Back in time at Anglesey Transport Museum
We love a transport museum as they seem to have something quirky about every one you go to, and there’s some great finds amongst the vehicles. Sometimes smaller is best, and we enjoyed the Anglesey Transport Museum on our visit in the summer.
When doing my research on places to visit on our 2 days in Anglesey, the transport museum hadn’t come up under recommendations. But thankfully once in Wales it popped up when googling, and we had time to fit it in after our walk along Llanddwyn Beach.
The museum’s a bit out in the middle of nowhere. My sat nav really didn’t like Anglesey, so arriving was fine, but getting out again and back to Beaumaris wasn’t happening unless we just went with our hunches. There’s a bit enough car park, and a tea room for drinks, cakes and light bites if needed. Toilets are through the cafe.
You pay for entry in the cafe, and it wasn’t expensive. It felt very casual, and when we got there mid morning it was still very quiet going round the museum. The tea room had filled up once we were back out again, so it’s obviously quite a popular little place.
The first main area you see is the normal cars and motorcycles. The bikes are up on a mezzanine floor, but for those with accessibility requirements, there is a stairlift to help you up the stairs.
It’s great to look over all the cars, along with a hanging plane, in the main part of the museum.
For quite a small space, there’s a lot on display. What I really loved is the information about how the museum has come by each vehicle, how they’ve chased them down or bought them, whether they were locally found or further afield. And how they’ve been restored. It makes it feel more like a personal collection than just a museum.
There’s a real mix of vans and cars, from different eras. With the extra accessories and badges etc on display too. N spotted an old dirt bike, like one of his friends has.
Then we headed into the tractor area for the vintage models, perfect for a farmer’s son on holiday. We spotted a few that we still see people with today, not so much working, but as collectors pieces, or those that feature in vintage tractor runs.
Once we’d had our fill there, we headed out to the workshop area across the car park. This has all the old Land Rovers, a few newer cars, small buses, and the workshop areas so you can see some of how they restore or repair the vehicles.
I spotted a couple of cars I remember my dad and grandad having had when I was small.
Next it was into the military vehicles area with some crazy looking vehicles, small tanks, and launchers, fire engines and other vehicles. Most of these I’d never seen anything like them before, despite all the transport museums we’ve been to.
We finished off outside to see the plane and train. N was interested to see the train right up close. It was a lovely end to our visit, seeing a real mix of vehicles.
We’d hoped to grab an early lunch, but the prices were insane for simply a sandwich (egg mayo for £7.50, or a toastie for £10. Even prices on the Isle of Bute last year weren’t that bad, and they have to import food by ferry!). So we decided just on a drink before heading off back to Beaumaris for some lunch before our wildlife cruise.
If you’re on Anglesey and are looking for something to entertain the whole family, then it’s worth checking out the Anglesey Transport Museum for a few hours.
Check out our other Anglesey experiences: