Castles & history
Nowhere in Europe has a greater concentration of medieval castles than North Wales. Edward I's World Heritage 'ring of iron' gets the crowds, but the native strongholds of the Welsh princes, the border castles and the great houses often give you more per visitor. Our full guides carry the costs, the parking and the honest verdict; the rest are quick references while we work through them.
15 places covered.
North-East Wales
Conwy & the Coast
Eryri (Snowdonia)
Anglesey (Ynys Môn)
Llŷn Peninsula
Dee Valley & the Berwyn
Two castle stories, one country
North Wales carries two rival castle-building traditions, and half the fun is telling them apart. Edward I's 'ring of iron' — Flint and Rhuddlan first, then the World Heritage quartet of Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris and Harlech — was thrown up in the 1280s and 90s to hold a conquered country: vast, concentric, deliberately intimidating, and built so they could always be supplied from the sea.
Against them stand the older strongholds of the Welsh princes — Dolwyddelan, Castell y Bere, Dinas Brân above Llangollen, and Criccieth before Edward took and remodelled it. These are smaller, rock-perched and atmospheric rather than monumental; you usually have to climb to them, and the view is the reward.
Which are free, and which you pay for
The big garrison castles are Cadw-run and charge admission in season — budget for Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Harlech and Denbigh, and check current prices on the Cadw site, because they change. But some of the best cost nothing: Flint is free and open to wander, and at Conwy you can walk the entire circuit of the town walls — three-quarters of a mile of wall-walk with twenty-one towers ringing the old town — for free, the best free castle experience in Wales. Nearby Rhuddlan is free to look round in the winter off-season, though Cadw charges over the main season.
A day among the castles
Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Criccieth and Denbigh each deserve anything from a few hours to a full day — the castle first, then the town and coast wrapped around it, which is where these places really earn the trip. Don't try to bag more than two of the big ones in a day; you'll only end up rushing the towns, which is where the character is.
The Flintshire end makes a gentler drive instead: a short stop at Flint (first of Edward's ring, straight out onto the Dee marshes), on down the coast road to the beached, graffiti-daubed wreck of the Duke of Lancaster — 'the Funship' — for a photo, then finish at Talacre and the Point of Ayr for an ice cream, a lighthouse and a beach stroll.
Build a day out here
The free Explore Wales planner chains any of these into an itinerary with drive times, weather and campsite suggestions — and works offline once installed.