Wales

There can't be much of a better reason. If you have a little bit of time, a couple of good castles are within striking distance just off Anglesey. I'm not a public transportation person, but I'm pretty sure the rail line runs from Holyhead to Conwy (real good castle). If you could switch to a bus at about Bangor, you could go in the other direction to Caernarfon which is an even better castle. Both are within maybe thirty-five miles of the ferry terminal.

I'm with Ed. Wales ROCKS. Conwy and Caernarfon Castles are lovely - and at Conwy you are right on the northern tip of Snowdonia National Park - the scenery can't be beat! You could spend the night in Llandudno, which is cute as a button - and has plenty of places to stay.

Thanks Ed and Kira for the info. My plan A is to stay in Holyhead the first day, take the next day's morning train to Conwy where I'll have about 4 hours at the castle, take the afternoon train back to Holyhead ferryport for the return to Dublin. I've done a bit of Googling and Google Earthing and it looks like I'll have to make Wales a destination for a future trip.

While in Wales and if you go to Cardiff, if you have a chance, try a pint of Brains Beer. Makes Guinness taste weak by comparison. We loved Wales for the 2 weeks we spent there. Castles, scenery, shopping, etc. was great. People were wonderful and saw very few tourists.

John, Thanks for the info. For a minute I thought you mis-spelled Brians but a little Googling shows that it is indeed Brains. I'll be on the lookout for it.

You will not forget it. The first one was rather . . . . but the second one was great.

I took the ferry to Holyhead, train to Bangor, then stayed there for 5 days and took the bus to various locations. I'm not sure that there's much of anything in Holyhead, I'd recommend going straight to Conwy and spending the night there. I loved Conwy, wonderful castle, other wonderful sites, delightful town and harbour, and the tastiest cream cakes at the bakery. Lovely place, well worth the trip. My only caveat... I live on an island, and rely on ferry to get to the big city for any major events. I did NOT enjoy the ferry trip to Wales... if you have any issues with motion sickness, have gravol or whatever on the ready. I'm normally fine on boats, but it wasn't a good trip for me.

Holy Island, where Holyhead is located has some spectacular lighthouses. There are wonderful nature reserves for walking on the cliffs overlooking the sea...you will love the signage in English and Welsh!