Places to explore near Bangor

Walk the outline of a whole nation — 870 miles of cliff, estuary and beach from Chepstow round to Queensferry.

0.4 km NW · spans 16 counties

Large, low island of farmland ringed by a coast path, with Beaumaris Castle, sandy bays, seabird cliffs and prehistoric tombs

1.4 km NW

Waterfront town beside Thomas Telford's 1826 suspension bridge, with an independent shopping street and seafood restaurants.

2.1 km W · Anglesey

Vast neo-Norman fantasy castle by the sea.

2.4 km E

Thomas Telford's 1826 suspension bridge across the Menai Strait, the world's first major iron suspension bridge.

2.5 km W

Victorian pier opened in 1846 on the Beaumaris seafront, a departure point for Puffin Island and Menai Strait cruises.

4.5 km NE

Wales at its wildest — Yr Wyddfa and the highest ridges south of Scotland, above slate valleys and glacial lakes.

4.8 km SE

The perfect concentric castle, moated and symmetrical.

4.8 km NE

Georgian coastal town on the Menai Strait with pastel-washed cottages, a Victorian pier and a UNESCO World Heritage castle.

4.9 km NE · Anglesey

Neolithic passage tomb aligned to midsummer sunrise.

7.5 km W

A huge working and historic slate quarry at Bethesda, part of the UNESCO Slate Landscape and home to Zip World Velocity.

8.6 km SE

Rhaeadr Fawr in Welsh — a 120-foot curtain off the northern Carneddau, an easy two-mile valley walk from Abergwyngregyn.

9.1 km E

Flat-topped limestone hill (Din Sylwy) with an Iron Age hillfort above the eastern end of Red Wharf Bay.

9.1 km N

Hamlet on the island's north-east tip with a medieval priory, holy well and dovecote near Penmon Point and Puffin Island.

9.1 km NE · Anglesey

Vast sweep of tidal sand and mudflat (Traeth Coch) rich in birdlife, ringed by waterside inns.

10.1 km NW

North-east tip of Anglesey with the black-and-white Trwyn Du lighthouse and views to Puffin Island and the Great Orme.

10.8 km NE

At Llanberis below Snowdon, a lakeside steam railway runs beside this glacial lake, overlooked by Dolbadarn Castle.

11 km S

Uninhabited island off Penmon Point with a ruined monastic tower, seabird ledges and grey seals, seen on cruises from Beaumaris

11.6 km NE

A shapely spur off Carnedd Llewelyn in the northern Carneddau, with a steep face above a hidden mountain lake

11.7 km SE

Wide east-coast Blue Flag sandy beach with sheltered waters and summer lifeguards.

11.7 km NW

The mountain connoisseur's route over the roof of Wales — Cardiff to Conwy by way of the Bannau, the Cambrian wilderness and Eryri.

11.9 km SE · spans 9 counties

Slate village between Llyn Padarn and the flank of Yr Wyddfa, base for the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the National Slate Museum.

11.9 km S · Gwynedd

Vast abandoned slate terraces above Llanberis, part of the UNESCO Slate Landscape World Heritage Site.

12 km S

The former Dinorwig quarry workshops at Llanberis, preserved as a museum of the Welsh slate industry.

12 km S

A big grassy summit in the Carneddau, the broad northern range of Eryri, usually climbed on the round above Ogwen

12.3 km SE

A round-towered Welsh castle above Llanberis.

12.4 km S

A remote top on the high Carneddau plateau, best known for the little stone refuge just below its summit

12.5 km SE

The steep southern start of the Carneddau, rising straight up from Llyn Ogwen in Eryri

12.7 km SE

The high point of the Carneddau and, after Yr Wyddfa, one of the highest mountains in Wales

12.9 km SE

A classic U-shaped glacial valley carrying the A5 from Ogwen down towards Bethesda.

13 km SE

A Glyderau peak above the Nant Ffrancon.

13.6 km SE

Auxiliary fort guarding the Menai coast.

13.6 km SW

Small sheltered sandy beach near Benllech with a slipway used by dinghy sailors and divers.

14 km NW

Edward I's mightiest polygonal-towered fortress.

14 km SW

Wales's first nature reserve, this cwm lake in the Glyderau is cradled beneath the cliffs of the Devil's Kitchen.

14.2 km SE

A rack-and-pinion railway climbing from Llanberis to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, the only one of its kind in Britain.

14.3 km S

Legend holds that Excalibur lies in this shallow lake in the Ogwen valley, beneath Tryfan and the Glyderau.

14.3 km SE

A glacial cwm below the Glyderau with the dark cleft of Twll Du (Devil's Kitchen) above Llyn Idwal.

14.5 km SE

Iconic scramble with the Adam and Eve summit stones.

15.3 km SE

Shattered rock plateau, Castell y Gwynt, Cantilever Stone.

15.5 km SE

A shattered rock tor on the Glyderau ridge whose Welsh name means "castle of the winds"

15.8 km SE

A 994-metre summit of shattered rock, home to the jutting Cantilever Stone.

15.8 km SE

Coastal village with a pebbled cove, an RNLI heritage and shipwreck history, and a well-known seafront cafe.

15.8 km NW · Anglesey

A Neolithic chambered tomb in Anglesey.

15.9 km NW

A large flat slab balanced across boulders on the summit plateau of Glyder Fach.

15.9 km SE

Well-preserved late-Roman-era enclosed settlement near Moelfre, with nine surviving stone buildings inside a walled compound.

16.2 km NW

Vast rounded high plateau with wild ponies.

16.8 km SE

The second-highest summit in Wales, a rocky high point on the Snowdon horseshoe just north of Yr Wyddfa

17.3 km S

Sheltered east-coast sandy beach (Traeth Lligwy) near Moelfre with a beach cafe, popular for swimming and watersports.

17.4 km NW

Notorious knife-edge arête on the Snowdon Horseshoe.

17.6 km S

A steep glacial pass carrying the A4086 over Pen-y-Pass between the Snowdon massif and the Glyderau.

17.9 km SE

The highest peak in Wales, heart of Eryri.

18.1 km S

Twin lakes at Capel Curig giving one of the classic reflected views of the Snowdon Horseshoe.

19.5 km SE

A wooded reservoir lake in a side valley above Trefriw, a quiet walking and fishing spot.

20.3 km SE

Walled medieval town at the mouth of the Conwy river, ringed by intact town walls beneath its castle.

20.7 km E · Conwy

Tidal island off Newborough beach with the ruins of St Dwynwen's church, a lighthouse, pilots' cottages and views to Eryri

20.8 km SW

Eight-towered castle above a walled medieval town.

20.9 km E

Long golden beach (Traeth Llanddwyn) backed by Newborough Forest and one of Britain's largest dune systems, with views to Snowdonia.

21.1 km SW

A long pebble-and-sand beach south of Caernarfon below an Iron Age hillfort on an eroding headland.

21.1 km SW

The quieter sandy beach on the Conwy Bay side of Llandudno, with views to Anglesey and Eryri.

21.4 km NE

A lake in the Gwydir Forest above Trefriw, one of the few in Eryri allowing powered watersports.

21.6 km SE

Limestone headland with tram, cable car and goats.

21.7 km NE

Terraced garden with its famous laburnum arch.

21.8 km E

A Victorian cable-hauled street tramway carrying visitors from Llandudno to the summit of the Great Orme.

22.4 km NE

Victorian seaside resort between the Great and Little Ormes, with a sweeping promenade and the longest pier in Wales.

22.7 km NE · Conwy

Llandudno's crescent main beach of sand and shingle beneath the Great Orme, with the pier and promenade.

22.7 km NE

Vividly coloured ochre-and-orange landscape of an abandoned copper mine near Amlwch, with a self-guided trail.

22.8 km NW

A rough boulder-built cottage on the A5 near Capel Curig, with a garden run by the Snowdonia Society.

22.8 km SE

Wide dune-backed sandy bay (Traeth Mawr) reached by a walk along the River Ffraw, a good surf spot in the right conditions.

23.1 km W

Series of cascades on the Afon Llugwy west of Betws-y-Coed, one of the most-visited falls in Eryri.

23.4 km SE

Northern headland (Trwyn Eilian) near Llaneilian with an unusual castellated lighthouse and views along the north coast.

23.5 km NW

A restored Victorian copper mine near Beddgelert offering audio-visual tours through its chambers and formations.

23.5 km S

Stone-cottage village at the meeting of the Glaslyn and Colwyn rivers, at the foot of Yr Wyddfa and above the Aberglaslyn Pass.

24.2 km S · Gwynedd

A narrow three-arched 17th-century stone bridge over the Conwy at Llanrwst, beside Tu Hwnt i'r Bont.

24.3 km SE

A riverside memorial at Beddgelert to the legendary faithful hound Gelert, in a meadow below the village.

24.4 km S

Conwy Valley market town with an Inigo Jones bridge, the Gwydir Chapel and the tiny riverside Tu Hwnt i'r Bont.

24.4 km SE · Conwy

A remote finger of Wales pointing at Bardsey Island — small coves, pilgrim paths and Welsh-speaking farmland.

24.8 km SW

A circuit of Eryri's slate country from Bangor — quarry villages, inclines and mountain passes in the landscape that roofed the world.

1.1 km E · Gwynedd & Conwy

Traditional harbourside pub in Menai Bridge with maritime memorabilia and local ales.

2.3 km W

Prestatyn to Bangor on the higher, older line above the north coast, over the Great Orme and Conwy Mountain to Aber Falls.

2.7 km SE · Conwy, Gwynedd & Denbighshire

Small medieval church on Ynys Tysilio in the Menai Strait at Menai Bridge, ringed by a graveyard and a tidal walkway.

2.9 km W

Robinsons pub and restaurant overlooking the Menai Suspension Bridge and the Eryri mountains.

3.5 km W

A National Trust place in Anglesey.

3.8 km W