Lleyn Pilgrims Trail

Lleyn Pilgrims Trail: Aberdesach to Porthmadog – 72 miles, 7 days‍

This route is based on an ancient pilgrimage route for pilgrims coming from Bangor longing to make the journey to Aberdaron to wait for their boat to Bardsey Island, for that treacherous but transcendent approach to the Isle of the Setting Sun. After the Bardsey ‘moment’, you trundle along the southern coast of the peninsula to end at St Cynhaearn’s Church near Porthmadog. Along the way you encounter beautiful sea shores, manageable mountains, sand dunes, clifflines, farmland, valleys and traditional villages where they still speak Welsh. The historic depth is there with an Iron Age hill fort, many 6th-century churches and the unspoilt land itself. The route is mostly along remote coastal paths, but some inland hilltops give great perspective with the Irish coast to the West, Snowdonia to the East, Anglesey to the North, and to the South, the epic view of Bardsey Island.

Highlights‍

• Unspoilt landscapes
• Changing scenery
• Deep history and Welsh traditions
• Travel packages available

Holy Places along route listed in our book Britain’s Pilgrim Places: Clynnog Fawr; Pistyll; Llangwnnadl; Uwchmynydd; Bardsey; Aberdaron; Llanengan.

Low-cost hostels along route – Llangian, Porthmadog and across region.

Click to see more photos of sections of this route that overlap with the North Wales Pilgrims Way