The best beaches for families in North Wales

We all know that beaches are a child’s most favourite place to be - and if the kids are happy, parents are happy. Living in Manchester we don’t have a wealth of the fine golden stuff on our doorstep, but between 2 and 3 hours drive away we do have some of the finest beaches in the UK. Learn more about the best beaches in North Wales, caveat-ed with you don’t always get the sunshine!

The Lynn peninsula is somewhat of a hidden gem. We venture here most years at some point and we’ve enjoyed 30+ degrees and cloudless skies, but also taken a battering with two 70mph+ storms in one week. But the risk can be worth it as it is also something of a microclimate and the weather changes very quickly. It is also home to dozens of beautiful, generally deserted beaches. There is also generally crystal clear water and water enthusiasts will get to paddleboard or surf depending on the conditions!

My most favourite beach on this penisula is Porth Iago, a small cove with Mediterranean-esque turquoise waters, and white sand. There is a car park at the top, accessed via a long farm track, and then a scramble down the hillside to the beach. It is advisable to get here early, as come lunchtime it is less of a secret. You’ll also need five £1 coins for the car park, and there are limited toilets and catering nearby - if you’re lucky there may be an ice cream van makes a visit!

Porth Iago

A close second to Iago is Porth Towyn, another beach serviced by a farm for car parking (honesty box for £2), although this farm also has a campsite (very much recommended) and a cafe at the top. The walk to the beach is also down a ramp so much more pushchair friendly, and the absolute highlight of this place for the kids is the rock pools that appear once the sea goes out - there are hundreds of them, all large and with some pretty juicy crabs to be found. Again, this place gets busy later on in the day, but get there early or head later and enjoy sunset too!

Porth Towyn, at Towyn Farm

Staying on the north side of the LLyn and between Iago and Towyn is Porth Colman and Traeth Penllech. Porth Colman is a boat launching site with a launch ramp and a small car park for around 8 cars (free parking). This isn’t a beach as such, but it has 2 highlights worth mentioning: 1 is the fact you can launch from here (boats, kayaks, paddleboards) and 2 is the large rock (white rock) that when the tide is in provides a great jumping spot for kids and adults alike. Warning: only jump off the rock at high tide!

Great rock scrambling, rock pooling and rock jumping

Launching from Porth Colman is super for paddling to Traeth Penllech, although you can also access this beach from the welsh coastal path, but paddling gets you to some of the more secluded coves visible in the distance or only when the tide is right out. During the 2022 heatwave we spent many wonderful days with friends paddling over to our own little coastal beaches.

Secluded coves paddled to from Porth Colman, past Traeth Penllech

Traeth Penllech is a much longer beach but really doesn’t get busy ever so plenty of space on this one regardless of what time you arrive. There are once again no facilities on this beach so bring the picnic for the day. The coves you see at the top of the photo below are those referenced in the paragraph above.

Traeth Penllech

Whistling Sands, or Traeth Porthor, is a National Trust beach located past Iago and towards Aberdaron. This is very popular with families and has a car park and a cafe at the entrance. We headed right to the far end furthest from all of that for our little bit of beach just for us. The beach as it’s name as the and whistles as you walk on it…..just!

Whistling Sands beach

For a beach with a bit more in terms of facilities, we head to Aberdaron. Whilst not as beautiful as some of the others, we have enjoyed many a take away pizza on an evening whilst the kids have splashed in the waves, or we’ve watched the surfers when it’s been a bit stormier. There are also a few pubs in Aberdaron as well as shops and ice cream! There’s also rocks to climb and many a jelly fish gets washed up on the shores which always provides a bit of entertainment!

Aberdaron beach

Morfa Nefyn is a town half way up the north side of the LLyn, and is the starting point for a wonderful beach walk with a pub at the end - and beach and rock pools of course. Again this is a National Trust car park and then walk down the steps and head left (check the tide times!) towards the Ty Coch Inn at the far left of the beach. The walk takes around 30 minutes depending on little legs but your reward at the end is food, drinks on the beach and rock pooling!

Running towards the Ty Coch pub on the beach

Rock pooling on the way back from the pub - watch the weather as it changes very quickly!

The final beach on my Llyn peninsula hit list is Porth Ceiriad. This is around the headland from Hells Mouth and so you get some super surf (watch the currents). It is a bit of a trek down the hill, which inevitably means you have to head back up again at the end of the day, but head to the far end from the steps and you are reward with solitude! and rocks to scramble on. If you have a paddling vessel, head out and along the coastline for some pretty cool rock climbing and jumping!

Surfing in Wales

Moving off the Llyn Peninsula and it would be completely remiss of me to not mention Anglesey which also has a wealth of beaches and my favourite two are Rhosneigr and Newborough. The former sits on the edge of a small village and when the tide if out leave some fab rock pools and scrambling, and both look over towards Snowdonia and the beautiful horizon that creates. Rhosneigr definitely has more facilities with pubs and shops, whereas Newborough is accessed via a pine forest and is the largest beach on the island.

The beaches at Rhosneigr with Snowdonia in the distance

We’ve visited these beaches at Easter, May, August and October and always enjoy what they have to offer, whether it is blustery walks, or summer heatwaves, mill-pond-esque paddling, or waves to knock you over. Just bring the wet suits as I can’t always promise you won’t be cold in the Irish sea, although it never seems to bother the kids!

Paddleboarding on the Llyn Peninsula