Tywyn · Gwynedd · Mid-Wales
A small seaside town on the west coast of Wales, where the mountains of southern Eryri meet the sands of Cardigan Bay.
Tywyn is a seaside town on the west coast of Wales, facing Cardigan Bay. It's in the county of Gwynedd, on the Mid-Wales coast about 4 miles north of Aberdyfi and the Dyfi estuary, at the southern edge of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park.
Tywyn sits about halfway down the coast of Wales. Behind it are the hills of southern Eryri; in front, several miles of sandy beach run between the Dysynni river to the north and the Dyfi estuary to the south.
For directions to our cottages, see getting here. Use the LL36 postcode in your sat nav: there's a different village called Towyn on the North Wales coast.
Tywyn grew up on a strip of flat land between the hills and the shore, and its name comes from the Welsh word for the sand dunes that once covered it. The town has a long seafront promenade, a main high street and the parish church of St Cadfan, whose carved stone holds the earliest known writing in Welsh.
Just north of town, the river Dysynni flows past the lagoon at Broad Water and the cliff of Bird Rock. To the south, the coast road and railway hug the shore to Aberdyfi at the mouth of the Dyfi. Inland, the Talyllyn Railway climbs the Fathew valley past Dolgoch Falls towards Cadair Idris, about 11 miles away.
Approximate driving times from Tywyn. Roads here are winding, so allow a little extra.
| Place | By car | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdyfi | 10 min | 4 miles south; also one stop by train |
| Machynlleth | 30 min | Market town on the Dyfi; mainline train connections |
| Dolgellau | 40 min | Gateway to Cadair Idris and the Mawddach Trail |
| Barmouth | 1 hr | About 30 min by train along the coast |
| Aberystwyth | 1 hr | Round the Dyfi estuary via Machynlleth |
| Shrewsbury | 2 hr | Trains via Machynlleth, about 2½ hours |
| Birmingham | 3 hr | Trains via Shrewsbury, about 3½ hours |
| Manchester / Liverpool | 3 hr | Via the A470 through Eryri |
| Cardiff | 3½ hr | Via the A470 through Mid-Wales |
| London | 5 hr | Or about 5½ hours by train |
Full train, road and taxi details are on our getting here page.
In Welsh, Tywyn sounds roughly like “TUH-win”: the first y is a short “uh” sound. You'll also hear “TOW-in”, rhyming with “how”, and locals understand both.
Older maps, books and railway signs spell it Towyn, the older English spelling. Don't confuse it with the village of Towyn near Abergele on the North Wales coast, which is a different place about two and a half hours' drive away.
For a small town, Tywyn has a lot on the doorstep: a long sandy beach, the world's first preserved railway, an award-winning independent cinema, cafés and pubs, and bottlenose dolphins that are often seen from the promenade. Within half an hour are waterfalls, Cadair Idris, Castell y Bere and the slate caverns around Corris.
See our guide to things to do in Tywyn or browse the map of places to visit.
Neither, really: Tywyn is on the Mid-Wales coast. It is in Gwynedd, a county usually grouped with North Wales, but it sits at the county's southern tip, about halfway down the Welsh coastline.
Tywyn is on the southern edge of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. Cadair Idris, the national park's best-known southern mountain, rises about 11 miles inland, and Dolgoch Falls is a 10-minute drive or a short steam-train ride away.
Towyn was the old English spelling of Tywyn, so older maps and books use it. But there is also a separate village called Towyn near Abergele on the North Wales coast, about two and a half hours' drive away. If you're coming to Tywyn in Gwynedd, use the LL36 postcode in your sat nav.
Yes. Tywyn station is on the Cambrian Coast line, in the town centre, with trains to Machynlleth, Shrewsbury and Birmingham in one direction and Barmouth and Pwllheli in the other. The Talyllyn Railway's steam trains leave from Tywyn Wharf station nearby.
Our two self-catering cottages sit on Tywyn's promenade, each with a gate straight onto the beach and the Talyllyn Railway a five-minute walk away.
Tywyn Holiday Cottages