Great Orme

I drove the Maritime drive toll road and visited the summit. Some lovely views from the summit; we got to witness a lovely sunset. We visited the restaurant, canteen would be more accurate though, standard fare as you would expect, food under light bulbs and sandwiches in the fridge, maybe not the best the best value for larger groups and families. There is a bizarre run down looking bar which seemed to attract zero business and also the largest collect of tourist information leaflets that you have ever seen as well as an impressive but strangely irrelevant collection of Alien and Predator sculptures. Odd to say the least.

Enjoyed the experience but on a hot day the one and half hour queue was uncomfortable. Did not help that toilet facilities on site had been condemned. To be fair a kind lady attendant did walk through the queue advising estimated wait time and kept us informed, promising to get us sat on the station platform as soon as possible. Max number of passengers on each team reduced to 24 due to Covid restrictions. Tickets can only be purchased at the town end of line not from top.

Cash only on the cable car, prepare to queue, it's worth it though, 2 adults per cable car but the ride up is lovely. Amazing views at the top- just breathtaking! A game of crazy golf at the top is now our tradition. Lots of fun at any age. All the staff are nice and friendly. If you like ice cream get one at the bottom of the Great Orme in the cafe, it's the best ice cream I've ever tasted! 😊 Don't forget to the mines, so interesting!

Dog friendly cafe at the top of the Orme, with crazy golf as a new attraction if a little expensive at £5 each. If you pay to go up the toll road remember you do not have to pay to park as well, your toll ticket includes this. Great play area for children which is free. There are usually grazing livestock around so keep your dog on a lead. Great area for small kite flying or bubbles just blow themselves in the breeze. Take a top layer cos it can be very blowy up there or cream up in the summer months.

Drove up to The Great Orme, twisty roads but great views. Didn't get the tram, it looked too busy. Got to the top it was really busy, we really only wanted to stay a little while but the car park did not cater for an hour or two, minimum payment was around £5.20 I think (we still paid though). Thought about going on the cable car but could not see pricing for it, also not sure if you could get a return and come straight back or have to queue at the other end, the queue was quite long. Someone also told us that if the weather changes or gets windy etc it can stop at any time, so you could be stuck at the top or bottom, therefore in the end we didn't bother. Great views but very busy, queues for everything.

Third visit to North Wales our friend drove us around Llandudno and then onto the Great Orme. We drove first upto the toboggan run area & dry ski slope. Great fun for families & teenagers. Lovely Austrian ski lodge set up as a cafe / bar. We left there looking at pretty gardens on the way down. Then we ventured on the road that wrapped around the outside of the rock and visited the highest peek with a huge carpark / cafe full of cars and people. We stopped to let our dogs have run and drove carefully down hill noting the local mine on the way. We then visited the other cafe which looked out to the West, the Isle of Man could be seen as it was a clear day. Coffee was superb, sadly no toilets available which is rather tricky when they serve drinks. Little social distancing was in place, masks were worn. We carried on our journey spying the white mountain goats on the top of the great Orme. We finished our journey with a walk on the nearest beach with the dogs. Great views. Stunning scenery. Lots of walks. Cafes. Peaceful and tranquil.

Have been up the Orme loads of times over the years, but the views are always great on a clear day.
The Summit complex is worth a look, and the wildlife centre is very informative for wildlife and the area in general.
If you use the road to get up there is a small toll charge for cars and motorbikes, and the road is narrow and twisty, but take your time and it's fine. You can walk up but it's quite a hike but nice if you walk through the Happy Valley part. Or of course the tram.

Stunning scenery and wildlife, particulary the botanical side but the human elements in my opinion scar the place, especially the ski slope attraction. Doesn't take much imagination to conjour up the scenario in the local council chamber back in the day. 'Llandudno needs attractions like this so we don't just attract fuddy duddies. All year round attractions, jobs, 21st Century etc. There's plenty of wildlife up there, some just has to move over a bit.'

The cable car building in the Happy Valley looks Stalinist, the centre on top not much better. And weirdly, the cable car doesn't run on windy days i.e. most days.

Refreshingly, there's a lot more talk these days about the need to take landscape and biodiversity issues more seriously. In my experience however, councillors are pretty ambivalent when it comes to wildlife, unlikely to know the difference between a hare and a harebell and few LAs have knowledgeable specialist ecology staff who can say 'Hang on a minute.' So this mini rant is about sensitivity, not spoiling the ship for a ha'pworth of tar and all that. Much as appealing to the masses wins votes, some places are so special they should always remain sacred.

Excellent drive up and nice views. Make sure you pick good weather to enjoy the views. On the top of the great orme there is access to a paid car park, cafe and toilets. The bar was closed.

Overall, nice views.

Exceptional views, seen from a Sightseeing bus tout with a very friendly driver at a very good price. The place at the top near the visitor center was very busy, which is to be expected at this time of the year. I highly recommend to see the Great Orme at least once in your life, especially on the Sightseeing bus tour, which offers the best deal really as one can hop on hop off throughout the day.