Beaumaris Castle
- Jennifer Kozyra
- May 13
- 4 min read
Standing proudly on the shores of the Menai Strait, Beaumaris Castle is one of the most impressive medieval castles in Wales. Built by King Edward I in 1295 as part of his campaign to conquer North Wales, the castle was designed to be the ultimate “perfect castle,” with symmetrical walls, towers, and a huge surrounding moat. Although it was never fully completed due to lack of money and ongoing wars in Scotland, it is still considered one of the finest examples of medieval military architecture in Britain.
You can visit the castle, explore the enormous grounds, climb towers, walk through ancient passageways, and find out what life would have been like inside the fortress over 700 years ago.
Top Info
📅 Open Daily (expect 24th, 25th, 26th Dec & 1st Jan)
🌎 UNESCO World Heritage Site
🎟️ Use your English Heritage Membership
🧒 All children under 5 receive free entry
🎟️ Blue Light Card holders & HM Armed Forces get 10% off
🐕 Dogs on leads welcome on the ground levels
🏰 Large castle grounds to explore
🥾 Towers, passageways, spiral staircases, and walls to walk around
⚠️ Be careful on the walls and stairs
💦 A huge water-filled moat
⛰️ Amazing views across the Menai Strait and towards Snowdonia
🥪 Picnic tables
📜 Information boards explaining the castle’s history
🎁 A gift shop and toilets
🚗 Beaumaris Green Car Park, which costs £8 all day
🌎 Beaumaris Castle, Castle St, Beaumaris LL58 8AP
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If you are visiting Beaumaris for the day or a long weekend, a wander around the castle is definitely one of the best things to do.
We were staying just 30 minutes away at Brynteg Country & Leisure Retreat, so we drove over for the morning and parked at Beaumaris Green Car Park, which costs £8 all day and is ideally located for both the town and castle.
Before heading to the castle, we walked along the pier, admiring the views and boats on the water. We quickly wished we had brought our crabbing gear when we saw others crabbing off the pier.
Set right by the water, Beaumaris Castle is impressive from the moment you arrive. Even though it was never fully completed, it still feels enormous and gives you a real sense of history. The moat surrounding the castle makes the entrance feel even more dramatic as you walk across the bridge into the grounds.
We wandered through the streets of shops and cafés before reaching the castle. There was no need to pre-book, so we paid on arrival and headed straight in. We ended up spending around two hours looking around as there was so much to explore. My elderly mum stayed on the ground level while the rest of us climbed the stone staircases and walked along the castle walls. The views from the top really showed off the scale and design of the castle.
We loved exploring the passageways, towers, and open spaces. It’s the kind of place where children can let their imaginations run wild pretending to defend the castle walls.
There’s also a video explaining how the castle was built and why it was never completed, which was really interesting.
Fact File - Up to 3,500 Men Worked on the Castle Simultaneously
The sheer size and scale of the build is something else. At one point during early construction, a staggering 3,500 workers were on-site.
This was made possible by the large dockyard that Edward I had built to ferry materials across the Menai Strait from mainland Wales. The workforce comprised 400 masons, 2,000 unskilled labourers, 30 smiths, 60 carpenters, 200 quarrymen, and a garrison of knights and soldiers to protect the castle from attack.
My daughter spotted a building challenge on the central lawn where you could create a replica of the castle using giant foam blocks. She loved it, and honestly, so did I. It was such a fun activity for both kids and adults.
I’m really glad we visited because the castle was both fascinating and impressive, but mostly because my teenage daughter genuinely enjoyed it ( which can sometimes be a challenge). She even mentioned wanting to visit the nearby prison attraction afterwards.
Beau's Tearooms in Beaumaris
After exploring, we headed back into town for lunch and came across Beau’s Tearooms It’s a lovely little tearoom serving sandwiches, jacket potatoes, and tempting homemade cakes and on further inspection lovely looking afternoon teas. The tea arrived with mismatched cups and saucers, and the knitted biscuits decorating the tables added such a cosy touch. I would definitely recommend nipping in here for lunch on your visit.
Beaumaris itself is also a lovely town to wander around, with little independent shops, cafés, a summer paddling pool, and plenty of spots for a relaxed mooch.
If you are staying anywhere nearby in North Wales, I would definitely recommend visiting Beaumaris Castle. It’s a great mix of history, scenery, and family-friendly exploring, and it ended up being one of those places we talked about long after we left.
Join English Heritage today and enjoy unlimited days out across over 400 sites for the entire year and free kids entry, there’s no better time to join and start making new memories all year round.
Af Link Click Here to Join
Visit May 2026
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