Penrhyn Bay sits east of Llandudno, close to the Little Orme, and it is more residential than resort. This means it does not immediately throw attractions at visitors like confetti.

That is no bad thing. Not every place exists to entertain you. Some places exist because people live there, walk there, shop there and know exactly where not to park. Penrhyn Bay is such a place, and the distinction matters.

The bay itself faces east and south-east, giving a different sea aspect from Llandudno’s northward-facing bays. The Little Orme rises immediately to the west, providing the starting point for the Little Orme walk and giving Penrhyn Bay its most distinctive geographical feature.

The main reasons to go are access to the Little Orme, local walks, the golf club, sea views and a break from the busier parts of Llandudno.

The Rhos-on-Sea golf course extends into the Penrhyn Bay area and has been a fixture of the local leisure landscape for well over a century. It gives the seafront area a particular character that mixes residential calm with sporting gentility.

It also links naturally with Rhos-on-Sea and Colwyn Bay, making it part of a quieter coastal thread rather than a headline destination. The coastal walking between Penrhyn Bay and Rhos-on-Sea, and between Penrhyn Bay and the Little Orme, makes the area more valuable to walkers than the limited commercial offer would suggest.

Do not expect a miniature Llandudno. Penrhyn Bay has no interest in becoming a smaller, tidier echo of the main town. It is lower key, more local and less dressed for company.

The few cafes and local shops in Penrhyn Bay serve the community rather than the visitor trade, which generally means better coffee at lower prices and fewer laminated menus with aspirational photography.

For walkers and people exploring the coast properly, it earns its place. It is useful, and usefulness, when properly understood, has its own elegance.

Penrhyn Bay is perhaps best visited as part of a wider coastal day: the Little Orme in the morning, the bay and a cafe stop at midday, and a walk along the seafront to Rhos-on-Sea in the afternoon. This is a day that requires no grand plan and rewards the absence of one.