North Wales Holiday Park

[ZebraPyjamas]

Hi all

Looking for some recommendations please as I am going around in circles online, every time I think I’ve found a place I then find some dodgy reviews!!

Want a week ish in North Wales, small budget, kids 8-16 but easily pleased! Direct/walkable beach access, somewhere to kick a ball around, a pool would be nice, on-site shop/chipper would be really handy. Travelling from Ireland so don’t know the area at all apart from driving through it. I’m the only driver so would like to minimise driving once we get there but would also like to visit Snowdonia hence looking at North Wales. Oh needs to sleep 7 and 2 toilets would make the whole thing much more pleasant!!!!

Any and all suggestions welcome. Would also be open to a self catering house in a village, driving distance from a beach.

Thanks in advance!

My cousin has a caravan on sunny sands at Barmouth x great site

Have a look at greenacres holiday park porthmadog

Havan Y Mor - Pwllheli

There's a lot of variation available in North Wales. Do you want a large or small site, buzzy or quiet? Do you want to be in or near somewhere with an old school British seaside holiday vibe or is that not your thing at all?

Guessing you're on the ferry, so also helpful to know whether Holyhead or Birkenhead.

Talybont, near Barmouth, has quite a few sites that meet your needs. Very close to the beach (a couple of minutes walk), pools, access to arcades and entertainment, decent chippies nearby.

Away Resorts - Barmouth Bay
Islawrffordd
Sarnfaen

All have their own pools if I remember rightly (Barmouth Bay and Sarnfaen definitely do), plus facilities, plus there's a sort of central facilities area called The Sands in between all of the parks.

Can't remember the pool situation for:
Moelfre View
Caerelwen

A little bit further towards Barmouth (you have to cross the railway line to reach the beach):
Sunnysands (very popular, good facilities)
Caerddaniel (fewer facilities).

Further up north if you're after Haven type you've got Greenacres near Porthmadog and Hafan Y Mor near Pwllheli.

Talacre beach resort is a nice little site. Not a huge amount going on but good location for the beach.

Greenacres near Porthmadog and Hafan Y Mor.
We’ve been a few times with our kids and they are both really good bases for exploring other areas. Hafan Y Mor is larger and has more facilities for kids etc but both great sites.
Both sites have direct beach access. Both lovely beaches too.

Go to Haf an y Mor but get an air B&B on the owners part of the site, it’s quiet, close to a little private beach and still a short walk to all of the main facilities so you get the best of both worlds.

if you rent a caravan in the main part of the site I believe it can be quite loud and busy at night which doesn’t suit everybody.

Greenacres - beautiful direct access to a huge beach with sand dunes. Easy access to mountains, other towns, steam trains, Portmeirion etc

Hafan y mor pwllheli has direct beach access, an indoor pool with flumes etc, and bookable activities. It's a Haven site which may not be your thing (it's not mine) but it's really well situated for exploring Eyri (snowdonia region) pen llyn, Caernarfon, and surrounding areas. I'm local and we've stayed a few times as the kids really love it and it can be very cheap out of season. Lots of locals go for the weekend which I think says something about its appeal (never thought I'd be bigging up a Haven site, but here we are..)

Eyri - Eryri (Eh-Rurry, rhymes with curry)

I'd be looking at the Haven ones mentioned. I'd visit Portmeirion.

Another one recommending Hafan y mor. It's a great haven site and the beach is gorgeous. It's huge so there's lots of space. We always book a gold van which feels ridiculously priced for what is essentially a fancy tin box but it's a very nice tin box and the gold vans are always well spaced out in quieter areas of the park.

Dyffryn Seaside Estate is lovely. Outside of Barmouth but a short walk to a railway station that takes you in to Barmouth. It’s right on a gorgeous beach with stunning views.

Has a shop, bar, pool and play area. All the caravans are of high quality.

Hafans pool is shut until at least June.
ty Mawr is a good site and very well situated for exploring north wales. Very clean, lodges are a decent size and the beach is a short walk away

I wouldn't go back to Ty Mawr. I didn't write this TripAdvisor review but it pretty much sums up the experience we had there last summer. The caravan was filthy and poorly maintained, the double mattress in the main bedroom was stinking and the sofas in the living area were filthy and encrusted with old food stains. The site was also ridiculously loud, you could hear every word of the songs being played in the entertainment complex in our caravan and it went on until the early hours of the morning. We went to the entertainment one night and left after one drink as the noise level was unbearable.

I wanted to share this review of Parkdean Resorts Ty Mawr Holiday Park on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g3570636-d649329-r1044930011-Parkdean_Resorts_Ty_Mawr_Holiday_Park-Towyn_Abergele_Conwy_County_North_Wales_W.html

I don’t mind quiet/buzzy, kids would probably enjoy a busier vibe, otherwise really open to anything! Will be sailing into Holyhead

Thank you! I don’t know if Haven is my thing or not! Sounds fab though but can you tell me what puts you off Haven in case I might be the same?!!

Thanks so much everyone for replaying, loads for me to look into!

As a Haven fan...

The sites are big and in high season things like the entertainment will be crowded and the site possibly (not always) noisy. They're cheap and cheerful, a budget option. You also will be limited in when you can go in the pool, whereas some sites that dont have such a stack em high business model will let you use it whenever you like.

The Pwllheli site in particular is gorgeous and sounds like it would fit what you're looking for. There's also one in Prestatyn but that's on the east side and as you're sailing to Anglesey it makes more sense to look at options there and in Gwynedd.

The arcade, evening entertainment and food options put me off, I don't actually mind caravans. A holiday park disco just isn't my thing! Your kids may love it though.

We've been twice to hafan y mor and both times ignored the entertainment entirely and avoided the arcade as much as possible. If your kids are like mine you can't avoid the arcades entirely though, it's part of the appeal. We also more or less avoided the on site food options and self catered, plus went out to eat in pwllheli and criccieth. Both towns are just up the road. Criccieth in particular is great for a meal out - really good ice cream shop and a fantastic restaurant right on the beach.

It's such a beautiful location and so well situated for exploring North Wales, and kids love it. Once you're away from the main arcade bit the rest of the park is quiet and has amazing views

Really helpful, thank you!

Perfect, thank you so much!

Hafan Y Mor, we have been three or four times and always booked direct with haven. The site is huge but it's actually really well planned lots of trees separating sections, and pleasant views. It doesn't feel big, (we stayed at one in Norfolk and all we could see was other caravans). We have never had a problem with noise. Great base, and lots of on site activities too. We have also been to Green acres which was lovely, however felt it was more suited for younger kids under 6.

Went to Tallacre beach in September. Nice smaller site. 2 mins to beach, chippy, nice restaurant and entertainment, nice pool.

About 30 mins to Chester Zoo which was fabulous