Castles · North Wales

Edward I's ring of iron: the great castles of north Wales

Four UNESCO World Heritage castles, each within an hour's drive of the next.

When Edward I conquered Gwynedd in 1283 he ringed the coast with four monumental castles: Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris. They are the largest and most ambitious medieval fortifications in Britain — and together they form a single UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can see all four in two days.