Lodges with private hot tubs on Anglesey

Anglesey wraps a long coastline around a quiet green middle, and the lodges with hot tubs are dotted across the island. These are cottages by the sea, not an inland log-cabin park. Wherever you base yourself, you are rarely far from a beach, and the hot tub stays on through the year.

The east coast, for calm family beaches

The east is the gentle side of the island, where the beaches face across the water to the mountains of Eryri. Benllech is the busiest of them, a wide arc of Blue Flag sand with a slipway, shops and cafes. It makes an easy base, without a long drive for the milk. Red Wharf Bay, just south, empties to a vast plain of sand at low tide. Round the headland, Moelfre is an old lifeboat village with a string of pebbly coves.

This is the coast for a family holiday, with shallow, sheltered swimming and sand for the children, and a hot tub to come back to. Many of the cottages on the shore look out over the bay, so the sea view comes with the soak. Others sit back in the farmland around Pentraeth, a mile or so from the sand.

The west and Holy Island, for surf and cliffs

The west coast is wilder and made for watersports. Rhosneigr is the hub, a smart little village with two sweeping beaches where the wind brings out the surfers and windsurfers. Further out, a causeway carries you onto Holy Island, where Trearddur Bay has the golden sand and Rhoscolyn the quieter rocky coves.

This corner gets the drama, from the cliffs at South Stack to the walking around Holyhead Mountain, some of the best on Anglesey. Couples and groups can pack a swim and a proper coast walk into the same day.

Back on Anglesey itself, Llanfwrog and Llanfachraeth lie in unhurried, rural country near the Alaw estuary, with the sea and Holyhead in view. This side suits a slower trip, with the surf beaches and Holy Island a short drive away.

The north coast, for quiet headlands

The north is the island at its most low-key. Cemaes is the northernmost village in Wales, set around a sheltered harbour, with easy access to the coastal path. Inland rises Parys Mountain, an old copper mine whose orange and ochre rock looks more like Mars than Wales. The port of Amlwch lies a couple of miles north.

Bases up here are more rural still, with a glamping pod or two for couples. You trade the busier beaches for headland walks, sea air and a hot tub with no one overlooking it.

The green middle, and Newborough in the south-west

Inland, the middle of the island is farmland around Llangefni and Penmynydd, a sensible base if you want to be within half an hour of either coast. The south-west holds Anglesey's showpiece, Newborough, a Corsican pine forest that runs down to a huge beach and the tidal island of Llanddwyn, with red squirrels in the trees.

Down on the Menai Strait are the two bridges and the old town of Beaumaris with its castle. A central self-catering cottage puts all of it within reach.

The island beyond the beach

There is more to a week here than the beach and the hot tub. Almost the whole coast lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with seabird cliffs and headland walks for a fine day. When the weather turns, a castle, a grand house and an aquarium can fill a day.

Planning your time on the island

When should you visit?

Each season makes its own case for a hot tub break on Anglesey. May and June bring the puffins to South Stack, before the school-holiday crowds. July and August are the warmest months for swimming and watersports. Autumn and winter swap the crowds for storm-watching, with the hot tub all the better in the cold.

Is it good for bringing the dog?

Red Wharf Bay and much of the coastal path are walkable with a dog all year round. Even the busy family beaches like Benllech and Trearddur Bay keep a stretch open to dogs through the summer, when the rest of the sand is closed to them. There is no shortage of dog-friendly accommodation to match, much of it with an enclosed garden.

Where is good to eat out?

Menai Bridge and Beaumaris have most of the island's best tables. Dylan's is right on the strait at Menai Bridge for local seafood and stone-baked pizza. Nearby, Sosban and the Old Butchers holds a Michelin star for a special night out. Beaumaris adds old inns and bistros along its main street, and several of the coastal villages have a good seafood pub.

Can you reach the mountains for the day?

Easily. It is under half an hour over the bridge to the edge of Eryri, so a day on Yr Wyddfa or the Snowdon Mountain Railway is well within reach. Anglesey itself stays low-lying, with the mountain skyline as the view across the water.