St Georges Pier

The pier juts out into the Menai Strait like a weathered finger pointing toward Bangor, and on a clear day you can see all the way across to Snowdonia. St George's Pier is the real deal - Victorian ironwork, proper seaside atmosphere, none of the arcade nonsense you'd find down south. It's a short walk from Bangor town centre, so if you're staying at one of the caravan parks nearby - Porthllongdy Farm or St. David's Park are both within easy reach - you can be here in twenty minutes.

What you actually do here is walk. The whole point is the walk itself, breathing the salt air, watching the water change colour, maybe spotting cormorants or the occasional seal if you're lucky. It's free, which is brilliant. Allow an hour, maybe ninety minutes if you dawdle at the end and watch the boats. Families with younger kids might find the novelty wears thin after thirty minutes, but teenagers and proper walkers will understand why locals keep coming back.

The pier works best either early morning when it's peaceful or late afternoon when the light turns everything golden. Windy days are honestly better than still ones - there's something about the spray and the noise that makes it feel alive. If you're doing a North Wales park holiday, this shouldn't be your main event, but it's exactly the sort of place to fill a morning before heading to Caernarfon or Conwy. Uncomplicated. Real. Worth the detour.