For our family holiday this year, we head to Wales. Specifically Llandudno – somewhere we’ve not been to before but has been highly recommended by friends.

Day One – Saturday

We left around 11am, heading towards Nutsford. This took us 1.5 hours and we parked up and had some lunch at Cafe on the Corner. The final part of the journey took 1.75-2 hours.

Arriving in Llandudno around 3:30pm, we found our Airbnb which was at the top of a very steep hill. A lovely house, though.

We walked into town, where it was VERY busy. Heading down to the beach., we got some fish and chips from Fish Tram Chips and ate them near the beach side.

A quick trip to The Looking Glass Ice Cream Parlour satiated our need for dessert! On the way we bumped into someone we know from Nottingham, who was also on holiday (cue “small world” comment). At Looking Glass Jen and Lucie had an ice cream cone, whereas I had a waffle with fruit and ice cream! Stuffed, we walked up the very, very steep hill back.

The people next door were having a party, with lots of loud laughter until late and then the guests made quite a noise leaving at midnight. Lucie was in the front bedroom so had a disturbed sleep.

Day Two – Sunday

Our first full day and we decided to have a quiet one (particularly as it was Sunday, so things were pretty much shut anyway).

After lunch (inc. finishing off the Welsh cakes that we’d been left by the owner) we watched a bit of the Women’s World Cup final before walking into town – this time a longer, but less hilly route.

We walked all the way up the pier, with Jen & Lucie stopping to go on the Ferris wheel. At the end, Lucie and I went into the arcade and she learnt a valuable lesson about how gambling doesn’t win!

A quick Sainsbury’s shop and we then stopped at Loaf for drinks and some Barra Brith .

Whilst Jen then went for a longer walk, Lucie and I found a nice bench and watched the world go by for an hour!

At 5pm we went to Johnny Doughs, for a Pizza tea.

Day Three – Monday

Today we drove to Conwy, had some sandwiches on the steps to the beach, followed by an ice cream at Parisella’s.

We saw Great Britain’s smallest house!

We then went around the castle – I climbed to the very top, which gave a great view!

After that we walked the suspension bridge before stoping at a cafe (another branch of Parisella’s!) for a drink .

We returned to Llandudno, stopping at M&S for some food. Lucie was cooking tonight! Chicken and pasta with sauce.

Day Four – Tuesday

We left late morning for Llanddwyn Beach, which is in Anglesey, a little over an hour away.

Despite the weather forecasts suggesting sunny skies, it was overcast and windy. The beach itself was lovely – no amenities, other than a toilet and an ice cream van (but what else do you need?).

We got there just after 12 and had a picnic lunch. We paddled in the sea, Lucie buried my feet, we played with a ball and, yes, Lucie poured sand in my mouth too. Dirty child.

We later had an ice cream.

Leaving the beach at around 2:45pm, we were back for around 4:15, after I stopped for petrol too.

We went back to the Airbnb and showered (mainly to get rid of the sand), drank some tea and had a short rest.

Around 5:30 we drove into town, parking up and walked to Wok ’n’ Roll for Pad Thai. We were back around 7:15pm.

Day Five – Wednesday

We’re all pretty tired so we thought we’d have a quiet one, exploring Llandudno some more.

We walked down into town, arriving at the seafront around 11am. A boat excursion was just leaving, so we joined it. We spent an hour touring the Great and Little Orme, including seeing some basking and swimming seals.

After, we went into town and got some lunch at Loaf. Lucie and Jen had panini’s and I had gammon and egg (it was supposed to be a main meal!). We then walked to Waterstones and looked in some other shops too.

It was raining at this point – drizzly but constant – but it stopped long enough for us to climb up to the cable car station. Only then did we find it was cash only, something we didn’t have. We climbed down and decided to go on the tram instead. There was a big queue outside and it was raining again. We decided to give up and walk back to the Airbnb.

After relaxing for the remainder of the afternoon, we finished off the Thai from the previous night as well as having omelettes.

After tea we went out in the car for ice cream.

Day Six – Thursday

Went to a National Trust property today in Anglesea – Plas Newydd House and Garden

Their map is terrible and there’s a lack of signs.

The “arboretum” turned out to be trees. Lots of trees.

And muddy paths. But the house was great.

We stopped and ate sandwiches and then got ice creams (of course).

On the way back we drove over the Menai bridge – we’d previously used the Britannia bridge.

We returned to the Airbnb and chilled for a bit before walking down the hill to the start of the tram, which we then took to the top of The Great Orm, at 207m above sea level.

Once back down, we went for tea at Ormo Lounge before the long walk back up the hill to the Airbnb. We returned just after 6pm.

Day Seven – Friday

Final full day.

We were stuck with ideas for this one so, earlier in the week, I suggested Bangor. It has a big almost mile long row of shops and, according to the internet, lots of things to see and do.

Sadly, it was wrong. Or maybe it was before Covid.

A lot of the shops are shut and the town centre looks very tired. The pier is far from everywhere else and the whole place was… boring. We had lunch, did a brief spell of shopping and then left.

As an alternative, I suggested that I drop off Jen and Lucie so they could go on the cable car. I did and a while later they called me – it was shut due to high winds. They’d gone on the ferris wheel again instead.

The only thing we did get right – a booked reservation at Dylan’s restaurant.

Pricey but amazing good. I’d recommend the blade of beef, along with the churros for dessert.

After we took a short trip to the West Parade. A much more deserted, and less commercial beach.

Day Eight – Saturday

The return home.

We had to be out by 10, so were up bright and breazy to finish packing, tidy and load the car. We decided to stop in Crewe, about two third of the way home. However, we were all feeling tired and Crewe was… well, it was somewhere to stop but we had no other good reason to go there. So, we decided not to bother. 

It rained hard which made the journey difficult but, still, there were few hold ups and rather than the 3 hours it took to get there, it only took 2.5 to get home. Well, except we stopped at services… about 20 minutes from home – as we were famished.

We got home not long after.