stones and Ty Halen Môn visitor centre, Brynsiencyn, Celtic hillforts. for a taste of how it’s made. Two for the price of one. You either crossed There are around 700 red squirrels living in the 417m Menai Suspension Bridge on your parks, gardens and woodlands across the way here (opened in 1826) or the more island, the largest single population recent 461m Britannia Bridge. anywhere in Wales. You’ll need to navigate 400 steps to It may not be the biggest peak in the world, reach stunning South Stack Lighthouse. The but 220m Holyhead Mountain is more than reward for your efforts? Out-of-this-world tall enough to provide some spectacular views of our craggy coastline, plus countless 360-degree views from its summit. numbers of swooping seabirds. More than 1,000 pairs of sandwich terns There are 58 letters in the name of nest each summer on islands in Cemlyn Bay tongue-twisting village Llanfairpwllgwyngyll- lagoon. That’s about 10 percent of the gogery-chwyrn-drobwll-llan-tysilio-gogo- entire UK breeding population. goch. It’s the longest placename in Europe, but you can call it Llanfair PG for short. Intrepid underwater explorers can find an estimated 1,200 shipwrecks in our coastal Lace up your boots for a walk on the waters. Dive beneath the waves to 125-mile Anglesey Coast Path. You don’t investigate everything from 17th-century have to tackle it all in one go – we’ve yachts to World War Two U-boats. helpfully broken it down in to 12 bite-sized chunks for you in this guide. www.visitanglesey.co.uk You’ll find 1,800 million years of history www.discoveranglesey.com locked up in the rugged rocks of our coast and countryside. Anglesey’s geological rock stars are some of the oldest in the country. At their narrowest point, the waters of the Menai Strait separate Anglesey from the mainland by just 400m. It may be a short distance, but our little island still feels like a world apart. 5 THE WISH LIST On the next few pages we’ve come up with Then it’s off to Benllech and Red Wharf Bay ideas on where to go in Anglesey if you’re a for some sand between your toes. Anglesey day visitor, spending the weekend or is ringed with a coastline designated an mid-week here, or coming for a full week’s ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. It’s a holiday. It’s only intended as a taster of case of quality and quantity, as you’ll see at what we have to offer – we can’t, of course, Benllech – a family favourite – and the vast cover everything in just four pages. For the stretch of wildlife-rich sands at Red Wharf full menu on where to go and what to see Bay. Bring buckets, spades and binoculars. and do in Anglesey, please see the detailed listings beginning on page 10. Early afternoon, call into Oriel Ynys Môn, Llangefni. Although you haven’t time to see DAY TRIPPER all of Anglesey, this attractive museum and It’s an early start to make the most of the gallery gives you an instant tour of the day. First port of call is the handsome island’s history, heritage, geology, wildlife seatown of Beaumaris. Have a coffee along and art. There’s a good café too. Castle Street before visiting one of Wales’s most famous medieval fortresses, Beaumaris You’ve got time to do what everyone does Castle, protected by cleverly designed water when they visit us – get your picture taken and stone defences. next to the sign at Llanfair PG (no, we’re not going to spell it in full here), one of the www.visitanglesey.co.uk world’s longest placenames. And then coastal village with a sandy beach and stone squeeze some shopping in at James Pringle quayside framed by rugged headlands. Weavers, one of Wales’s largest craft and clothing stores. Plas Newydd House and Gardens near Llanfair PG, is an elegant National Trust A WEEKEND OR MID-WEEK BREAK property brimming with treasures like Rex Let’s assume you’re staying for two nights. Whistler’s giant wall painting. Then take a look at our ‘day tripper’ suggestions and add the following. Because Newborough’s vast, forest-backed beach you’re here for a few days we won’t be where you’ll have all the space – and recommending any particular order to your sand – you’ll ever need. itinerary – that all depends on where you’re based on the island and your travel plans. South Stack Lighthouse, a wow-factor So in addition to the day trips list you’ll spot and island icon. have time for these: Anglesey Sea Zoo, Brynsiencyn, peers into our watery world and the rich marine life that inhabits it. Cemaes, our most northerly 7 goodies and find out why. A WEEK’S VISIT Llyn Alaw, our largest lake, is popular with Add these places to our previous walkers, picnickers, birdwatchers and fishing suggestions for day trips and weekend / enthusiasts. We’re not just a coastal mid-week breaks and you’ll become a true destination, you know. island explorer. Again, we’ll leave it to you to plan your own daily itinerary: Llynnon Mill, Llanddeusant, the last surviving working windmill on the island, a reminder Amlwch, a picturesque little port that was of the times when Anglesey was known as once – almost unbelievably – the copper the ‘breadbasket of Wales’. exporting capital of the world. See where the copper came from by visiting nearby Menai Bridge, the town named after the Parys Mountain, an unearthly place that world’s first iron suspension bridge.