Llandudno (Wales)

I remember visiting Llandudno with my parents when I was a child, for our annual holiday. I have happy memories of building sandcastles, playing on the two Ormes and walking along the long crescent promenade eating ice creams! Ah, happy days!

I have been to Llandudno a few times since, but only for a couple of hours on a day trip from home in the Midlands. While we were on holiday on Anglesey we went back onto the mainland to Llandudno on a couple of occasions and I was able to see a lot more of the town and the Great Orme in particular.

The town and long sandy beach are sheltered by The Great Orme in the north and The Little Orme in the south. There is a pier at the foot of the Great Orme together with a few amusements and children’s rides. The sad spectacle of the ruined Grand Theatre also stands here.

The town itself is set around a wide main street and has a variety of good shops and eateries. We particularly liked Tribells for their fish and chips and the plentiful supply of tearooms!

On our visit to Llandudno one of the furniture shops had a huge dining chair outside in the street for advertising purposes, the seat of which was at least four feet from the floor. In fact we saw the staff putting it back in the shop later on and it barely fitted through the door! Anyway Dave lifted mom up onto the seat of the chair and proceeded to take her photograph, much to the amusement of the passers by!

We decided to take a trip up The Great Orme on the Tramway at a cost of £3.80 each for a return ticket. The Tramway starts at Victoria Station, which was built in 1902, and climbs up the old road through the original Llandudno village. It is the only cable hauled street tramway in Great Britain.

The upper section of the track passes through a more barren area that was designated as a country park in 1980.

At the top there is a café, a bar and shops as well as a few slot machines in a small arcade.

You can walk all over The Great Orme admiring the fantastic views out over the sea and spotting the rare flora and fauna that inhabit the area. There are many well signposted paths so that you can walk up or down the Orme as gently or as steeply as you wish.

There is also a cable car, which starts from an area called Happy Valley at the side of the Orme and terminates at the top. I remember going on this as a child but I also remember that mom wasn’t too keen on it at all!

You can go into the Great Orme Mines, have a go on the artificial ski slope and toboggan run or visit St. Tudno’s church. As you can see there’s plenty to do here.

We visited the Rectory Tearooms near to St. Tudno’s church where they sell tea, coffee, snacks and the most glorious home made cakes!

If you drive up the Great Orme you will have to pay a toll of £2 per trip, payable at the bottom of the road.

The road passes the old lighthouse, which has now been made into a bed and breakfast establishment. We quite fancied staying there so I have had a look at the website since we’ve been home and it looks amazing! One of the suites is actually set in the room where the lamp used to be with the windows all around. It currently costs £59 per person per night just for bed and breakfast but it is very tempting!

Take a look at the website at http://freespace.virgin.net/lighthouse.g​b/ it looks gorgeous!

All in all I really enjoyed going back and spending some time in Llandudno and the weather was lovely and sunny which made it even better!

UPDATE

Now that I actually live here (as from 9th July 2002) I shall be doing some in depth opinions about various aspects of this lovely resort - you have been warned .....