Holyhead
South Stack • The Breakwater • Ferries to Ireland • Holy Island
South Stack • The Breakwater • Ferries to Ireland • Holy Island
South Stack Lighthouse on its island off Holy Island — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Holyhead (Caergybi) is the largest town on Anglesey and one of the great crossroads of the Irish Sea — the place where Britain has embarked for Ireland for centuries. But the port town is only half the story. Holyhead stands on Holy Island (Ynys Gybi), a separate island off Anglesey’s western tip whose coastline is among the most dramatic in Wales: the seabird cliffs and lighthouse of South Stack, the heather slopes of Holyhead Mountain, and a string of superb beaches from Trearddur Bay to Rhoscolyn.
Ferry passengers who only ever see the A55 to the terminal are missing one of Wales’s best coastal playgrounds — and one that starts ten minutes from the ship.
A 200-year-old lighthouse at the bottom of 400 steps, and an RSPB reserve where up to 9,000 seabirds — puffins included — pack the cliffs each spring. Ten minutes from town.
South Stack guide →
1.7 miles of Victorian stone striding into the Irish Sea — the longest breakwater in Britain, 26 years in the building, and one of the strangest, finest walks in Wales.
Breakwater guide →
Holy Island’s Blue Flag beach village two miles south — safe sand, watersports, the famous Sea Shanty Cafe and pubs with beer gardens facing the sea.
Trearddur guide →The finest cliff walking in Wales begins at a ferry terminal — and nobody seems to know.— the coastal path’s open secret, as walkers tell it
Holyhead ferry terminal — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Holyhead is the UK’s second busiest passenger ferry port, with up to eight daily sailings to Dublin on Irish Ferries and Stena Line — the fastest crossing just over two hours. Our Port & Ferry guide covers operators, crossing times, the terminal and its history; cruise visitors should start with the Shore Excursions guide.
Ellin's Tower at the RSPB South Stack reserve — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Three miles from town, South Stack is Anglesey’s signature sight: a 200-year-old lighthouse on its own rocky islet, reached by 400 steps down the cliff face, surrounded by an RSPB reserve where up to 9,000 seabirds — puffins, guillemots, razorbills, choughs — nest each spring. Above it rises Holyhead Mountain, at 220m the highest point on Anglesey, with views on a clear day to Ireland, the Isle of Man and Snowdonia.
Holyhead Breakwater — the longest in the UK — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The town’s own engineering wonder is the Victorian breakwater — 1.7 miles long, the longest in Britain, and a magnificent free walk. Behind it, Breakwater Country Park fills the old quarry with trails and a café. In town, St Cybi’s Church sits inside a three-walled Roman fort, the Maritime Museum occupies Wales’s oldest lifeboat house, and the Ucheldre Centre keeps the arts alive in a former convent chapel.
The Blue Flag beach at Trearddur Bay — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Eating is strongest around the water — the Harbourfront Bistro on Newry Beach, the Sea Shanty and The Inn at the Bay at Trearddur — see our food guides. Beds range from the Boathouse Hotel on the promenade to guest houses, the Beach Motel at Trearddur and cottages across Holy Island — all in Where to Stay. The Anglesey Coastal Path officially starts and ends here; Things to Do maps the rest, and One Day in Holyhead turns a ferry wait into a day out.
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