Pwllheli Wales, Traveller Information

Pwllheli is built around the confluence of the rivers Erch and Rhyd-hir. On the estuary is the magnificent Marina, berthing hundreds of boats and the smaller, harbour further down towards the sea. The bay out from Pwllheli is usually quite calm, but don't be fooled, it can be extremely rough at times!

Pwllheli town centre has many shops including supermarkets, hardware stores, places like Woolworth's and smaller shops. Every Wednesday a market is held in Y Maes. The traffic in the town centre is very bad during main holiday times. There are many places in the town centre where food is served, from Fish & Chips to Italian Restaurants.

There are many fine beaches in the area, especially as you travel west along the south coast, to Abersoch. The two main beaches in Pwllheli are South Beach and Abererch Beach. See the beach guide for more info.

Accommodation in the area is vast and there are many varieties. From Bunk houses to Hotels, check out our Accommodation section for more details. There is also details in this section about some activities in the area.

South Beach is about three miles long and is made up of mostly sand and bits of shingle, apart from the Carreg-y-Defaid end, which joins Llanbedrog beach at low tide, where there are more rocks. The beach is fairly steep and on rough days waves from the southwest boom onto the shore, so it's not really suitable for surfing! The recently improved promenade offers good access to the beach via board walks over the sand dunes that back the beach.
4 mile stretch from Gimlet Rock to small headland separating it from Llanbedrog Beach. Mainly shale, however more sand has appeared over the last couple of years.


The sheltered shores of Glan Don are protected by the Gimblet Rock peninsula and the marina end of the beach may have some accumulations of sea weed as a result. However, just a little way along the beach towards Abererch the beach is generally much cleaner, but does get a little steeper. The beach is made up of good sand along the top and towards the marina, mud at low tide as the river estuary flows out right next to the beach, there is no mud further along.

Pwllheli is the unofficial capital town of the Llyn Peninsula and the district of Dwyfor. The district offices are based in Pwllheli as well as most of the other shops, and businesses.
Pwllheli has a strong welsh culture, over 60% of the local population speak welsh.

The scenery around Pwllheli is magnificent, Snowdonia and much of the coastline of Cardigan Bay are visible on a clear day.