A compact, local museum that adds context to the town and coastline — ideal for curious guests who like a story behind the scenery, and a smart in-between activity before dining out.
Llandudno Museum is one of those compact, quietly impressive places that rewards a proper visit. Housed in Rapallo House in the heart of the town, it covers over 13,500 years of human history from the end of the last Ice Age to the present day -- and does so across nine thousand artefacts in six permanent galleries, with an archaeological collection considered among the finest held by any independent museum in Wales.
The museum was founded in 1925 by Francis Edouard Chardon, an artist and collector who bequeathed his home, Rapallo House, and his entire collection of decorative and fine arts to the town. His Chardon Gallery still displays paintings, sculpture and objects he collected on travels across Europe, India and Asia -- an unexpectedly international collection for a seaside town museum.
Beyond the fine art, the galleries take in Roman artefacts from the Kanovium fort at Conwy, a Neolithic skeleton known as Blodwen from the Little Orme, prehistoric tools and Bronze Age finds from the Great Orme Copper Mines, and a War Room covering Llandudno role in both World Wars -- including the remarkable story of where the Inland Revenue was relocated during the Blitz, and the local hero Colonel Arnold and his so-called Musical Box tank in the First World War.
It is a genuinely absorbing place, particularly on a rainy afternoon, and it is free to enter. The museum also runs regular heritage walks around the town covering Victorian infrastructure, Jewish history, the suffrage movement, and the Old Town before the resort was built. Open Tuesday to Saturday, ten until five. A fifteen minute walk from The Rosedene.
- ✦ Highly rated by our guests
- ✦ Easy to reach from The Rosedene
- ✦ Suitable for all guests
