A rainy day visit to Llandudno in North Wales - part inspiration for Alice in Wonderland

We visited Llandudno in North Wales for the day yesterday - day 2 of our vacation in North Wales. Its a seaside town right on the north coast looking out over the Irish Sea. Its golden era was back in the Victorian times (late 1800's), when it really boomed as a seaside resort, which you can see reflected in the beautiful architecture throughout the old town.

Is still popular today, although on a rainy February sunday it certainly was not packed. One thing that is quite cool about Llandudno is that it has a solution for the rain:

It has these covered walkways along the main street, so you can browse the shops without getting drenched - very handy !

It has a nice selection of restaurants and pubs, and the obligatory welsh gift shops !

It doesn't really show in the picture above but the pub above has beautiful mozaics, and quite decorative windows. It dates back to 1898 which is pretty cool.

The sea front is quite pretty, although quite stoney. There is a large walkway all along the front, and with a row of hotels reaching right round.

It also has a Victorian pier at the west end. Piers are quite typical in seaside resorts of this age in the UK - it was the must have thing for a seaside resort and was a marketing tool to attract visitors. We never had time to walk out, but they often have fairs, etc, on them and are purely for leisure.

The bay is straddled by two large rock formations at either end. The larger, called the Great Orme, is in the picture above, and you can see the little Orme in the east end, 3 pictures above.

The Great Orme is quite impressive and you can see it from various places around town. It has a cable car, a dry ski slope and also an old copper mine that you can visit.

I also really like this beautiful roundabout in the centre of town. Palm trees are not common in the UK (its just a bit too cold) so its quite unusual to see them like this (although you do get them).

One really cool fact about Llandudno is that it has a connection to Alice in wonderland ! Allegedly Lewis Carroll had a holiday home here, and vacationed with his family, including Alice and its possible that the area influenced some of his writings.

There are quite a few shops and attractions themed on Alice in Wonderland, and we really liked these wood sculptures that have been installed.

This is Alice (obviously), and they have set up a trail, with an app, etc so you can find out more. We only found 3 - but it was fun finding them, plus they have good info on each one:

The white rabbit is below, just on the main street.

And then my favourite was the mad hatter, who was out on the seafront.

There are more, but we only found the three - I thought it was a really nice touch, and my daughter certainly enjoyed seeing them as she loves the story.

We had a lovely day there, and a nice sunday roast for lunch. I really liked the architecture, and it felt like a really nice and fun place to be.

The building above is a gallery - It was closed when we were there. I just love that golden spire on top !

The old Palladium is also a really nice building - and now turned into a pub !

There really were a lot of nice buildings around - the Victorian's certainly new how to make an impact, and wanted their buildings to look great. You can see the classical influences with the temple columns and arches all around town.

There was lots to see and do and it was quite nice just strolling around town and taking it all in !

There was quite a few nice churches as well.

My brother-in-law says the sun always shines in Llandudno - he was wrong yesterday, but the rain didnt put us off - I'm glad we visited !