Criccieth

Criccieth's accommodation is small in scale but covers a genuine spread, from a Victorian country house hotel set in its own grounds to simple seafront guest houses run by the same families for years. Two upmarket options anchor the top end: a grand country hotel just outside town with gardens and a restaurant open to non-residents, and an adults-only Victorian hotel directly on the seafront with some of the best castle and bay views in Criccieth. Both suit couples and anyone wanting a quieter, more polished stay, and both are popular wedding and short-break venues, so it is worth booking ahead for summer weekends.

In the middle of the range, Criccieth's town-centre hotels put guests within easy walking distance of the beaches, castle and shops, with a mix of standard hotel rooms and self-contained studio apartments better suited to longer stays or families wanting some independence. These properties tend to have their own restaurants or bars, useful on evenings when the smaller guest houses only offer breakfast, and their central positions mean no car is strictly necessary for a short stay.

The town's bed and breakfasts and guest houses are concentrated along the seafront on Marine Terrace, most in converted Victorian townhouses with sea-facing rooms and owners who know the area well. These are generally the best value option and the most personal, with home-cooked breakfasts and a handful of individually decorated rooms rather than a standard hotel format; several are adults-oriented or simply small enough that advance booking is essential in summer. Together the eight properties below cover most budgets and preferences, though anyone travelling in July or August, particularly around the Criccieth Festival, should book well in advance as rooms across the town sell out quickly.

Criccieth rewards a slow pace, but there is more to fill a few days than its size suggests.

• Criccieth Castle is the obvious starting point, a headland ruin with sweeping bay views and information panels on its Welsh and English building phases.
• Criccieth's twin beaches flank the castle on either side, both sheltered and good for families, with rock pools to explore at low tide.
• The Lloyd George Museum in nearby Llanystumdwy traces the life of the only Welsh-born British Prime Minister, with his grave and memorial a short walk from the museum.
• Portmeirion, the fantastical Italianate village built by Clough Williams-Ellis, lies a short drive round the coast and makes an easy half-day trip.
• Black Rock Sands, a vast expanse of firm sand near Morfa Bychan, allows cars onto the beach at low tide and is a favourite for picnics and watersports.
• Glasfryn Parc Activity Centre, just inland, offers go-karting, archery, wakeboarding and bowling for a change of pace from the coast.
• The Ffestiniog Railway, boarded at nearby Porthmadog, climbs into the Snowdonia hills on a narrow-gauge steam line built originally to carry slate.
• Snowdonia National Park begins within a short drive, offering walking from gentle valley paths to the ascent of Snowdon itself for a full day out.

Criccieth's food scene leans on fresh Welsh produce and its own long-standing seaside traditions, most famously the original Cadwalader's ice-cream, founded in the town in 1927 and still served from its seafront parlour alongside several other ice-cream cafes along the front. Local restaurants and hotel dining rooms make good use of Welsh lamb, Cardigan Bay seafood and Menai mussels, while a handful of independent cafes serve Welsh cakes, bara brith and proper cooked breakfasts to walkers and beachgoers alike. The town's pubs are unpretentious rather than gastro-focused, good for a pint of Welsh ale and a straightforward meal after a day on the sand, and a small Saturday market and independent grocers supplement the two or three convenience shops for self-caterers. For a wider choice of restaurants, Porthmadog and Pwllheli are both a short drive away and offer a broader spread of dining, from fish and chip shops to more ambitious modern Welsh menus.

Criccieth itself has no campsite directly in the town, but the surrounding stretch of Llŷn Peninsula coastline between Criccieth and Porthmadog is one of North Wales's most established camping areas, with sites ranging from simple family-run touring parks to larger holiday parks with glamping pods and leisure facilities. All three sites below sit within a few miles of Criccieth, close enough for the castle, beaches and town to be a short drive or even a cycle away, while offering more space, greenery and camping-specific facilities than the town centre itself could provide.

Pentrefelin, immediately inland of Criccieth, and Morfa Bychan and Porthmadog just along the coast, are all well used to touring caravans, motorhomes and tents, and the pitches here typically look out towards Snowdonia or down towards Cardigan Bay rather than being hemmed in by other development. Facilities across the three sites vary from simple grass touring pitches with a shower block to larger parks with shops, playgrounds and glamping-style accommodation for those without their own kit, so there is a reasonable choice whether the plan is a basic weekend under canvas or a fully-equipped family week.

All three sites are within easy reach of Black Rock Sands, the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog, and Snowdonia itself, making them practical bases for a longer North Wales touring holiday as well as for a Criccieth-focused stay. As with the town's hotels, the camping season here runs hardest from Easter to late August, and electric hook-up pitches in particular are worth booking ahead for peak weeks.