Conwy Castle is the castle many visitors vaguely expect Llandudno to have. It does not. Fortunately, Conwy is close enough to satisfy anyone needing towers, walls and the stern reassurance of medieval stone.

The castle was built between 1283 and 1289 by Edward I as part of his campaign to control Wales, at an estimated cost of around fifteen thousand pounds (roughly equivalent to the annual income of the entire English crown at the time). It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sharing that designation with Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Harlech as part of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.

The castle is one of the most impressive medieval fortresses in Wales, with town walls, towers and a dramatic estuary setting. Eight great towers, two barbicans and walls fourteen feet thick at their base make a statement that requires no translation.

Its power lies in how completely it dominates the town. You do not visit a ruin politely placed in a field. You see how castle, walls, harbour, streets and landscape were arranged as a statement of control, and how completely the statement was made.

The town walls, built simultaneously with the castle, extend for over a mile around the medieval borough and are among the most complete in Europe. They include twenty-two towers and three original gateways, and they can be walked for much of their length, giving views over the rooftops, harbour and estuary that the street-level visitor never sees.

From Llandudno, it is an easy half-day or full-day trip. The journey is short enough that even the poorly organised can recover, though one should not encourage them.

Go early if you dislike crowds, and walk the town walls if conditions allow. The walls make the town more legible and give fine views over roofs, harbour and water.

The Conwy suspension bridge, built by Telford in 1826 to replace the ferry crossing, stands beside the castle with the confidence of a structure that knows it is in good company. The combination of medieval castle and nineteenth-century engineering gives Conwy a layered visual character unusual even in North Wales.

Leave time for the harbour and back streets. Conwy Castle may be the headline, but the town around it is the reason the headline still matters.

The smallest house in Britain on the quayside, the Elizabethan merchant’s house, the contemporary gallery and the independent shops of the old town give Conwy a complete day rather than a half-hour photograph stop.