Visiting Beaumaris Castle

When we went to Wales at Easter we spent a day in Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey. Our first stop was Beaumaris Castle, a beautiful yet unfinished masterpiece.

When we arrived at Beaumaris Castle we were pleased to find a local authority car park right next door – and a lovely play area situated in the shadow of the castle, immediately showing what a great day out it would be for the whole family.

We were able to use our English Heritage membership at Beaumaris Castle, gaining free entry which was a lovely surprise. You can find out more about visiting Welsh castles with English Heritage membership here.

What is Beaumaris Castle?

Beaumaris Castle is famous as the greatest castle never built. It was the last of the royal strongholds created by Edward I in Wales and it was meant to be the castle to end all castles.

As soon as you enter the site you are met with such a beautiful sight. It’s a picture book castle, surrounded by a moat and with a bridge to enter the grounds. It is a castle full of wow moments.

Beaumaris Castle is almost perfectly symmetrical and, although ruined to some extent, there are still rooms to explore, stairs to climb and ramparts to walk along.

The one thing you notice about Beaumaris Castle is how short it is, with unfinished towers and gates that never got completed. But, that said, it’s an incredible castle, fun to explore and with so many windows to look through at the different views surrounding the castle.

Beaumaris Castle doesn’t have many facilities. There are no toilets on site – but there are public ones just before you enter the visitor centre – and there isn’t a cafe or anywhere to buy refreshments. There’s literally just the main visitor centre where you buy tickets and the shop at the end, plus the castle.

We really enjoyed the time we spent at Beaumaris Castle and would definitely have spent longer there if the weather had been better, Sideways rain was not much fun! But, the castle was beautiful and we are so glad we got to see it – and tick another World Heritage site off the list!

You can find out more about Beaumaris Castle over on their website and for reference the address is: Castle St, Beaumaris LL58 8AP

Author

Donna Wishart

Donna Wishart is married to Dave and they have two children, Athena (12) and Troy (11). They live in Surrey with their two cats, Fred and George. Once a Bank Manager, Donna has been writing about everything from family finance to days out, travel and her favourite recipes since 2012. Donna is happiest either exploring somewhere new, with her camera in her hand and family by her side or snuggled up with a cat on her lap, reading a book and enjoying a nice cup of tea. She firmly believes that tea and cake can fix most things.