Caernarfon
Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port, in Gwynedd, Wales.
Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port, in Gwynedd, Wales. The community has a population of 9,852. It lies along the A4871 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the island of Anglesey. Bangor is 9 miles (14 km) to the north-east, Porthmadog is 20 miles (32 km) southeast and Holyhead is 29 miles (47 km) northwest, via the Britannia Bridge. Snowdonia (Eryri) is located to the east and south-east of the town. The town is the historic county town of Caernarfonshire.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Caernarfon
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd
The Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site located in North West Wales. It includes the castles of Beaumaris and Harlech and the castles and town walls of Caernarfon and Conwy.
500 m · World Heritage site in the United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 02Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle is a medieval fortress in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The first fortification on the site was a motte-and-bailey castle built in the late 11th century, which King Edward I of England began to replace with the current stone structure in 1283.
500 m · castle in Caernarfon, North Wales · Wikipedia - 03Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan
The Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan is a medieval church in the community of Llanidan, in Anglesey, North Wales, close to the Menai Strait. The first church on the site was established in the 7th century by St Nidan, the confessor of the monastery at Penmon, Anglesey, but the oldest parts of the present structure, now closed and partly ruined, date from the 14th century.
4.4 km · church in Llanidan, UK · Wikipedia - 04Fort Belan
Fort Belan is a coastal fortress in North Wales. It is located opposite Abermenai Point, at the south-western end of the Menai Strait, on the coast of Gwynedd, in the parish of Llanwnda.
4.6 km · Grade I listed building in Gwynedd · Wikipedia - 05Q5049667
Castell Bryn Gwyn, officially spelled Castell Bryngwyn, is a prehistoric site on the Isle of Anglesey, west of Brynsiencyn. It is a circular clay and gravel bank covered with grass, still some 1.5 metres high and revetted externally by stone walls, which surround a level area some 54 metres in diameter.
4.7 km · Welsh prehistoric site · Wikipedia - 06St Baglan's Church, Llanfaglan
St Baglan's Church, Llanfaglan, is a redundant church in the parish of Llanfaglan, Gwynedd, Wales. It is designated by Cadw as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.
3.4 km · church in Llanfaglan, north Wales · Wikipedia - 07St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yn-y-Cwmwd is a small medieval parish church near the village of Dwyran, in Anglesey, north Wales. The building probably dates from the 15th century, with some alterations.
5.4 km · church in Llanfair-yn-y-Cwmwd, Anglesey, Wales · Wikipedia - 08Anglesey Sea Zoo
The Anglesey Sea Zoo is an aquarium and independent research and marine education centre on the south coast of Anglesey island in North Wales. Located just outside the village of Brynsiencyn, Anglesey Sea Zoo claims to be the largest aquarium in Wales and displays over 150 native species.
2.8 km · British aquarium and marine research centre · Wikipedia - 09Q5016872
Caer Lêb is a Roman and mediaeval site on the Welsh island of Anglesey, west of Brynsiencyn. Its name means "Leaven Castle".
4.8 km · archaeological site in Anglesey, Wales · Wikipedia - 10St Nidan's Church, Llanidan
St Nidan's Church, Llanidan is a 19th-century parish church near the village of Brynsiencyn, in Anglesey, north Wales. Built between 1839 and 1843, it replaced the Old Church of St Nidan, Llanidan, which needed significant repair, providing a place of Anglican worship nearer to the village than the old church.
4.7 km · church in Llanidan, Anglesey, Wales · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Caernarfon Castle
- 02Black Boy Inn
Northgate Street, LL55 1RW, reception@black-boy-inn.com.
- 03Doc Fictoria
Set alongside the beautiful harbour of Caernarfon, it includes a creative arts centre, a minute or two by foot from the town walls.
- 04Segontium
Site of a historic Roman fort founded by Agricola around 77 AD.
From Wikivoyage: Caernarfon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01Welsh Highland Railway
St Helens Road, LL55 2YD, enquiries@ffwhr.com.
From Wikivoyage: Caernarfon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
There are a decent number of places to eat within and around the old town walls, in particular the small streets nestled along the western town wall. There are also a few places on the town square. Serving hours can be odd, and without good planning you could end up hungry. However there are still places which serve food all day, including the Black Boy Inn and Anglesey Arms.
- 01The Old Courthouse
Castle Ditch, LL55 2AY (opposite Caernarfon Castle),.
From Wikivoyage: Caernarfon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Caernarfon
- Airports
- Liverpool John Lennon (LPL), 97 km · Isle of Man (IOM), 107 km · Manchester (MAN), 134 km
- Stations
- Waunfawr railway station, 5.9 km · Caernarfon railway station, 300 m · Dinas railway station, 4.1 km · Llanwnda railway station, 5.1 km · Caernarvon railway station, 500 m
- Liverpool → Caernarfon91 km · quickest by road, 2h 29m · £11–15
- Manchester, Greater Manchester → Caernarfon140 km · quickest by road, 2h 41m · £16–21
- Birmingham, West Midlands → Caernarfon175 km · quickest by road, 3h 40m · £21–28
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Caernarfon
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Caernarfon. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inThe nearest train station is Bangor (about 8-miles away), with trains from Chester, Crewe, Manchester, London Euston, Cardiff, and Holyhead (connecting to Dublin ferry).
- Get inLiverpool and Manchester airports are around two hours, Dublin about three hours (including fast ferry) and Cardiff around four and a half hours.
From Wikivoyage: Caernarfon, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01220 km
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If you know how people move in Caernarfon – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.