The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 1.68 miles (2.7km)
Time to walk: This is a town stroll so, although the walking distance is short, it took us half a day
Difficulty: Easy & all on hard surfaces. If you wish to walk along the castle walls then steps are involved
Parking: We parked in Morfa Bach pay & display, Conwy LL32 8FZ
Public toilets: Cafes & bars etc
Map of the route:
We loved Conwy, previously known in English as Conway, a walled market town, community & the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town & castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on the east bank. The town formerly lay in Gwynedd & prior to that in Caernarfonshire
People born within the town walls of Conwy are nicknamed “Jackdaws”, after the jackdaws which live on the walls here. A Jackdaw Society existed until 2011
Let’s walk!
1. This walk starts in the Morfa Bach car park. Head through the tunnel towards the magnificent castle walls…
The castle was built by Edward I, during his conquest of Wales, between 1283 & 1287. Constructed as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conwy, the combined defences cost around £15,000, a massive sum for the period. Over the next few centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294–95, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 & was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401
Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I, holding out until 1646 when it surrendered to the Parliamentary armies. In the aftermath, the castle was partially slighted by Parliament to prevent it being used in any further revolt, & was finally completely ruined in 1665 when its remaining iron & lead was stripped & sold off. Conwy Castle became an attractive destination for painters in the late 18th & early 19th centuries. Visitor numbers grew & initial restoration work was carried out in the second half of the 19th century
UNESCO considers Conwy to be one of “the finest examples of late 13th century & early 14th century military architecture in Europe”, & it’s classed as a World Heritage Site. The rectangular castle is built from local & imported stone & occupies a coastal ridge, originally overlooking an important crossing point over the River Conwy
Divided into an Inner & an Outer Ward, it is defended by eight large towers & two barbicans, with a postern gate leading down to the river, allowing the castle to be resupplied from the sea
2. Walk to the left towards Mill Gate, one of three original entrances to the town & look up to see a change in the structure at the top in the picture below…
3. Go through the door of Mill Gate & climb the stairs that lead to the top of the walls…
There now follows a short stroll along a section of the wall. Take time to admire the views
4. On reaching the end carefully descend to ground level once more…
Turn left & then carefully cross the road to visit the tourist office with its friendly, welcoming staff
5. Coming out of the tourist office turn right & then quickly right again down the alley towards St Mary’s & All Saints Church…
As you enter the churchyard you’ll see a low iron cage with the words ‘We are Seven’ on it. This is the title of a poem by Wordsworth which he is supposed to have written after a conversation with a child he met here. The seven refers to the child & her siblings
6. The Church of St Mary & All Saints was originally the Cistercian Aberconwy Abbey, but in 1283 King Edward I moved the Abbey to Maenan
The foundations of the church date back to 1172, & the Aberconwy Abbey was completed in 1186. Since then the church has grown & changed…
Take time to wander around the church which contains many notable features. It’s also includes 2 carved mice, the trademark of Robert Thompson, a craftsman, who started carving mice into his hand-made oak furniture in the 1920s after a comment about being “poor as a church mouse”
7. Pop outside & explore the very ancient tombstones in the churchyard…
Look for the one with the crack in it which tells a story. Have you ever read the book which describes Martyn Guerre who left his village to fight, was presumed dead & then returned (or was he an imposter) many years later?
This person’s wife died & many years later the man returned so they reopened the grave & laid him to rest with her
8. Leave the church through the west gate…
…& bear right up the street
9. At the top turn left to reach Lancaster Square…
In the centre of the square is a statue of Llywelyn the Great who founded Aberconwy Abbey in 1186. He was said to be born in Dolwyddelan Castle in 1173 & raised in Powys. By the age of 10, Llewelyn had begun his military career & in 1201 he had successfully conquered Gwynedd. In 1209, Llewelyn became the first Welsh leader to join an English King on a campaign outside Wales
10. Walk up the road on the right side of the square…
…turning right along York Place. The building on the corner with Chapel Street is the Royal Cambrian Art Gallery which housed works of contemporary Welsh artists. Sadly it closed in August 2025
11. Turn right down the street where you’ll find impressive Plas Mawr (Welsh for ‘great hall’) which is an Elizabethan townhouse dating from the 16th century. The property was built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith
Wynn was known for his hospitality, & the household was supported by Wynn’s local dairy herds, orchards & gardens
After 1683 Plas Mawr passed into the hands of the Mostyn family & ceased to be used as a family home. It was rented out for various purposes during the 18th & 19th centuries, including for use as a school
12. Turn left down the beautiful High Street…
Many of the buildings here date back to the 19th century having replaced earlier ones. At one time there were over 50 inns here to look after the clients travelling on the London to Ireland coaching route
Note the Castle Hotel on the right, a Victorian Jacobean copy style hotel which replaced an old medieval inn. The hotel stands on the site of a former Cistercian abbey
Until the 1880s it was occupied by a public house, the King’s Head, dating from the 15th century, & the Castle Hotel. In 1885 the building was completely remodelled & developed into a hotel which has been visited by a number of well-known guests, including Thomas Telford, William Wordsworth, & the Queen of Romania, who lunched in the restaurant
13. Opposite, on the left’s the former Palace Cinema…
Have a look at the gable end on the left with the ornate squirrels & peacocks
14. Walk down to the junction at the bottom of the High Street…
Turn right & look at Aberconwy House on the right, a medieval merchant’s house & one of the oldest dateable houses in Wales. Constructed in the 15th century it is, along with Plas Mawr, one of the two surviving merchant’s houses within the town. Its historical and architectural importance is reflected in its status as a Grade I listed building. The house is administered by the National Trust
15. Slightly further along on the opposite side of the road’s the former Black Lion Inn. Look above the door to see a date of 1589 although it’s thought that this was when it was bought by the local wealthy vicar. Parts of the timber are believed to date back to the 1400s. Look for more of the jackdaws on the gables
Return to the crossroads & turn right to passthrough Lower Gate towards the Quay
16. There’s a very famous pub on your left which spans both sides of the wall…The Liverpool Arms, which dates back to when the town was a thriving port. It ‘s said to have been named by one of its first owners, John Jones who was captain of a small ship which worked between Liverpool & Conwy
According to legend, the appearance of a ghost at the Liverpool Arms is a sign that someone is soon to die. These appearances are accompanied by a strong scent of vanilla in the air. Vanilla was one of the cargoes landed at Conwy in medieval times
It has two doors…one inside the walls & the other outside. As you can imagine this caused the authorities & the local police many issues as people could escape through the door that the authorities were coming in
17. Now…the Quay is a wonderful place to sit on a warm day & watch the world go by. But…be warned…the seagulls are some of the most intelligent & cunning thieves you’ll ever come across – we saw so many people lose sandwiches, ice creams, chips & cakes. They hunt as a gang!
Turn left & walk along the Quay…
…to arrive at Britain’s Smallest House
18. This minuscule home was built in the 16th century & remained in use until 1900, when the tenant was a 6′ 3″ fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully & he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation, along with a number of other properties
The house is owned by the landlord’s descendants
Turn around & walk back along the Quay towards the Castle
19. Stop by the small white building near the end of the Quay which is the Conwy mussel purification facility…
Mussels have been farmed in Conwy since Roman times & are still famous today . It’s said that Sir Richard Wynn gave a Conwy pearl to the Queen of Charles II & it’s still in the Crown Jewels
Pass through the barrier to arrive at the Mussel Sculpture & Anchor
20. Turn around & walk back up past the Harbour Master’s Office where duties on slate, salt & timber were once paid…
Pass through the Postern Gate in the wall. Note how this is much smaller than the other gates & it was used is men had to be dispatched quickly to defend the area
21. Turn left & cross the road at the pelican towards the castle…
If you look at the towers in the picture below you’ll see a gap. This is where the drawbridge once was
22. Bear left & walk through the gap in the wall created by the road & walk to see the Three Bridges…
The oldest of the Three Bridges is the magnificent Suspension Bridge which was built by Thomas Telford & is 326 ft long. The bridge, which Telford designed to match the Castle, was built in 1822–1826 at a cost of £51,000 (equivalent to £6,000,000 today) & replaced the ferry at the same point. The original wooden deck was replaced by an iron roadway in the late nineteenth century & it was strengthened by adding wire cables above the original iron chains in 1903
The suspension bridge is now only used as a footbridge & has been owned by the National Trust since 1965
23. Behind the suspension bridge sits the Conwy Railway Bridge whic carries the North Wales coast railway line across the River Conwy. The wrought iron tubular bridge, which is now Grade I listed, was built in the 19th century & is the last surviving example of this type of design by Stephenson after the original Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait was partially destroyed in a fire in 1970
Stephenson & his collaborators invented the wrought-iron box-girder structure to bridge the River Conwy in a single span. The bridge was officially opened in 1849. The modern steel, single arch road bridge was built in 1958 & carries the former A55 trunk road. Its north side is faced with stone to fit in with the Castle
In 1991 this bridge was succeeded by the Conway road tunnel, Britain’s first immersed tube tunnel
24. Walk back past the castle & cross the road. Walk up the steps to return to the area beside the length of wall you walked along at the start, opposite the Tourism Office
Now it’s a case of retracing your steps through Mill Gate & back to the car park
So that’s it…wonderful Conwy
What a lovely, friendly, welcoming town that’s well worth exploring, or even using as a base to explore the surrounding area
Go Walk!