Bodnant Garden — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
A Garden of National Importance
Bodnant Garden is one of the finest gardens in Britain and one of the most popular National Trust properties in Wales. Located in Tal-y-Cafn in the Conwy Valley, eight miles south of Conwy along the A470, it covers 80 acres on a hillside above the river, combining formal Italianate terraced gardens with a more naturalistic woodland garden in the Dell below. The garden was created from 1874 onward by the McLaren family — the Victorian industrialist Henry Pochin established the basic framework of the garden and planted the famous laburnum arch in 1880 — and has been developed across successive generations into something that transcends the purely horticultural.
The laburnum arch is what draws the crowds: a 55-metre tunnel of laburnum trees trained over a metal frame that, when in full flower in late May or early June, creates one of the most extraordinary sights in British horticulture. It is believed to be both the longest and the oldest laburnum arch in Britain. Around 50,000 visitors come specifically for the arch during its three-week flowering peak, and the garden responds by extending its opening hours to 9am–8pm on Monday to Thursday during laburnum season. Visiting at this time requires advance booking and an early start to avoid the midday crowds.
The Terraces and the Dell
The formal garden at Bodnant is arranged on a series of terraces that step down the hillside, providing long views across the Conwy Valley towards Snowdonia. The terraces are planted in the tradition of the great Italianate gardens of the late Victorian period, with clipped hedges, formal borders, lily ponds and architectural features that create a sense of controlled grandeur. The Pin Mill at the foot of the terraces, a 17th-century garden building brought to Bodnant from Gloucestershire, provides a picturesque focal point at the junction of the formal garden and the wilder terrain of the Dell.
The Dell is a steep wooded valley carved by a small stream that runs through the lower part of the garden. Magnolias, rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas are planted in the Dell and create spectacular displays in spring, while the woodland character provides cool shade in summer. A series of waterfalls tumbles down the stream, and the paths through the Dell are among the most atmospheric in the garden, with the sound of water and the shade of mature trees creating an enclosed, contemplative character quite different from the open grandeur of the terraces above.
Visiting Bodnant from Conwy
The garden is easily reached from Conwy by car: take the A470 south through the valley, and the entrance to Bodnant is well-signposted at Tal-y-Cafn, a journey of about fifteen minutes from Conwy town centre. There is good parking at the garden and a large visitor centre with toilets, a shop and a cafe. The cafe is large enough to accommodate the volume of visitors the garden attracts, and the food is good by the standards of National Trust cafes, which have improved considerably in recent years.
The garden is open year-round, though the opening hours vary by season and some sections may be closed in winter for maintenance. National Trust members enter free; non-members pay a per-visit admission charge. The recommended visiting time is at least three hours for a thorough exploration of both the terraced garden and the Dell; those specifically coming for the laburnum arch can allow a more focused visit of one to two hours if they have limited time.
When to Visit
The garden has something to offer in every season, but the peak periods are spring (March to May, for magnolias, daffodils, rhododendrons and the laburnum arch) and early summer (June, for roses and herbaceous borders). The laburnum arch typically flowers in late May or early June and lasts for about three weeks; specific dates vary year by year. Autumn brings good colour from the woodland trees in the Dell, and the winter months allow the architectural bones of the garden to be seen clearly without the distraction of dense planting. Combining a visit to Bodnant with a morning in Conwy makes for a very satisfying full day in the Conwy Valley.
Day trips