Anglesey - any visitors, please come and help me....

[ceebee74]

Am going to Anglesey next week with a 14 month old.

Any advice on what to do, where to visit, nice (child-friendly) restaurants etc.

The Sea Zoo is quite good and has a cafe which is very child friendly. There is also a stately home on the road leading to the Sea Zoo, the name of which escapes me. This has two cafes and a picnic area, lovely gardens etc.

that sounds good - is it actually on Anglesey or the mainland?

Sea Zoo (Brynsiencyn)
(Hootons farm shop on the road to this which I like,also Nationan Trust propert, Plas Newydd)
Foel Farm (petting zoo type place)
Henblas (similar)
Pili Palas (butterfly jungly indoor thing)
Mooch around Beaumaris (very pretty) and visit the castle and maybe the gaol)
Drive to Penmon for deserted beach with great views and interesting old ruins.
Redwharf Bay (Eastern side) is lovely and there is a nice pub there for lunch)
Llanddwyn beach on the eastern side (Vogue voted it one of the top ten beaches in the world)

Anglesey.

If you fancy a trip to the mainland, Llanberis is worth a trip. The scenery is stunning and there is a steam train which takes you to the summit of Snowdon and one which is much shorter and goes around the lake. We took the lake trip because my ds2 is still quite young.

Drop into a tourism info place to get info on all of these and a basic map.)
Where are you staying?

sea zoo pass is valid for a few days as well so go early on in the week it also has bouncy castle outside and picnic area

Thanks for all this information - it is fantastic.

We are staying Aberffraw on the west of the island.

Sea Zoo is not very good- you'll be finished in 45 minutes and it's expensive for that amount of time.

Hen Blas is a fab day out and is near Aberffraw. You'll be there all day but check opening times now that kids have gone back to school for all of the attractions.

Colwyn Bay Zoo- good day out although very mountainy. About 30 minutes from Anglesey

LLanberis- loads to do- steam train, soft play, museum of welsh slate

You're right Pixie.
It is shite isn't it?

i'm having none of that!!! it's great. ok, v small, but we just went round it 4 times with sarnies in between each go. and went back the next day. to get full value out of our tickets (they were a bit pricey for the 'experience', i admit ) kids did love it though
foal farm and henblas were great - easier to spend a full day there
beaumaris gaol terrified my two and at same time. things were tough in them there days

blardy boring going round it 4 times if you ask me!

I go there about once a year and then remember why I don't go round it more often.

Yeah, I didn't think much of the sea zoo tbh either. Very expensive and over very quick.

Plas Newydd is a NT property on Anglesey and is gorgeous - lots of lovely walks about the property - and in particular a lovely harbour walk.

If you veer off island, Penrhyn Castle (another NT property) is also fab. But don't bother with Bodnant Garden - everything is on a huge slope with the toilets/exit right at the top and no picnics allowed. Felt really unwelcoming and child unfriendly - very un-National Trust like.

Plas Newydd is on a hill as well but if you go through the courtyard ou can get the bus back up- don't try and walk it's a killer

Somebody else has mentioned Plas Newydd to us so that sounds like it might occupy a couple of days (we do love long walks although now it has to be somewhere wheelchair-friendly!)

What about child-friendly pubs/restaurants for evening meals? Any ideas?

We went to Plas Newydd, acutally by accident as we were just drivning past and decided to stop. It was gorgeous and the kids loved it.

Just re-read my last post - I meant pushchair friendly

I wouldn't say that Plas Newydd was wheelchair friendly. They also won't let you in the house with a baby carrier.

Pubs/restaurants- loads of fab ones although you're slightly out of season now.

Gaerwen Arms/Newborough Arms- can't remmeebr what it's called as it keeps changing in Gaerwen, there's a Brewers fayre in Bangor although that could be closed for refurb iirc- unsure as to when it opens.
Tafarn y Gors in Gaerwen. Pilot Boat in Dulas, Beaumaris has loads of lovely places, most are child friendly and remmeebr that wales has been non smoking for ages now

Oh I dunno - I can't remember many steps in the paths on the walks through the woodland and by the sea or anywhere in the grounds come to that - there may have been a few but not steep ones. There's a terraced walled garden bit which is stepped which is less pushchair friendly.

We tend to skip the houses mostly anyway (as the kids get bored) but we did go through that one. The handbook says they give hip seats and front carrying seats on loan round the house (I know plenty of places that don't like back carriers - too much potential for damage if you swing around suddenly!)

And the handbook has little wheelchair symbols for grounds and house so I'd say that's fairly accessible to me

Plas Newydd has that fab mural in the main house (probably not that interesting for a 14 month old though...) and the gardens are lovely.

Treadurr Bay & Benlech (sp?) have nice beaches.

I also went to an indoor play centre in Caernarfon which was in a converted church. It was on the main road into Caernarfon driving down from Bangor.. Dd had a fab time (was 3 yrs ago - not sure if it still there)

iT'S STILLL THERE mISSUS.
cALLED THE hWYLFAN/fUN CENTRE.
(mY IDEA OF HELL BUT KIDS LOVE IT.)

We also liked a little model village not far from the Sea Zoo - we stopped off to kill time and it was surprisingly good. Swings and a little train round the back and a little cafe. Quite sweet really.