Plas Newydd sits on the Anglesey bank of the Menai Strait looking across to the mountains of Eryri, the Grade I listed home of the Marquesses of Anglesey, a family that began here with William Paget, adviser to Henry VIII, and produced Henry Cyril Paget, the 5th Marquess, whose theatrical spending inspired the film Madfabulous. The house mixes military history, theatre and art, and its centrepiece is Rex Whistler's 58-foot mural in the Dining Room, a painted seascape whose details shift as you walk its length; reviewers say it justifies the visit on its own and praise the guides in that room. Outside are 40 acres of garden and 129 acres of woodland and parkland, with a half-mile path to the Rhododendron Garden, an Australasian arboretum, a treehouse and playground in Dairy Wood, and over 100 red squirrels. Dogs on short leads are welcome in the garden except on the Terraces. Tips from visitors: go early or midweek outside school holidays, and ask at reception about ranger-led squirrel walks.
