Anglesey Attractions – Things to do in Anglesey
You’ll want to look out for some of Anglesey’s top attractions when you take a holiday to this sunny North Wales island. Once your travel arrangements have been arranged and you’ve chosen suitable accommodation, be it a self-catering cottage or hotel, planning things to do for the family is a priority. Anglesey has some very interesting historical attractions that are well worth visiting.
In the far west, visit the famous Trinity House Lighthouse on South Stack, near Holyhead. This location is truly spectacular, with the lighthouse on a small stack below a steep cliff, only reachable by descending 400 steps down the cliffs and across a bridge. Take in spectacular views of the Irish Sea and the Cambrian coastline, go bird watching and learn about the local geology and rich history of the lighthouse, which celebrated 200 years in 2009.
The Oriel in Llangefni is a recently renovated Art Museum that hosts around eighteen temporary exhibitions each year. A permanent gallery houses the Tunnicliffe Collection, incredible sketches of the island’s birds and other fauna by this renowned naturalist painter who worked in watercolours, oils and etchings. There is also a gallery for the paintings of Kyffin Williams, a landscape painter, as well as a gallery that traces the history of the island from the Stone Age era.
The oldest working windmill in Wales, Llynnon Mill, is near the village of Llanddeusant, where you can buy freshly ground whole wheat flour as the sails turn. Near the Windmill there are some old millstones, as well as the ruins of an old bakery that can be reached through a small wood. This Anglesey attraction has a small cafe and shops, and you can also visit two roundhouses that faithfully reproduce living conditions 3,000 years ago.
Of all the Anglesey attractions to see, Beaumaris Gaol designed by Joseph Hansom and built in 1829 must be the bleakest for the visitor. The jail is no longer used and is now a museum showing what life was like as a Victorian prisoner. Experience the darkness of the punishment cell, how the efforts of the treadmill pumped water, and where a condemned prisoner spent his last days, with the last man executed in 1862.
On the east coast is one of Anglesey’s attractions that illustrates the rich maritime history associated with the island. Moelfre is a picturesque seaside location, associated with the famous Royal Charter tragedy in 1859, with yachts anchored in the harbor and the feel of a Mediterranean fishing village. The Seawatch Center houses a lifeboat and records the bravery displayed by Moelfre’s lifeboat boatmen over the centuries, including coxswain Dic Evans.
Beaumaris Courthouse was built in 1614 and here you have the opportunity to walk through the former rectangular courtroom, stand on the pier and visit the grand jury room. Find out where prisoners were kept while they awaited trial and learn about some of the infamous prisoners on Anglesey. In 1742 the trial of notorious robbers accused of robbing ships wrecked in a violent storm took place off Rhosneigr on the southwest coast.
Your stay on this island will never be short of places to see and things to do, giving you a taste of the past and an experience of the present. Anglesey has the ability to blend the historic with the exciting and tragic, and you can be sure that when you look back on your holiday these Anglesey attractions will not be far from your thoughts.