A twin-towered Welsh castle on a green headland over Cardigan Bay, built by Llywelyn the Great and later seized by Edward I
Open to visitorscheck opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
The ruins stand on a rocky headland between two beaches, sea on three sides and the mountains of Eryri rising behind — one of the finest settings of any castle in Wales. Llywelyn the Great, prince of Gwynedd, began Criccieth in the 1230s, with a strong twin-towered gatehouse facing inland. When Edward I completed his conquest of Wales in the 1280s, English forces took the castle and strengthened it, using it as a garrison and sometime prison. Owain Glyndŵr’s men captured and burned Criccieth during the Welsh rising early in the 1400s, and stones near the gatehouse are still scorched from the fire. Cadw, the Welsh government’s heritage body, looks after the ruins today. The town and its beach are just below, and the Wales Coast Path runs along the shore.
