Best Hidden Gems in Anglesey
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best hidden gems in Anglesey are South Stack Lighthouse, Penmon Dovecot, Parys Mountain, Porth Wen Brickworks, Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber, Castell Aberlleiniog and Llanddwyn Island.
Anglesey, the island off the north-west corner of Wales, packs an astonishing range of history and landscape into its shores. Beyond the well-known resorts lie quieter corners that reward those willing to seek them out, from ancient tombs to industrial ruins and lonely lighthouses.
At Bryn Celli Ddu you can stoop into a Neolithic burial chamber more than four thousand years old, while South Stack Lighthouse clings to a rocky island reached by over four hundred steps and a bridge. The old copper workings of Parys Mountain glow in reds and oranges, and the Victorian ruin of Porth Wen Brickworks tumbles down the cliffs above a bay.
There are gentler finds too, like Penmon Dovecot beside its priory, the wooded mound of Castell Aberlleiniog, and tidal Llanddwyn Island with its lighthouses and saint's church. Some ask for a steep path or a walk at the right state of the tide, so plan ahead.
Here are seven of the best hidden gems to seek out in Anglesey.
South Stack Lighthouse
Photo: Chris Gunns via Geograph.org.uk
South Stack Lighthouse stands on a small rocky island off the western tip of Holy Island, on Anglesey, reached from the mainland cliffs by a long flight of over four hundred steps down and a bridge across the gap. Built in 1809 to guide ships through the Irish Sea, the white tower still shows its light, now automatic, and can be toured in season.
Around it, the sea cliffs form an RSPB reserve loud with nesting seabirds, guillemots, razorbills, puffins and choughs, watched from a clifftop tower. It is one of the great sights of the Anglesey coast, though the many steps back up make it a proper leg-stretch.
Penmon Dovecot
Photo: Eirian Evans via Geograph.org.uk
Penmon Dovecot is a large stone dovecote of around 1600, standing beside the ruins of Penmon Priory near the eastern tip of Anglesey. Square, with a domed stone roof topped by a little turret, it is lined inside with rows of nesting holes and has a tall central pillar that once carried a revolving ladder for reaching the higher nests.
Doves were kept here for meat and eggs, a valuable food supply for the estate. It is free to go inside, part of the wider Penmon site with its priory church, holy well and Celtic crosses, and there is a car park nearby.
Combine it with the rest of the site for an easy visit.
Parys Mountain
Photo: Eirian Evans via Geograph.org.uk
Parys Mountain is a former copper mine near Amlwch in the north of Anglesey, its worked ground weathered into a striking landscape of reds, oranges, purples and yellows from the minerals in the rock. At its heart is the Great Opencast, a vast pit dug by hand with pick, shovel and gunpowder, which by the 1780s made this one of the greatest copper mines in the world.
A waymarked trail loops around the rim, past a ruined windmill tower on the summit, with Snowdon in view on a clear day. Bronze Age people mined here thousands of years ago, and the underground workings finally closed in 1904.
Follow the trail for an otherworldly walk.
Porth Wen Brickworks
Photo: Eric Jones via Geograph.org.uk
Porth Wen Brickworks is a ruined Victorian brickworks tumbling down the cliffs above a small bay on the north coast of Anglesey, one of the coast's most striking industrial ruins. Firebricks were made here from local quartzite to line steelworks furnaces, and the remains include three domed beehive kilns, chimneys, sheds and hoppers, tramway inclines and a worn loading quay by the shore.
The works finally closed in 1949. It is a protected monument, seen from the Anglesey coast path, reached on a steep, rough footpath, so it is more a place to view and photograph than to wander through.
Bring stout footwear and take care near the crumbling structures.
Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber
Photo: David Bremner via Geograph.org.uk
Bryn Celli Ddu Burial Chamber is a Neolithic tomb on Anglesey, one of the finest ancient monuments in Wales. A grass-covered mound holds a low stone passage leading into a chamber at its heart, built more than four thousand years ago on the site of an even older ritual circle.
You can stoop down the passage and stand inside, where a tall smooth stone pillar rises from the floor. The tomb is celebrated for its alignment with the sun: at dawn on the longest day, the rising sun shines straight down the passage into the inner chamber.
Set among quiet fields, it is easy to reach and free to enter, so call in for a moment of quiet wonder.
Castell Aberlleiniog
Photo: Mike Searle via Geograph.org.uk
Castell Aberlleiniog stands on a steep, ditched earth mound in woodland near Llangoed on Anglesey. On top sits a square stone enclosure with a round tower at each corner, its walls pierced by narrow slits.
The ruin has been repaired and made safe, and wooden steps climb the mound to it, with panels explaining what you are looking at. Footpaths through the trees from the village are the only way in, so it makes a short woodland walk with a hidden castle as its reward.
Follow the paths up to find this quiet, little-visited corner of the island.
Llanddwyn Island
Photo: Oscar Taylor via Geograph.org.uk
Llanddwyn Island, or Ynys Llanddwyn, is a slim tidal island reaching out from the western end of Llanddwyn Beach on Anglesey, joined to the shore except at high tide. A walk of about a mile along the beach leads to it, then across a rocky neck onto the island.
Along its length stand two lighthouses, Twr Mawr and the smaller Twr Bach, the ruins of St Dwynwen's church, tied to the Welsh patron saint of lovers, two large stone crosses, and a row of restored pilots' cottages with a small exhibition inside. The mountains of Snowdonia rise across the water, and the island forms part of the national nature reserve.
Check the tide before you set out.
FAQs
Which Anglesey hidden gems are free to visit?
Several are free and open. You can go inside Penmon Dovecot at no charge, and Bryn Celli Ddu is free to enter. Castell Aberlleiniog and Parys Mountain are reached on foot without a ticket.
Do any of these sites need a steep walk or steps?
Yes. South Stack Lighthouse is reached by over four hundred steps and a bridge, and Porth Wen Brickworks sits at the foot of a steep, rough footpath. Wear sturdy shoes and take your time.
When is the best time to see the sunrise at Bryn Celli Ddu?
Bryn Celli Ddu is aligned so that at dawn on the longest day of the year the rising sun shines straight down the passage into the chamber. That midsummer sunrise is the celebrated moment, though the tomb is worth visiting at any time of year.
Conclusion
Anglesey rewards the curious. In a single island you can move from a four-thousand-year-old tomb at Bryn Celli Ddu to the colour-streaked copper ground of Parys Mountain, then out to a lighthouse on a sea-girt rock or a tidal walk to Llanddwyn Island.
Some of these places ask something of you, whether a long flight of steps at South Stack, a steep path down to Porth Wen, or a careful eye on the tide, so it pays to plan and to go prepared. Others, like Penmon Dovecot and Castell Aberlleiniog, make for a gentle hour.
Treat the ruins and reserves with care, keep to the paths and leave each spot as you found it. Take your time and let the island surprise you, because these are the best hidden gems to seek out in Anglesey.
