Follow the wild shore: Seaview trails for summer
By July, the North Wales coast has come fully into its own.
The light is long, the evenings stretch well past nine, and the sea takes on that shade of blue that never photographs correctly. Some things have to be seen in person. Fortunately, North Wales is closer than most people think: a straightforward drive from most of the UK, with something genuinely worth arriving for at the other end.
These three walks each have a different character. And a bolthole worth staying in sits near each one.
- Porthdinllaen Marine Trail, Llŷn Peninsula
2.5 miles – Moderate – 1 to 2 hours
Step onto the sand at Morfa Nefyn and the bay is already in front of you – wide, blue, and immediate. The headland curves west and the path follows it.
At low tide, the remains of a Victorian brickworks jetty appear in the shallows – closed in 1906, slowly returning to the sea. Sand martins nest in the cliff face in season. It’s that kind of walk: full of small things worth noticing.
Porthdinllaen has no road access, which is most of what makes it feel the way it does. A lifeboat station, a handful of buildings, and the Tŷ Coch Inn – back to the cliff, face to the sea, here for nearly two centuries and widely considered one of the best beach bars in the world. Grey seals fish the rocks beyond it. Bring binoculars.
Note: the path between Porthdinllaen and the lifeboat hut is currently closed. Follow the National Trust’s signed alternative around the headland.
Stay at Tir a Mor, Nefyn
Arrive through ancient green lanes to a stone cottage on a hillside, Nefyn beach visible below. The garden is lush and personal – colour pushing in from every direction. Inside, the kitchen is built for long meals, the main bedroom has a veranda with a spyglass aimed at the bay, and on mild evenings the hot tub and the stars do the rest.
2. Llanddwyn Island Walk, Anglesey
Approx. 4 miles return – Easy to moderate – Allow 2 to 3 hours
This one builds as you walk.
You start at Newborough Warren with forest to one side and open beach stretching south-west. Then Llanddwyn appears and something shifts: the Menai Strait to your right, the Irish Sea to your left, and the mountains of Eryri on the horizon making everything feel appropriately small.
Ruined chapels, two lighthouses, and a quality of light on clear days that belongs to a slower, better kind of summer. It’s a tidal peninsula, so check times before you go – access is usually straightforward but worth confirming.
Stay at Maes y Ceirchdir, south-west Anglesey
A farmhouse on a quiet green lane with views across the Warren, the Menai Strait, and the full sweep of Snowdonia. The kitchen is generous, there’s a wood-burner for when the weather changes its mind, and the walks from the door go straight to the forest, the Warren, or Llanddwyn itself. You could arrive and not need the car again for days.
3. Beaumaris to Penmon Point, Anglesey
4.5 miles linear – Easy to moderate – Allow 2.5 to 3 hours
Broad-skied and unhurried, with the Snowdonia range holding steady in your sightline for almost the entire route. You leave Beaumaris with the castle behind you and the Menai Strait widening ahead, following the shore north as the landscape quietly opens up.
Puffin Island sits offshore near the end. At Penmon Point, a medieval priory and dovecote reward twenty minutes of proper attention. Trwyn Du Lighthouse stands at the very tip – unshowy and exact. Walk back the same way, or arrange a pickup and let the walk have a proper ending.
Stay at Pilot House, Beaumaris
On the Beaumaris town plan since 1829, listed for its Georgian character, and restored with enough care that history and comfort sit easily together. The first-floor living room has a bay window pointed at the strait. The kitchen opens onto a private courtyard. Four bedrooms, views of the water throughout, and a top room under skylights that earns its reputation at the start and end of the day.
