Rhyl's position on the North Wales coast puts you within easy reach of castles, cathedral cities, mountains, and other resorts. If you're based in Rhyl for a few days, the surrounding area is extraordinarily rich — this is genuinely one of the best parts of Britain for historic and natural landscape within a short drive.
Prestatyn (3 miles east)
Rhyl's neighbour along the coast is a smaller, quieter resort with its own beach and the eastern terminus of Offa's Dyke Path — one of the great long-distance walking routes of Britain, following the ancient earthwork border between England and Wales for 177 miles south to Chepstow. Even if you're not walking the full route, the section around Prestatyn Hillside gives beautiful views over the Dee Estuary and the wirral. Prestatyn town centre is more economically stable than Rhyl's and has a reasonable range of shops and cafés.
Rhuddlan (2 miles south)
Just up the River Clwyd lies Rhuddlan and its exceptional castle. Rhuddlan Castle was built by Edward I in 1277 as part of his conquest of Wales — a concentric fortress using the newly fashionable design of inner and outer defensive rings. It is less visited than Conwy or Caernarfon but arguably more atmospheric: ruined enough to feel genuinely medieval, well enough preserved to convey the scale of the original fortress. Cadw maintains the site and it is open most of the year.
St Asaph (5 miles south)
St Asaph (Llanelwy in Welsh) has the considerable distinction of being the smallest city in the United Kingdom by population. Its cathedral, founded in the sixth century and rebuilt in the thirteenth, is one of the oldest Christian foundations in Britain and contains the oldest Welsh-language Bible. The city is small enough to walk entirely in an hour, with the cathedral dominating everything around it. It's a gentle, thoughtful day out in contrast to the coastal bustle.
Bodelwyddan (4 miles south)
Two things worth visiting: Bodelwyddan Castle, a nineteenth-century mansion housing a branch of the National Portrait Gallery's collection (currently subject to operating arrangements — check before visiting), and the extraordinary Marble Church (St Margaret's Church), whose gleaming white limestone spire is visible for miles in every direction and whose ornate Victorian interior is one of the hidden treasures of North Wales.
Llandudno (12 miles west)
Llandudno is the grande dame of North Wales resorts — Victorian architecture largely intact, a proper pier, the Great Orme headland, two beaches, and a significantly more developed restaurant and retail offer than Rhyl. It is worth a full day and provides an interesting counterpoint: a resort that kept its Victorian character and has prospered rather differently from Rhyl. The Llandudno to Rhyl coastal route by car or bus is one of the most scenic coastal drives in Wales.
Denbigh (10 miles south)
Denbigh's ruined castle overlooks the market town from a spectacular hilltop position — another Edwardian conquest fortress, larger than Rhuddlan and more dramatically situated. The town itself has good independent shops and a market. The drive south from Rhyl through the Vale of Clwyd, past St Asaph and Denbigh, is one of the loveliest in North Wales.
Snowdonia (from 25 miles west)
The mountains are closer than you think. The edge of the Snowdonia National Park is around 25 miles west of Rhyl. Betws-y-Coed is a popular base; Llanberis, at the foot of Snowdon, is under an hour's drive. For a day trip, the Snowdon Mountain Railway from Llanberis to the summit is one of the classic experiences of Wales — book well ahead in summer.