Often referred to as ‘Mam Cymru’ or ‘the Mother of Wales’, the fertile pastures of Anglesey come as something of a contrast after the rugged grey peaks of Snowdonia, usually passed on the approach. The towering uplands of North Wales seem to come to an abrupt end on the sandy shores of the Menai Strait. But it’s the coast paths and the beaches that pull the walking crowds on Ynys Mon; well these, plus the biggest concentration of pre-Christian relics in Wales and some quite outstanding wildlife watching.

The best beaches are divvied out evenly between the south west coast and the north east; but the latter has better access on foot, with a scenic coast path running from the beautiful and uncrowded Traeth Goch all the way up to Dulas Bay, and this can easily be linked with the Lligwy historic sites that include a spectacular Burial Chamber and an eerily intact Neolithic walled compound.

But the real scenic spectacle of the island lies on its western tip, where Holy Island points a remarkably mountainous stubby finger out into the Irish Sea. A coast path runs right around the tip, linking the rather drab town of Holyhead with the imposing sea-bird populated bluffs of North and South Stack. To see both however means hurdling the 220m Holyhead Mountain, or at least traversing high up on its western flanks. The cliffs below you at this point conceal some of Wales’s finest rock routes including the now famous‘A Dream of White Horses’