National Trust - Aberconwy House

Standing on a narrow Conwy street, Aberconwy House punches well above its weight. This is a proper merchant's townhouse from the 15th century - timber-framed, higgledy-piggledy, the kind of place that makes you duck under doorways and wonder how anyone managed stairs that steep.

You're looking at genuine medieval domestic life here. The rooms are cramped and dark, which sounds depressing until you realise that's exactly how it was - no showiness, no nonsense, just people living and working in the same space. The National Trust has left much of it sparse, which actually works; your imagination does the heavy lifting.

History buffs will spend a solid hour here, reading the boards and picking over the details. Families with young kids might find it a bit thin on activities after twenty minutes - there's no playground energy to this place. But anyone genuinely interested in how ordinary (well, merchant-class) Welsh people actually lived will find it worthwhile. Free entry too, which helps.

Conwy town itself is the real draw - the castle dominates, the walls are magnificent, and there's a proper high street. If you're basing yourself at Cefn Cae Campsite or Waenfechan Glamping nearby, Aberconwy House sits perfectly as a wet-day or cooling-off-from-walking-the-walls kind of stop. Best visited when you've got time to wander Conwy itself rather than as a standalone destination.