Great Orme Tramway

Great Orme Tramway, Llandudno

The Great Orme Tramway has run from Llandudno town to the summit of the Great Orme headland since 1902, making it one of the few surviving cable tramways in Britain and the only remaining cable-hauled street tramway operating in the UK. The climb covers 1.5 km in two sections – from Victoria Station in the town centre to the halfway house at Black Gate, then a second car from Black Gate to the summit – reaching 207 metres above sea level at the top.

The trams are the original wooden double-deck cars from the Edwardian period, still running on the same track gauge and cable system. The experience is slow, noisy, and genuinely charming in a way that more polished tourist attractions usually are not.

The Journey

The lower section runs along the street through Llandudno before ascending the hillside. Passengers sit on open upper decks in good weather. The cable pulls the trams at around 12 km/h; the whole journey from bottom to summit takes about 20 minutes with the change at Black Gate included.

Return tickets are significantly better value than one-way if you intend to walk down (the footpaths from the summit are well-maintained and the descent on foot takes 40-60 minutes with views across Llandudno Bay and toward Anglesey). One-way tickets up are useful if you want to walk the full headland circuit and catch the tram on the way back.

The tramway runs from late March through October. Departures are roughly every 20-30 minutes. On busy summer weekends there can be queues; the first departures of the morning are the quietest.

The Great Orme Summit

The summit plateau is open grassland managed as a country park. Wild Kashmir goats roam the headland (around 200 of them, descended from a herd gifted to Queen Victoria in 1837). They are confident around people and will investigate bags that look as though they might contain food.

The Summit Complex at the top has a cafe, gift shop, and a small visitor centre covering the geology and history of the headland. The views north across the Irish Sea and back south toward Snowdonia are the reason most people come.

The Great Orme Bronze Age Copper Mines are located near the halfway point on the lower slopes. These are among the largest known prehistoric copper mines in the world, with tunnels and chambers dating to around 4,000 years ago still accessible to visitors via guided tours. The mines are a separate attraction from the tramway with their own entry fee.

Around Llandudno

Llandudno is a well-preserved Victorian seaside resort town built on the isthmus connecting the Great Orme to the mainland. The main promenade and pier (the longest pier in Wales at 700 metres) run along the North Shore facing the bay. The town has a concentration of Victorian hotels, several of which still operate with something of their original character intact.

Bodysgallen Hall is a 17th-century country house hotel about 2 miles south of town in its own grounds, considered one of the better options in North Wales for a comfortable base.

Llandudno is about 30 minutes by road from Betws-y-Coed and the Snowdonia National Park, making it a reasonable coastal base for those combining mountains and coast in the same trip.

Practical Notes

The tramway has a weight limit per car and a steep gradient; buggies and large items of luggage may be declined at busy times. Flat-soled shoes with some grip are recommended if you intend to walk on the headland, which can be wet.

Llandudno train station is a 10-minute walk from Victoria Station at the tramway’s lower terminus. Direct trains run from Chester and Holyhead; connections from Manchester take about 90 minutes.