Anglesey is an ideal family destination, and the enchanting Llanddwyn Island and Newborough Warren present many exciting opportunities for children to explore sand dunes and learn about the history and mythology of the area.
Llanddwyn Island is named after St Dwynwen, who retreated to the island in the early fifth century after an unhappy love affair. She had fallen in love with a youth named Maelon but her father, King Brychan, wanted her to marry someone else. According to legend, an angel visited her and gave her a potion that healed her loss and turned Maelon into ice.
Dwynwen was granted three wishes: firstly, that Maelon would be thawed; secondly, that true lovers would have their dreams fulfilled; finally, she would never marry. She then devoted her life to God and lived on the island until her death in AD465. She is remembered in Wales by the exchange of cards on 25 January – St Dwynwen’s Day – every year.
Where is Ynys Llanddwyn
Ynys Llanddwyn is located off the west coast of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), an island in North Wales.
When does Llanddwyn island get cut off?
Ynys Llanddwyn is a tidal island, and it is typically cut off from the mainland during high tide.
Tides vary, so it's advisable to check tide timetables for accurate information before planning a visit.
Walk 1: Newborough Warren
This walk starts from Llyn Rhos Ddu and takes the path between Newborough Warren and the Corsican pine forest to the beach. The island can be cut off for an hour or two at very high tides.
- From the back of the car park, take the path with the coastal path sign and you’ll soon have Newborough Warren on your left. Look out for the Welsh mountain ponies, which graze the dunes.
- After another track joins from the right, walk ahead and take the left-hand path at the gate to Gallt-y-Rhedyn. The way is now sandy and bordered by mixed trees. Ignore paths and tracks leading off and go ahead through the pines to a track with coastal path signs indicating left and right. Bear left and follow the path as it swings right and over a sand dune to the beach.
- Turn right, but not before taking note of your bearings as you’ll need to return the same way. Backed by sand dunes and forest, Traeth Llanddwyn is a stunning beach of sand and shingle with spectacular views across Caernarfon Bay to the mountains of Snowdonia. Keep an eye open for oystercatchers, sanderlings and ringed plovers at the water’s edge. As you approach the island, you’ll pass rock outcrops. These are pillow lavas, formed by molten rock erupting from the sea bed about 500 million years ago.
- From a large information board, take the clear path through the island to the remains of the 16th-century church dedicated to St Dwynwen. North-west of the ruins, a spring emerges below a cleft rock. Pilgrims anxious to know if they’d met their true love used to place a handkerchief on its waters. If the sacred fish that lived at the bottom of the well rose up and moved it, their love was doomed.
- Continue to the end of the island and go right on a path to the lighthouse. Now closed, it was built in 1845 in a style similar to Anglesey’s windmills. In 2004, it became a location for filming romantic thriller Half Light. The lighthouse, which featured in many dramatic scenes, had its lower half painted red for the film. From here you have fabulous views stretching to the misty hills and mountains of the Llyn Peninsula and Snowdonia.
- Cross to the opposite side of the island, where you’ll see a smaller white tower. It functioned as a navigational beacon until 1972, when it was turned into an automatic lighthouse. The nearby cottages date from the 1800s when they housed pilots who guided vessels into Caernarfon harbour. The pilots also acted as lighthouse keepers and lifeboat men; the cannon in front of the cottages was used to alert members of the lifeboat crew in times of emergency.
- From the cottages, take a path that hugs the eastern cliffs of the island. Look out for cormorants on the rocks offshore. After rejoining your outward route, retrace your steps to the car park.
Useful Information
How to get there
From the Britannia Bridge (A5), take the A4080 towards Newborough but leave it at the roundabout south-east of the village. Continue on the narrow road ahead to a car park near Llyn Rhos Ddu. Bus 42 from Bangor stops near the roundabout.
WALK 2: Llanddywn Island and Newborough Warren sand dunes
Explore magical Llanddwyn Island and the sand dunes of Newborough Warren on this family walk in Anglesey
- Take the left-hand path out of the Forestry Commission car park then, after 100m, turn right down a forest track. Follow the path for a mile then take the first track on the right. Soon views open out towards the village of Malltraeth (the English translation is Rotting Shore!) and the Bodorgan headland.
- You can still make out the outline of the cob, which was originally constructed between 1790 and 1820. The estuary and salt marsh form vital habitats for a number of bird species.
- Follow the path along the rough ground close to the forest edge. After 2 miles the track reaches the edge of the dunes; bear right to the beach and cross the headland of Traeth Penrhos to Llanddwyn Island. Where the beach meets the island look out for pillow lavas – these were caused when lava erupted under the Iapetus ocean that covered Wales between 400-600 million years ago.
- Llanddwyn Island is part of the Newborough Warren Nature Reserve and you are advised to stay on the paths at all times. The most spectacular path on the island follows the coastline, with views towards Snowdonia and the Llyn Peninsula.
- After exploring the island, turn right on to Llanddwyn Bay, past the freestanding rocks, and enter the forest on the Anglesey coast path. Follow the waymarkers through the dunes to a path and then a tarmac track and turn left. Follow this track back towards the car park. Keep your eyes peeled for rare plants, including a number of orchid species. If you are quiet and lucky enough you may also spot red squirrels.
- After 2½ miles cut across to the estuary at the marker post 34, on a path that runs between the edge of the woodland and the estuary, and follow it as it winds over boardwalks to a coast path waymarker, which will lead you back to the car park.
Useful Information
Terrain
Forest paths and tracks and two short sections on road. The section on dunes is challenging. Rough paths and stiles make this unsuitable for buggies. The whole of the walk is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
How to get there
By car: Newborough is 14 miles southeast of Bangor on the A4080, then unclassified roads. Park at the Forestry Commission car park just off the A4080 at the start of the Cob to the northwest of Newborough.
By public transport:
Regular trains run to Bangor from Chester and the rest of the UK. Bus number 42 runs from Bangor to Newborough then on to Aberffraw and Llangefni, which links in with Lon Las Cefni cycle track, giving you the option to park at Llangefni and cycle there and back.
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