With a thousand pounds and a companion worth spending it on, Llandudno will behave beautifully. This is the town as the Mostyns intended it to be enjoyed: unhurried, well fed and finished off in a seventeenth-century country house with the lights low.
The Day, Hour by Hour
9:30amArrive at Bodysgallen Hall, set in some two hundred acres above the Conwy estuary and run by the National Trust. Leave the car, leave the bags, and go straight to the spa. Book two treatments in advance; the pool, sauna and gardens are yours as a resident.
11:30amA taxi into town takes about fifteen minutes. Ask to be dropped at Victoria Station on Church Walks for the Great Orme Tramway, Britain’s only cable-hauled street tramway still running on the public road. It has been climbing the Orme since 1902 and has no intention of hurrying for you.
12:00pmChange cars at Halfway Station and step off for the Great Orme Mines. This is Bronze Age copper mining on an astonishing scale, rediscovered in 1987. You walk through tunnels dug some four thousand years ago with bone and stone. Allow an hour, and wear shoes you do not mind getting dusty.
1:15pmRide on to the summit. On a clear day you can see Anglesey, the peaks of Eryri and, if the gods are generous, the Isle of Man. Look out for the Kashmiri goats on the slopes. Resist lunch; you are saving yourself.
2:15pmTaxi back to the Hall. There is time for a turn around the walled rose garden and the seventeenth-century knot garden, which is clipped with a precision Miss Mostyn finds deeply reassuring.
3:30pmAfternoon tea in the drawing rooms with a glass of Champagne each. It is £35 a head, £15 for the Champagne, with a 12.5% service charge on top. The Hall bills it as one of the top ten afternoon teas in the UK, and the scones are a persuasive argument.
5:00pmBack to the room. Bath, nap, or the view from the window, in whichever order you prefer.
7:30pmDrinks in the bar, then dinner in the dining room. Allow around £200 for two with a good bottle, and do not skip the cheese.
10:30pmA nightcap by the fire and bed. Breakfast is included, and you should take your time over it.
What It Costs
| For two | Cost |
|---|---|
| Spa treatments at Bodysgallen (allowance) | £220.00 |
| Taxis to town and back | £40.00 |
| Great Orme Tramway, return | £22.50 |
| Great Orme Mines | £27.50 |
| Champagne afternoon tea, with service | £112.50 |
| Dinner with wine (allowance) | £200.00 |
| Room for the night with breakfast (allowance) | £350.00 |
| Total (of £1,000) | £972.50 |
That leaves £27.50 in hand. Put it towards a bottle of something for the room, or a tip for the spa team, who will have earned it.
If It Rains
Swap the tramway and mines for a longer spa session and a slow lunch on Mostyn Street, then spend the afternoon in the Llandudno Museum and the Mostyn Gallery. The Hall is at its best in bad weather anyway: log fires, deep chairs and a library one could happily be snowed into.
Adjusting the Budget
Spend a Little More
- Book a sea-view suite at a promenade hotel for a second night and make a weekend of it.
- Add a show at Venue Cymru; a good seat for two is a modest addition to a day like this.
- Upgrade to a full spa day package rather than individual treatments.
Spend a Little Less
- Choose a dinner, bed and breakfast package, which usually costs less than buying each part separately.
- Skip the Champagne with tea and save £33.75.
- Drive yourself between the Hall and town and save the taxi fares.
Miss Mostyn Advises
- Book the room, spa and dinner together, and ask what packages are running. Country house hotels often bundle them for less than the sum of the parts.
- Rooms at Bodysgallen vary widely by season and size. My allowance is a sensible middle; midweek out of season you may do much better.
- The tramway and the cable car are seasonal. Outside late March to late October, go up the Orme by taxi along the toll road instead.
- Dress code at the Hall is smart casual. Jeans are tolerated; tracksuits are not.
Questions Visitors Ask
Can you spend £1,000 in a day in Llandudno?
Easily, and well. A night at Bodysgallen Hall with dinner, spa treatments and Champagne afternoon tea accounts for most of it, with the Great Orme tramway and mines making up the rest.
Is Bodysgallen Hall in Llandudno?
It is just outside the town, about a fifteen-minute drive or taxi ride from the promenade, on the hillside above the Conwy estuary.
Do you need to book Bodysgallen afternoon tea?
Yes. It is popular, especially at weekends, so book ahead and mention any dietary needs when you do.
Prices were checked in October 2026 and are for two adults. Fares change, the tramway and cable car run seasonally (roughly late March to the end of October) and the cable car stops in high wind, so check before you set out.