What is there to so near Denbigh in North Wales?

[JenniMoo]

We've ended up with a weeks holiday in a weeks time (with the inlaws...) near Denbigh. I've had no time to research so far and am worried we'll end up with my MIL setting the itinerary...
I have a dd aged 3 and DS 7m and wouldn't want to have to travel too far in the car (after the long trip there..)
Any ideas what's good to see? Short walks, nice views, woods, country parks are all good (especially if the weather's ok) but any ideas welcome.

There's a visitor Centre at Llyn Brenig, you can have a nice walk there. It's about 10 mins from Denbigh.
Ruthin is only 10-15 mins from Denbigh,
Bodelwyddan Castle is only 15 mins away.
St.Asaph, you can walk along the river. 10 mins from Denbigh

Chester is not far away and lovely.

Llyn Brenig ( a big reservoir) has a visitors centre and little play park. If you drive through the main car park towards the exit and park by the play park its free parking. The main car park has a charge.

Rhyl has various fairground rides on the front and sticks of rock/ ice creams for sale. Theres a little cafe on the front called something like the corner cafe which has a soft play area inside. Nothing grand but its nice if your DD wants to play for a bit.

Mold has a weekly market on a Wednesday which is quite pleasant. It also has my favourite sweet shop (i love traditional sweet shops). Its called Spavens and you/ your DD can decorate a jar and fill it with any combination of sweets for not a lot in comparison to many activities. The staff are really tolerant of DC taking ages to choose 50pence worth of sweets.

Ruthin has lots of coffee shops and the smallish arts centre, which also sell coffee and light meals. Theres a jail museum place which would probably be better for the DC in a few years.

Denbigh itself has the walls which can be walked. You used to get the key from the library for a small deposit. But i think there was a plan to build a visitors centre at the caste.

Welsh mountain zoo is lovely with young DC. Its a fair weather attraction though.

Further along the coast are Conwy (nice castle and little shops) and Llandudno (less cheesy than Rhyl) both lovely.

The libraries often have activities on in the holidays as does the crafts centre. The libraries have the whats on book on the counter usually.

Chirk Castle is lovely though about an hour's drive away. Would definitely recommend Llandudno over Rhyl). Llangollen is fun with the steam train. Chester is lovely and Grosvenor Park has a tiny train that you can ride on round the park and boat rides on the river beyond.

And Loggerheads Country Park

Don't go to Rhyl! Go to Llandudno instead. The Great Orme has cable cars and copper mines and other attractions.

DP works for Denbighshire Council, there is so much to do and it is a very very pretty part of the country.

Agree with the PP about Spavens, its just a sweet shop but you can spend time in there doing crafty stuff.

LLangollen has a steam railway, that isn't too far and very scenic.

There is so much to do I'm struggling to think of the best ones. When we were kids instead of having a summer holiday we just got to pick somewhere to go everyday for a week, a week of local day trips. Amazing.

OP, DO NOT GO TO RHYL......EVER ;)

Thanks for all the ideas, perfect!

And thanks for the warning about Rhyl ;)

Has anyone said don't go to Rhyl yet?

I'm almost tempted to go to Rhyl now, if it really is that bad ;)

Rhyl is very cheesy, maybe I am too, but I like it for its honesty about what it is, a cheap british seaside town.

That being said, a lot of money has been spent on the front.

But you can park right on the beach in a multistorey car park that doesn't break the bank. Theres a nice big play park near the parking for your DD. There are the basic fairground seaside rides that you pay per ride, you can buy rock/ ice cream / fish and chips on the front. It fulfils the seaside town thing.

Its not posh but with very little ones for a couple of hours out its fine. In the summer the airshow is fantastic if you find yourself in the area again.

Llandudno is lovely. Parking is on street or further from town, its nicer but very spread out and quite a bit further from Denbigh.

Rhyl is actually 1 step off being the pit of hell.

If you take a lot of multi occupancy property, fill them with druggies, sex offenders, paedophiles and the waste from Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham you have........Rhyl.

It was lovely once. Now it's not. It's a shame but it is what it is.....unpleasant.

yes, Rhyl really is that bad. I didn't believe it either until I went!

I also recommend the Denbigh town walls. Plus sign up for geocaching.com (it's free) and that will show you lots of caches in the area which are based round beautiful walks of varying length.

yours are too little for the Clwydian walks but Loggerheads as mentioned should be just right.

if you have NT membership the nearest one is probably Erddig.

ps Llyn Brenig is about half an hour from Denbigh. Breathtakingly beautiful though.

there is a visitor centre at Denbigh Castle, I wasn't that impressed when I went considering that it was very expensive! To echo everyone else - stay away from Rhyl. Also, a word of warning - do NOT accidently let a piece of litter fall to the floor in any of these towns. The clean police (who look like thugs in a black jacket and jeans) will swoop on you and issue you with a fine. No excuses, no warnings, £75.00 and that's it. Happened to us at the weekend "but I'm picking it up" "no - I was watching you and you dropped it" Nasty, nasty people. (I thought the guy was a would be mugger watching us - no - he was an enforcer) so zip up your pockets so nothing escapes!
There's Greenacres Animal Park near Chester, which might be worth a visit, and Chester Zoo isn't too far for a day.

Thanks for all the ideas. Must download the local geocaches too, we haven't found any for ages and I think dd is old enough to appreciate it now!

Thanks for all these tips, ive printed out info on all of them (except rhyl)

Any tips for the best cream tea type place in the area?

If you want something really nice then Bodysgallen near Llandudno do very nice lunches and afternoon teas.

But then I like Rhyl too, so may not be the best judge!

That does look nice but looks like they may not be keen on having children there.

Greenfield valley near Hollywell is another nice shortish day out with little ones. You can get a pushchair around and plenty of car free space to run around. They have well thought out little activities on most weekends and holidays. There used to be a lady who did the farmhouse kitchen events who'd bake great tablefuls of wonderful traditional bakes and treats that she encouraged the children ( and us) to try.

There used to be a nice cafe by the entrance to the farm (few pounds each entrance), alongside the abbey ruins (free to run around), but its one of those places that changes hands on a shortish council lease I think, so I couldn't vouch for its quality but the setting is nice with inside and outside tables.

There are various ponds and ducks to be fed.

Thank you for the suggestions, we had a good week and visited loggerheads, Lyn brenig, Mold, Denbigh, Chester and also Conwy castle.
Spavens sweet shop was brilliant! DD decorated a sweetie jar, ate pancakes then filled the jar. She has a souvenir to bring home and the while process took an hour at least, so pretty good value for money at £7 (included ice cream and a hot chocolate for one of us too!)