Discovering Conwy: The Medieval Walled Town on a Waterfront

(46 reviews)

Conwy audio tour: Discovering Conwy: The Medieval Walled Town on a Waterfront

This is a 1.3mi walking tour.

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Conwy

The United Kingdom

$9.99

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About the Tour

Conwy packs 800 years of history into a compact medieval town still enclosed by its original walls. On this walking tour, you'll trace how Edward I's military conquest of Wales left behind one of Europe's most intact fortified towns. You'll also hear how this small estuary settlement has kept its independent character, from working fishing fleets to family-run businesses that have traded here for generations.

The tour starts outside the Tourist Information Centre, then heads to Conwy Castle, a World Heritage Site designed by master builder James of St. George, whose ingenious defences – drawbridges, portcullises, murder holes, and D-shaped towers – allowed 25 men to hold the fortress. From there, you'll pass through the medieval Mill Gate, explore St. Mary and All Saints Church with its Wordsworth-connected grave, and wind through the town's grid of streets past Elizabethan townhouses and Lancaster Square, where a statue of Llywelyn the Great keeps watch.

The quayside brings the town's maritime past to life: fishing pots, mussel processing, and gig racing boats line the harbour, while the Smallest House in Great Britain – just 72 inches wide – is squeezed against the town wall nearby. You'll cross Thomas Telford's 1826 suspension bridge and learn how engineers solved the modern traffic problem by sinking Britain's first immersed tube tunnel beneath the estuary. The tour ends beside Conwy Castle's eastern barbican, where you can still spot the drawbridge mechanism holes beneath the modern balcony.

On this 60-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

Examine Conwy Castle's World Heritage-listed defences, built to intimidate a conquered population
Walk through the Mill Gate and spot medieval latrines cantilevered over the river
Visit Aberconwy House, dendrochronologically dated to 1400, the oldest surviving merchant house in Wales
Hear how Robert Stephenson's wrought iron railway bridge was prefabricated upriver and floated into position
Learn about the Conwy Mussel industry and the working fishing fleet still operating from the quayside
Spot Plas Mawr, the finest Elizabethan townhouse in Wales, with its Dutch-stepped gables

Conwy rewards slow exploration, so once this tour ends, plan time to step inside the castle, the houses, and the pubs.

Tour Producer

Amanda Whitehead

4 tours

Hi there, I've been working as a guide in North Wales for 40 years and hold official Blue Badge Guide qualifications. I live in the medieval town of Conwy and love it so much. I have a History degree but the best thing about working on local tours is rooting out the stories of the past and present characters and events that haven't made the guide books and wikipedia!. Look forward to sharing them with you.

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Preview Location

Location 3

Conwy Castle

Stop here and face the castle - the best viewing is from the corner near the town wall.

Your first thought will be how huge it is. Imagine being a Welsh peasant living in a shack, looking at these massive walls. Impressive hey? The Castle - like the others in the iron ring... Stop here and face the castle - the best viewing is from the corner near the town wall.

Your first thought will be how huge it is. Imagine being a Welsh peasant living in a shack, looking at these massive walls. Impressive hey? The Castle - like the others in the iron ring - Caernarfon, Harlech, Beaumaris etc. - is a world heritage site for two reasons.

The first is because they were the cutting edge military design of the period and the man responsible was James of St. George from Savoy in Northern France. The second reason is that, once Wales was conquered it became unimportant so, unlike say Windsor castle that was lived in and had bedrooms and bathrooms inserted, these castles were relatively untouched and so we can see what the original builders intended.

Let's look a little further at the design. Like all Edward's castles it is built on the sea and between two rivers. A rock ditch was extracted on the land side- look below where the road runs along it now. Also there are a myriad of defences built in, meaning the castle could be held by as few as 25 men.

Let's take a closer look at these.

Firstly, to the left you see a gap that the modern walkway runs through. Bridging this gap was the first defence, a drawbridge reached by a sloping ramp you can still see the remains of the the left of the gap. We'll see where the winding mechanism was later on this tour.

However, it takes a while to crank up the bridge and - you've seen those old Erol Flynn movies, there's always someone who grabs hold of the edge and hauls themselves in - so behind this there are several other barriers.

First of all you'd have to pass through a few portcullises - the grid like gates that is the Westminster parliament's logo. They look metal but they were usually made of wood with lead covering. They were wedged up and someone would knock the wedges out when the attack started. Bang, Bang, the gates fall in their grooves and trap any early incomers in a killing zone. Above this would be murder holes where all sorts of nasties would be dropped on your head.

But, even if you survive that - and the arrows being fired from the slots - , you are still not in the Castle. The wall between the smaller towers in front of you surrounds a barbican. A barbican is a defended gateway and part of the defence to the main gate would be hoarding - boards placed between the buttresses you can see peeking out above the main door. These enabled defenders to lean over and attack anyone trying to burn or batter their way through the main gate.

I really recommend a visit to the castle - it's a lot easier to get in now - you just need a ticket!

Now turn with your back to the castle and walk with the walls on your left, down to the end of the carpark.

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Major Landmarks

Conwy Castle
Plas Mawr
Conwy Quay
The Smallest House In Great Britain
National Trust - Conwy Suspension Bridge
Conwy Town Walls
St. Mary's & All Saints Cemetery
Toll Keeper's House

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Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
Muriau Buildings, Rose Hill St, Conwy LL32 8LD, UK
Total distance

2km
Final location
Conwy LL32 8BD, UK
Distance back to start location

160.75m

Directions to Starting Point

Conwy Tourist Information Building. Do not confuse with Conwy Visitor Centre. The TIC is shared with the Post Office and is red brick building opposite Vicarage Lane carpark

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The World Heritage Castle, the medieval church, the High Street's artisan shops, the quayside and the Smallest House in Britain

Best time of day

Before 10am or after 5pm

Precautions

The route is safe. Take care to look out for traffic.

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