Holyhead

Holyhead's accommodation reflects its dual role as a working ferry port and a base for exploring some of Anglesey's wildest coastline. Close to the harbour and station, a handful of hotels and guest houses cater to travellers timing an early sailing or a late arrival, offering straightforward comfort within walking distance of the terminal. A short drive south, Trearddur Bay shifts the mood towards a proper seaside stay, with a beachfront hotel, a family-run motel and self-catering options clustered around the sand, all built around the rhythm of a summer holiday rather than a crossing.

Standards vary as much as the settings. Holyhead itself tends towards value and convenience rather than luxury, with a Premier Inn and a couple of long-standing family-run guest houses covering most budgets in the town centre. Trearddur Bay raises the bar a little, and travelling slightly further to Rhosneigr brings a genuinely upmarket option with an award-winning restaurant attached, worth the short drive for anyone prioritising quality over proximity to the ferry.

Below are eight real, currently trading places to stay across Holyhead and its immediate area, spanning an upmarket beachfront hotel and boutique restaurant-with-rooms through to dependable mid-range choices and smaller B&Bs. Whichever you choose, book ahead for the summer months and around ferry-heavy periods, when both the town's hotels and Trearddur Bay's beachfront rooms fill quickly.

Holyhead's attractions lean towards coastline, history and wildlife rather than manufactured entertainment, which suits the town's character well.

• South Stack Lighthouse stands on its own islet reached by 400 steps down the cliff face, with the lighthouse itself open for tours in season and sweeping views along the whole of this stretch of coast.
• South Stack RSPB Reserve covers the cliffs around the lighthouse and hosts up to 9,000 nesting seabirds each spring, including guillemots, razorbills and puffins, with a visitor centre and marked trails.
• St Cybi's Church is a grade I listed building dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, unusually built within the walls of Caer Gybi, a late Roman fort, making the churchyard itself a piece of ancient history.
• Breakwater Country Park was created from the spoil of the vast Victorian breakwater project and now has a lake, two miles of circular walking trails and views over the harbour.
• Holyhead Maritime Museum sits directly on Newry Beach by the harbour, in one of the oldest buildings in town, and covers the port's long history of shipping, lifeboats and the Ireland crossing.
• Holyhead Mountain and the Anglesey Coastal Path give walkers a proper climb and a long-distance route respectively, both starting within easy reach of the town centre.
• Trearddur Bay beach, two miles south, is a sandy, sheltered bay popular for swimming, kayaking and rock pooling, with a slipway and a beachfront pub for afterwards.
• The Ucheldre Centre, housed in a former convent, is Holyhead's arts venue, with a cinema, gallery and café inside a striking modern conversion of the old chapel.

Seafood is the obvious strength of a working harbour town, with crab, lobster and other shellfish landed along this stretch of coast turning up on menus in Holyhead and Trearddur Bay alike. Halen Môn, Anglesey's well-known sea salt, is produced nearby and appears widely in local cooking, from bread to caramel.

The Boathouse on Newry Beach serves homemade dishes using Welsh and local suppliers with harbour views, while the Trearddur Bay Hotel runs two dining options, a more relaxed inn and a restaurant focused on seasonal, daily-changing menus, both looking straight out over the bay. The Beach Motel's Driftwood Restaurant is known locally for its Sunday carvery and quiz nights, giving Trearddur Bay a proper community pub alongside its holiday trade.

In town, the Ucheldre Centre's café is a reliable stop for coffee and cake between the gallery and cinema, while Holyhead's high street has the usual spread of chip shops, bakeries and cafés serving travellers heading to and from the ferry. For self-caterers, the town has a Saturday market and the main supermarkets, while smaller village shops around Trearddur Bay and Valley cover essentials for anyone based outside the centre.

Camping around Holyhead means trading the harbour bustle for the quiet farmland and cliff-edge lanes of west Anglesey, where a scattering of small, family-run sites make the most of sea views, dark skies and easy access to South Stack and the coastal path. None of the sites are more than a short drive from the town, and several sit within walking distance of a beach or a village pub, making them a good option for anyone who wants Holyhead's coastline without a hotel roof over their head.

Facilities tend towards the simple end of the scale rather than resort-style camping: expect grass pitches, basic toilet blocks and, on some sites, no showers at all, in exchange for genuinely peaceful surroundings and reasonable prices. A couple of the closest sites are adults-only, reflecting the quieter, more contemplative character of this part of Anglesey, while further round the coast family-friendly touring parks and farm campsites are easy to find.

The three sites below are all within around six and a half miles of Holyhead, covering tents, touring caravans and motorhomes across working farms and coastal smallholdings. Book ahead for the main summer season, as pitch numbers are modest and popular weekends fill quickly, particularly around the school holidays.