Great Orme Mines

Neolithic Orkney is a designated UNESCO world heritage site and a 5 star Scottish Tourist Board historic attraction. The Great Orme Bronze Age Copper mines, in my opinion, is absolutely on a par with Orkney and should seek similar recognition with UNESCO and the Welsh Tourist Board. Absolutely fantastic, all aspects. So good, my family and I visited on the Saturday and the Wednesday of our October break holiday, and toured the mines twice on each visit. The second visit of 2 tours was equally captivating and fascinating. To note that the staff running the mines are working archaeologists who originally excavated (by digger and mainly by hand) and continue to do so. They also helped construct the site as a visitor attraction i.e. stairs, paths, railings, lighting, signage etc. They run the centre, continue to research (and publish), and are extremely knowledgeable, therefore, on any questions as they literally live and breathe the mines! The setting of the mines is atmospheric, amazing and unique on the Orme, however, the mine site itself looks like something from an Indiana Jones movie set, immediately evoking a "wow!!". The visit from start to finish is superb. The education process is addictive. The visitor leaves amazed and their outlook on our bronze age ancestors changed e.g. the Copper was mined on the Great Orme but the Tin to create the Bronze, was obtained down the west coast from Cornish Tin Mines, thus requiring sea travel and trading. This site was a 3800 year old metal manufacturing plant, with multiple supply chains and related industries as is the case with modern metal production - clay moulds (became bronze moulds), clay ovens/kilns, crucibles, wood and bone digging implements, wood and clay lamps, and of course, feeding the miners etc etc. The Orme/Llandudno was a specialist Bronze Age production site, just like Whitby was known as a centre for Jet mining from the early Bronze Age. The other interesting thing I learned was that the current theory is that this knowledge of bronze working evolved locally across the world and didn't migrate out from the Western Asia/the Middle East. Did I pass the exam?! 😄 Highly recommended for everyone, whether you are interested in this type of thing or not - you will be afterwards!

fascinating piece of history, loads of information about the background and working of the mines. staff were all super lovely and welcoming, and incredibly knowledgeable in their subjects! would absolutely recommend this if you are in llandudno, it’s even nicer on a warm day after walking up the orme, as it’s nice and cool inside the mines

Absolutely FANTASTIC. Seriously, the most unassuming place which literally rewrote British history. Almost turned into a parking lot in 1987 - during prep works, a load of copper and bronze tools were found. And subsequently, a whole 9 floors of underground tunnels were discovered, revealing that there have indeed been a knowledge of metal working prior Romans on British territory. We drove up, but the roads are steep and winding. Ample parking, though. Much better to take the Llandudno tramway up. And maybe walk down, the countryside is beautiful by itself. The tour is a selfguided one, you are played a short but very informative film after the ticket purchase and then proceed to the actual mines. The tunnels are narrow and you might bump head here and there so really do wear the hardhat they offer at this entrance. The mines themselves may seem claustrophobic but in fact they are perfectly fine, I am claustrophobic myself and avoid mines and caves for this reason. But we actually went twice here, it was stunning. You don't go all the way down, so far floors 1 and 2, some 18m below surface, are made accessible. Went with two young kids (4 and 8), regular shoes, it may be a bit slippery at times, but nothing a 4yo wouldn't manage. Definitely recommend. Also, there is a giftshop with plenty amazing souvenirs, very reasonably priced. Cards accepted. For us, an absolute gem of a find, we've spent a brilliant afternoon here. Kids loved it, I loved it, just not by car next time. Thanks again for an amazing visit.

Excellently signposted, free parking. Entry is expensive but we did enjoy. There's quite a bit of information to take in, even if the self guided walk through the mine only takes 10 minutes. Worth a visit if you like mines or pre-history. Not an all-day activity though.

Good place to visit while in Llandudno. The pathways are narrow but manageable. Tickets are around 11GBP per person. Recommended for adventurous souls.

The Great Orme Mines in Llandudno boast over 5 miles of explored tunnels and passageways. In 2005 it was awarded the title of ‘The Largest Prehistoric Copper Mines in the World’ by the Guinness World Records Team. La entrada cuesta £11,50 adultos, descuentos para estudiantes y familias numerosas.

This was by far one of the highlights of our holiday. the gentleman on the ticket desk was brilliant and was so knowledgeable and you could really tell he enjoyed working there. He was also happy to tell us the whole history at the end which both my boys loved. This is a must when visiting and we would defiantly go again

It was the first time I had visited mine with a dog. Although you need to keep in mind it will be difficult for smaller dogs. Has been a great effort input to clear them so you can visit.

Unfortunately the ads and brochures for the Great Orme Copper Mine looked a little too much like an amusement for young children. I wasn't really sure whether we'd enjoy making a detour to see this place, but I was greatly surprised and delighted that we did. Perhaps I should have read the brochure more carefully... the site is an active archeological site containing some of the oldest mines in the world. Copper has been mined here for more than 3,000 years, well before the Romans came. It was hard work - the miners used hard stones to extract copper ore from the rocks, in narrow, small tunnels with very little light. Thousands of stone hammers have been recovered from the tunnels. The mines were discovered during an archeological investigation for a proposed parking lot up on Great Orme, making an excellent case for the requirement to do some archeology before construction projects begin. The discovery of the mines meant that history books needed to be rewritten. The small museum contains exhibits explaining the details of the mine and the cultural and historical context. After a video explaining the site, grab a hard hat and walk through a small portion of the ancient mines. The whole experience takes an hour or two. Well worth a detour for anyone interested in pre-Roman history whether you had kids with you or not.

The Great Orme mines are the Worlds Largest Bronze Age Copper Mines. This tourist attraction is a self guided tour through the maze of tunnels and carverns that were created over 3000 years ago. The mines were discovered fairly recently, late 80's if I remeber correctly. In my opinion the Mines are one of those places that you'll visit once and never go back to - whilst the tour is both interesting and Educational it lacks excitement and for me it didnt have the WOW factor. For example having been to a similiar attraction the Chedder Gorge in Somerset (which was excellent) it didnt live up to my expectations - the lighting in the Carverns were a little dull and the lack of a Guide meant that you were just wandering aimlessley around the exhibits without really understanding why they were there. On a more positive note I think that continuous work is being carried out to develop the mines so it would be nice if they could spend a bit more money on the attraction to make it more impressive. There is also a Shop, visitor centre and a small cafe, which serves nice Cakes and Coffees. The Mines have ample Parking and the centre is open daily between the months of March and November. The Adult price is £6 - Children are £4 - but they do offer discounts for group bookings.

A visit to Great Orme Mines is both an enjoyable and educational experience which can be enjoyed by children and adults of all ages. Walking through tunnels mined out over 3,500 years ago gives visitors a feel for the harsh conditions our prehistoric ancestors faced in their search for copper. The highlight of the tour is the amazing Bronze Age Cavern, dug out over 3,500 years ago by miners using nothing more than stone and bone tools.

I enjoyed my 2 visits and over the years have watched as they unearth more and more of the mines. This place overturned years of history and gobsmacked many historians. Go visit and go underground.

This mine is definitely worth a visit. My doubting 13-year old was converted as soon as we entered the caves. The tunnels are fascinating (make sure you have suitable footwear some sections are steep and quite slippy). Gift shop is good with lots of beautiful quartz and stones at pocket money prices for kids to take a momento away.