Ruthin (Welsh: Rhuthun) is a town in Denbighshire, Wales and has some of the finest black and white buildings in Wales. Ruthin School is located in the town and is one of the oldest independent schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1284.

Get in

Marketplace

By train

Take a train to Wrexham, Chester, or Rhyl and then a bus to Ruthin.

By car

Llangollen is 20 minutes away over the Horse Shoe Pass. To travel from Chester to Ruthin, head southeast on Northgate St. toward King St. With little traffic, the voyage should take around 40 minutes. From Wrexham to Ruthin, head northwest on St. Giles Way toward Town Hill; this should take about 35 minutes.

Get around

Ruthin is a small enough town to be able to get around by walking. For an easy walk around the town, start at the car park at the end of Clwyd Street, then walk towards the fields with the river on the right. Following this path to get a fantastic view of Ruthin Castle and Clwydian Range, as you head under the stone bridge and back into town. It should take approximately an hour and stretches for just over a mile around Ruthin's historic town and parkland area.

There is also the option to travel around town by bus 73, which stops at Ruthin Tesco, Market Square, St Peters Square, Tyn y Parc, Porth y Dre and Trem y Foel.

See

Ruthin Castle courtyard

• 1 Ruthin Gaol, Clwyd St, LL15 1HP, ☏ 44 1824 708281, [email protected]. W-M 10AM-5PM (last entry 4PM). A Pentonville Style, Victorian age gaol. William Hughes was the last person to be hanged here. Adult £4, child £3.  

NantClwyd House

• 2 NantClwyd House (Nantclwyd-y-Dre). Grade 1 Listed Building, oldest timbered house in Wales.  
• The Square. including the 'Seven Eyes' aka 'Myddleton Arms', with its famous windows. Apparently it's called 'The Eyes of Ruthin', except by anyone who's ever been there. 
• 3 Ruthin Craft Centre. This was allegedly going to become a petrol station for Tesco, but instead, they knocked down the old grey shed-like building, and replaced it with an expensive new grey shed-like building. Apparently, the architect intended the roof to emulate the pattern of the Clwydian range that lies behind it. However, Moel Famau looks nothing like an aircraft hangar.  

Do

• Cae Ddol. It is nice on a sunny day. Picturesque park with lake and activities for children including a zip wire, swings and slides. Lake with ducks and swans; picnic tables available. Car parking at the park. 
• 1 Moel Famau. Walk up to the Jubilee Tower.  
• 2 Llandegla Mountain Bike Centre (One Planet Adventure), Coed Llandegla Forest. 
• Visitors Information Centre (Town Square). Pick up leaflets on walks and activities, including the outlying villages. 

Buy

The pretty town of Ruthin has a variety of independent traders many housed in historic buildings converted into shops. Although a small town visitors have a choice of buying brand labels or items bespoke to the shop. Shops vary in size from quaint wool shops to major supermarkets.

• 1 Elfair, 18 Stryd Clwyd, ☏ 44 1824 702575, [email protected]. A Welsh bookshop with a wide selection of Welsh books for all ages. Also Welsh CDs, DVDs, crafts, t-shirts and many other things from Wales. 
• Ruthin Book Shop, 3 Upper Clwyd St. 
• 2 Patchwork Paté, 17 Lon Parcwr Industrial Estate, Ruthin LL15 1NJ (from Tesco follow the A525 away from the roundabout; turn into first entrance on the right, roughly 200 m from the roundabout), ☏ 0845 123 5010 (high cost number), [email protected]. Factory open 7 days a week. Shop open Tuesday to Saturday 10AM-5PM. Patchwork Paté is a food company that specialises in paté. The company also produces other foods such as soups, chutneys and ice cream. There is a factory and a store on site that sells all of the products. Free Entry. Product prices vary.. 

Eat

• 1 On the Hill, 1 Upper Clwyd St (The restaurant is a few metres from St. Peter's Square), ☏ 44 1824 707736. A good restaurant: very busy, but excellent food. Not much room between tables, however! 
• W & G Jones, 57 Well St, ☏ 44 1824 702619. 9AM-4:30PM. A family-owned cafe serving tea, coffee, cakes, snacks and hot meals cooked to order. 
• Panda Garden, 8 Well St. Chinese food. 
• Leonardo's, 4 Well St, ☏ 44 1824 707161. It has excellent home-made pie recipes, three amazing chefs. 
• Finns. Kebab shop and Bar Llaeth amongst others. 
• Myddelton Grill On The Square, St Peter's Square, LL15 1AA, ☏ 44 1824 707842. W-Sa noon-9PM, Su noon-6PM. Mains £11-19. 
• 2 Shop Nain, 6 Well St, ☏ 44 1824 703572. 9AM-5:30PM. Excellent licensed restaurant and cafe, good value for money. Gift and card shop set in historic house. Visit the display relating to the first printing of the Welsh National Anthem which took place in this building 

Drink

Ruthin has a good range of pubs: from the Park Place to the plush Wetherspoons. The Three Feathers has changed ownership and was refurbished around 2013. Also in the town are the Boars Head, Corporation Arms (refurbished in 2014 and renamed as Cock 'o' Rhudd Din), Wine Vaults and the Farmers Arms.

• 1 Three Pigeons Inn, Graigfechan, LL15 2EU, ☏ 44 1824 703178, [email protected]. Seasonal hours.. This houses an extensive beer terrace, with wonderful views over the Vale and a large car park. It also contains a very popular restaurant that serves high quality food, and there are also camping facilities and self-catering apartments on offer. These apartments each sleep up to 7 people. 

Sleep

• 1 Ruthin Castle, Castle Street, LL15 2NU, ☏ 44 1824 702664, [email protected]. A four-star hotel with restaurant and spa - built upon the original 13th century Castle.  
• 2 The Castle Hotel (Wetherspoons pub), St Peters Square. very popular middle price range.  
• 3 Morning Star Inn. limited accommodation but very comfortable  
• 4 Clwydian Holidays, Graig, Llanelidan, LL15 2TB, ☏ 44 7766 694514, [email protected]. Log cabin glamping in a rural setting with panoramic views toward the Clwydian Mountain Range. 

Go next

Denbigh, Llangollen, Llandudno or Snowdonia National Park are good places to go next.

• Cerrigydrudion