Hafan y mor

blondie81_2

Going 1st week of easter hols thanks to the daily mail, upgraded so hopefully will be in a caravan, there seems quite abit on site but still would like to see and sample things around the park, so if anyone can recommend places to eat, things to do, good beaches and where we can get any groceries we may need, along with any other useful info i wud be very grateful
:beer:

Janeyferr

Went there last October with The Sun. I'm a big fan of castles and trains so it was a great base for that. There's even a train station on site. Criccieth castle nearby was good, with a beautiful view. From there we could see down to a beach from which a water skiing meet seemed to be taking place, it was a gorgeous, expansive view and would make a great picnic spot. We also went up to Caernarfon for the big castle, CADW are definitely much better value for money places than EH and NT are.

Porthmadog nearby is where you can get a few trains from, The Ffestiniog railway to Blaenau and the Welsh Highland railway that goes to Caernarfon. There's also the Welsh Highland Heritage railway, which is a seperate thing that is apparently more of a train experience in a loop. We didn't go there so can't really comment.

We had a pleasant walk around Porthmadog in the sun. Seemed to be quite a few discount stores as well as some cafes, and an excellent record shop.

greenface

Your going at easter and hopefully the weathers good but its not going to be sunbathing weather , Have a look at the beach where your staying its stunning a little raggy and rough but a great place to walk and enjoy the moment .I love Abersoch & Aberdaron for beaches and some great foody pubs at both . Black Rock sands you can "normally" take your car on for a fee . http://www.tentop.co.uk/ wales .This is a good starter for thing to do. Enjoy .

FatAndy

We went to the Rabbit Farm in Llanystumdwy near Criccieth last year and the kids loved it. It's not quite as sinister as it sounds, it's a farm park where you can get up to close to lots of common farm animals and a few not so common ones. Last year in addition to the goats, horses, pigs, etc they also had llamas, deer and everyone's favourites - Meerkats (which aren't all that common on farms in North Wales it has to be said).

http://www.rabbitfarm.co.uk/index.php

I once got as far as posting some photos of the Rabbit Farm here - http://www.qype.co.uk/place/2075083-Dwyfor-Rabbit-Farm-Park-Llanystumdwy - and one day I'll get around to writing a review.

The beach at Hafan-y-Mor is really good providing the tide is out. It's sandy and shallow so you can paddle out quite a distance without getting too wet. It also has spectacular views of Snowdonia and right the way down the mid-Wales coast as far as Pembrokeshire. The only problem is that it's completely submerged at high tide.

For groceries your best bet is to head for Pwllheli which is about four miles away to the West. Just as you come into the town centre there's an Asda which isn't big but you should get everything you need there. Try not to go at a busy time though as the car park isn't big enough so it can be difficult to find a parking space. If you venture further on into Pwllheli there's a Lidl, an Iceland, a Co-op Foodstore and a Spar. There are also a few local independents including a butcher, a fishmonger and a wine merchant (hic!). For non-food items there's a Home Bargains next to the station in the town centre. There are also quite a few interesting little clothing and gift shops so Pwllheli is well worth a browse. You should also try an ice cream from Cadwaladers (there are also branches in Porthmadog and Criccieth).

If you want Tesco you'll need to head off in the other direction as there's one in Porthmadog but this is a bit further away than Pwllheli. Hafan-y-Mor has three Spar shops on site, all expensive as you might expect so really only useful as a last resort. Unless things have changed since last year there's also a Burger King, a Papa John's Pizza and a fish and chip shop run by a local company from Pwllheli on the site. The fish and chips were great last year but very pricey. We splashed out on a Papa John's one evening, they do home delivery to your caravan, but again it's a bit pricey.

darcys_mum

We went a couple of years ago and it is one of the best Haven sites that we have been to. We got groceries from the Asda in Pwllheli. We also visited greenwoods forest park which was a really good day out with plenty to do, definitely worth a visit. x

athensgeorgia

blondie81 wrote: »

Going 1st week of easter hols thanks to the sun, upgraded so hopefully will be in a caravan, there seems quite abit on site but still would like to see and sample things around the park, so if anyone can recommend places to eat, things to do, good beaches and where we can get any groceries we may need, along with any other useful info i wud be very grateful
:beer:

We're going that week, on that offer too, we might see you around

Out of interest, how did you upgrade? I've not heard anything about upgrades

Edit: Forget that it was a different newspaper

blondie81_2

athensgeorgia wrote: »

We're going that week, on that offer too, we might see you around

Out of interest, how did you upgrade? I've not heard anything about upgrades

Edit: Forget that it was a different newspaper

Sorry we booked with daily mail got it wrong, when it was booked online we were given the option to upgrade, but since then we have been contacted by the park and offered to contact them if there is anything we need so i would give them a call

The_mangler

Just down the road from where youre staying is Glasfryn http://www.glasfryn.co.uk/ a whole host of entertainment there.
If you head south from Hafan y Mor there is a slightly bigger store (Tesco) in Porthmadog, carry on from there and 5 minutes away is Portmeirion http://www.portmeirion-village.com/, another 15 minutes on is Harlech Castle which is stunning. A lovely beach 5 minutes out of there is llandanwg, lots of rock pools plus very easy access with a cafe. Carry on for another 8 miles and you come to Barmouth, which is a lovely proper seaside town - fish and chip shops, funfair, arcades and tacky gift shops galore

vernell

Glad to hear you have opted to upgrade. When we went in 2009, we didnt book an upgrade and the chalets we found were terrible, they smelt damp, were dark and werent nice at all. We went to the reception desk and then upgraded and the caravan we had was probably one of the best we have stayed in...It was also in a lovely part of the park where there was lots of wildlife and was quite remote.

All the major attractions seem to be mentioned, the best thing for us was being so central to everything, it is a great location and you'll find a mass of leaflets in the caravan which will give you ideas also.

OneYorkshireLass

Black Rock Sands just outside Porthmadog is a huge beach and you can drive on it (follow signs for Morfa Bychan from Porthmadog - turn at the Original Factory Shop on the main street.). I've spent many a happy hour on that beach and the sunsets are lovely from there.

There's a cafe in Llanystumdwy, so you could combine it with the Rabbit Farm (can't believe it's still going!), and there's a lovely walk down the side of the river.

I love the beach at Morfa Nefyn and the walk to Porthdinllaen for the pub on the beach: http://www.tycoch.co.uk/ the food is expensive but the setting is glorious - just looked at the webcam on their site and the weather atm looks fab, hope it stays that way for your hols.