The Great Orme, Llandudno

One of the most beautiful parts of our visit to Llandudno was the Great Orme. The Great Orme (called Pen-y-Gogarth in Welsh) is a large limestone headland on the north coast of Wales - the Creuddyn Peninsula. There is a similar smaller headland called the Little Orme on the eastern side.

The Great Orme is a large nature reserve with special areas of conservation, a lovely heritage coast and a country park. It has a rich flora and during spring and summer time the cliffs are carpeted with beautiful colourful flowers.

Great Orme is home to several feral Kashmiri goats, though a major part of the land is used for sheep grazing.

You can reach the summit either on foot, by car or take the Cable Cars or the Great Orme Tramway. Whatever way you choose, the journey is filled with spectacular sights.

The Summit Complex on the top has a cafeteria, a play area for kids, visitor's centre and a tourist shop too.

If you believe in Aliens and UFOs - then you will be interested in knowing that The Great Orme holds the 3rd spot in the top 10 UK hotspots where you can be abducted by aliens :) The Great Orme has been the subject of intense extra-terrestrial activity since 1997. There is an area in the Summit complex which houses stuff related to aliens and UFOs. A good way to spend some time ;-)

Just below the summit is the Bishop's Quarry - a semicircular limestone quarry. Though the quarry is not in use anymore, it has extensive fossil deposits. The rock face is limestone which was formed during the Carboniferous period - 300 million years ago even before the time of dinosaurs! At that time much of North Wales was under water and many creatures like the pinhead-sized plankton, shellfish and corals lived here which are now said to be preserved as fossils.

The views from the summit of Great Orme are amazing. You can see spectacular views towards the east and north. There is lots to do on the Great Orme, but you can spend away hours just relaxing and taking in the beautiful views.