From up in the Observation Lounge you can see everything: mackerel skies and jackdaw murmurations; the green valley of the River Conwy and the distant misty foothills of the Carneddau mountains; the boats plying the estuary and the evening sun on the ramparts of Conwy Castle; the resorts of Llandudno and Deganwy and the Irish Sea beyond.
This wonderful eyrie is a unique feature of YHA Conwy. Built in the 1960s as a convalescent home for members of the Transport and General Workers' Union and reopening as a youth hostel in 1996, the whole building has been designed to make the most of the magnificent views from Larkhill, above Conwy town. You can while away many hours gazing out of the huge walls of windows in the main lounge and dining area, and from the surrounding terraces and gardens.
Having contemplated it for days we decided to climb the gently-ascending ridge of Mynydd y Dref, Conwy Mountain, a route that will be part of the YHA's forthcoming Festival of Walking (12 September to 12 October 2025). It is the remnant of an ancient volcano and, like Catbells in the Lake District, makes the perfect climb for families, a relatively small amount of effort being rewarded by diverse panoramas and a satisfying sense of achievement. The late-summer bilberry leaves were turning from lime green to red, making a colourful tapestry with the bracken and heather. At the summit we found an Iron Age hill fort and shy wild ponies, a mother and foal.
Conwy is surrounded by defensive walls, and you can walk down to the town along the section that starts near the hostel, descending at the railway station or, in the daytime, continuing to Conwy Castle, one of the most impressive medieval fortresses in Europe. Both the castle, with its vertiginous towers, and the walls, were built in just four years in the late 13th century, on the orders of Edward 1.
In the High Street, lime-washed Plas Mawr is said to be the best-preserved Elizabethan town house in Britain. Its spacious, well-furnished rooms are decorated with plasterwork lions, owls, and unicorns, and outside there's a courtyard and herb garden. Conwy's other famous residence is so tiny that only a few visitors can squeeze in at a time: the red-painted Smallest House in Great Britain, on the quayside.
This part of the world is full of engineering marvels, including Thomas Telford's elegant and pioneering 1826 suspension bridge. The list of tolls includes many forgotten methods of transport: back in the day it would have cost six pence to cross in a Clarence, a Calash, a Curricle, or a Sociable. There are huge tunnels punched through sea cliffs for the North Wales Expressway from Chester to Holyhead, and the world's first ever immersed tube tunnel, installed below the estuary in the mid-1990s to ease congestion in the town centre.
This latter project involved excavating three million tonnes of sand and silt with a massive suction dredger called Orion, waste that was imaginatively repurposed to create RSPB Conwy. Initially a barren moonscape, nature quickly began rewilding it and today the reserve hosts many species of birds, some visitors from as far away as the Arctic. We counted 44 great white egrets, and also spotted oystercatchers, mute swans, curlews, and whimbrels. An information board explains how the beaks of different waders are uniquely adapted to enable them to partake of the twice-daily 'bird buffet' brought in by the tides.
Another lovely walk from the door of the hostel takes you to the marina and Morfa beach, its dunes dotted with silvery sea holly; we flew our kite here and played with the deposits of sticky clay.
Bodnant, six miles away, is one of Britain's great gardens. It has formal Italianate terraces with colourful flower borders and a dripping, jungly, valley garden around the River Hiraethlyn, with towering conifers underplanted by hydrangeas; in late July these were at their bluest. The Old Mill has a roof thickly carpeted in moss and is surrounded by tree ferns and aeoniums; its location by a waterfall makes it a picturesque ice cream stop. The Pin Mill is reflected in a formal pond with waterlilies. Our daughter liked these gardens so much that she took more than 300 photos.
Described in 1861 as "the Queen of the Welsh Watering Places", Llandudno is a five-mile drive or bus ride from Conwy. It's a five-mile drive or bus ride from Conwy. On its wide, uncluttered promenade everyone can comfortably pass up and down in a continental manner, including people with pushchairs or using mobility scooters. From a bench that extends the whole length of the front visitors picnic and watch the world go by. In recent years the town's splendid Victorian hotels and town houses have been repaired and repainted and once again appear as Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, must have seen them on family holidays back in the 1860s. A town trail celebrates this Alice connection. The pier is fun, with all the pier things you would expect, and a curvaceous silver roof inspired by the architecture of the Far East.
We enjoyed our best chips of the holiday at Fish Tram Chips opposite the Victorian tram terminus in Old Road. You can ascend by this unusual method of transport to the top of Great Orme Head of Shipping Forecast fame: "From St David's Head to Great Orme Head, including St George's Channel". It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest noted for its limestone geology and rare wildflowers and there are Bronze Age copper mines. It's a popular spot to watch the sun go down.
Ynys Môn (Anglesey) is about 20 miles from Conwy, and you can travel there over the Menai Strait on another of Thomas Telford's suspension bridges. National Trust house Plas Newydd looks out over the Strait. It has beautiful gardens and a huge trompe l'oeil mural by Rex Whistler, a phantasmagoric city- and seascape packed with ideas and jokes. We spent a sunny evening in Beaumaris, with its castle, Regency terraces, Ferris wheel, and tranquil small beach.
On our way home we meandered through the valleys we'd seen from the hostel windows, stopping for breakfast by the river in Llanrwst between a circle of standing stones and a handsome arched stone bridge. Legend suggests that it was designed by the young Inigo Jones, who went on to become the renowned architect of 17th century London. We also broke our journey at Attingham Park in Shropshire, where an exhibition showcased extraordinary insects such as a Semi-punctuated shield bug and a Canary-shouldered Thorn moth, in magnified images taken by macro-photogapher Pete Burford. Like all good travels, this trip opened our eyes to both the big picture and the tiny details we often overlook.
For more information:
YHA Conwy Mountain walk
Conwy Castle
Plas Mawr
RSPB Conwy
https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/conwy
YHA walk to marina and beach
Bodnant
Alice tour
Plas Newydd
Attingham Park
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/shropshire-staffordshire/attingham-park
Photo credit: Tomas Marek stock.adobe.com.
