Tywyn is a small town on the west Wales coast. To the south is Aberdyfi¹, the the North and East is Snowdonia, and to the West is the Irish Sea. This quiet little town is particularly popular as a holiday destination for Midlanders. Towards the end of the 19th Century Droitwich MP John Corbett was so taken with the place that he spent a considerable amount of time and money improving the town's facilities. Plaques commemorating his philanthropy can still be seen on the Market Hall and the north end of the promenade. Some visitors to the town use it as a base for exploring the Dysynni Valley, but others like to simply do as little as physical possible during their visit. The purpose of this entry is to give you some idea of things that can be done is Tywyn which, yes, may cost some money, but beyond that require hardly any effort at all.

Go Shopping

Tywyn High Street is not a great shopping mecca, though there are a few places of interest. There are the requisite Spar, Co-Op and hairdressers-with-a-joke-name², as well as a number of charity shops. On which point, here is a word of warning: be very wary or the British Red Cross shop. Not because of the charity itself of the demeanour of those working in the shop, there's no particular problem there. They simply don't know the real price of anything, and so price things up seemingly at random. A 50p Ikea vase was once spotted in there priced at £3. If you know what you should be paying, then you should be able to avoid their most glaring errors, but be careful.

Other shops include a Fashion Outlet that appears to only be fashionable if you are over 50, and an antiques shop with a life size Dalek in the front window³. The local hardware store can also be found on the High Street, though to give J B Owens his due, it's not just a hardware store. What he does, according to the signage, is: hardware, framing, engraving, locksmith, key cutting and, inevitably, shoe repair.

But what may be the most interesting shop in Tywyn is not on the High Street. The Town and Gown bookshop and cafe is right on the seafront, and provides a somewhat unusual browsing and dining experience. These days it's not so strange to find a coffee shop inside a branch of Waterstone's, for example, but the drinking and reading sections are generally kept separate. Not so in the Town and Gown - the two functions of the shop are completely integrated. The building was evidently a house originally, but now the walls are all lined with bookshelves, and the tables and chairs are dotted about here and there. This does mean that if you want to look at the books on the shelves in any serious detail then you will, at some point, find yourself standing at a table at which someone else is eating a piece of cake, staring across the table at the shelves on the other side. Equally, if dining, you may be slightly unnerved by someone leaning across your table to extract a book from the shelf beyond it. It really only works if the diners and readers mutually ignore each other.

Play at Tywyn Leisure Park

This is the place to go for relaxing outdoor leisure pursuits in Tywyn. The Leisure Park is set a little back from the sea front, behind a children's play area and a row of guesthouses. There are a number of activities that are available here, costing £2.20 for adults and £1.70 for children on average. Eschewing the tennis courts and all-weather table tennis for more gentler sports, we find crown green bowls⁴, ten pin bowling, quoits and crazy golf. But the crowning achievement of the Leisure Park is the 18 hole putting course.

It occupies about half of the site , and is larger that you would expect a putting course to be, but not as big as pitch and putt. You are issued with a putter and a ball, though you could always bring your own if you prefer. The 1st hole is nice and flat, and gives you opportunity to measure the strength of swing required. The 2nd hole is a little shorter, by just enough to make your measurements on the 1st hole completely useless. You then turn a corner for the 3rd hole which begins a gentle incline, which becomes a little bit steeper on the 4th. You turn another corner for a short 5th hole, before heading into the interior of the course for the 6th. You then face an infuriating series of undulations leading, eventually, to the long 9th hole - the same length as the 1st and 2nd holes combined. The back 9 are even more annoying, with slopes, curves, dips and deviously placed pins seemingly designed to make you hate the course with a passion. Until, that is, you look at your partner's score and realise that they are doing just as badly as you are. And you could always come back another day to try to improve your score. Many do, shockingly.

Ride the Talyllyn Railway

Talyllyn Railway was originally built in 1866 to bring slate down from the Bryn Eglwys quarry down to the main line at Tywyn. The line also started carrying passengers before the end of that year.

Look at St Cadfan's Stone

St Cadfan's Stone can be found inside St Cadfan's Church, on the opposite side of the church to the main door. The stone is inscribed with the earliest known example of written Welsh.

Visit The Magic Lantern

Independent cinema - Assembly Room 1893 - sign above door The Magic Lantern . Opposite The White Hall between Corbett Arms Hotel and St Cadfan's Church.

Eat ice cream at Halo Foods