Plas Cadnant is billed as the ‘hidden gardens’. But not for much longer as more and more people wake up to this horticultural gem. They were hidden from view on the side of the Menai Strait and forgotten until the 1990s. Then rebirth and restoration began when the present owner bought the 200-acre/81ha Plas Cadnant Estate.

While restoration is still ongoing, large parts of the gardens have been returned to their former glory. Visitors are inevitably bowled over when they discover Plas Cadnant’s quality and quantity, for you get three gardens for the price of one – an unusual curved walled garden, a secret valley garden with water features and an upper woodland garden complete with a 19th century folly.

Nearby Pili Palas is an altogether different ‘garden’. It’s a nature world populated by butterflies, exotic birds, lizards, meerkats and snakes. That’s just the start. This popular family attraction also features a nature trail, tropical hide, bug zone, snake house, pets’ zone, farmyard barn and outdoor play areas.

From Pili Palas take the A5025 and A4080 via Llanfairpwllgwyngyll to Plas Newydd. We’ve described what you find within this fine National Trust mansion in the Past Masters South Anglesey tour. Today, your visit focuses on Plas Newydd’s equally inviting grounds and gardens, which stretch down to the banks of the Menai Strait.

There’s horticultural interest here throughout the year, thanks to a spring garden, Australasian arboretum, Italianate summer terrace, rhododendron garden, massed hydrangeas and a beautiful woodland walk.

Lunch: Plas Newydd café for freshly baked cakes, lunches and lighter bites.

From Plas Newydd continue on the A4080. On the approach to Dwyran turn left on the B4419 for Foel Farm Park, located alongside the Menai Strait.

Foel Farm is a genuine working farm that has developed into a well-established family attraction. There are hands-on activities like meeting and feeding the animals, plus farm walks, tours and tractor rides (and, for those with a sweet tooth, an artisan chocolate shop). It’s an authentic agricultural experience with the sights, sounds (and smells) of a proper farm.

Rejoin the A4080 and in around 2 miles/3km you’ll come to Anglesey Model Village. Along with Foel Farm, we’ve featured this in the Family-Friendly South Anglesey tour. Like Plas Newydd, it has a second, green string to its bow in the shape of its acre of landscaped gardens (the subject of a recent landscaping and planting scheme) with water features and trees.

Then drive into the village of Newborough, taking the left turn along the toll road for Newborough Forest, a vast conifer woodland that leads down to an equally vast beach. Beach and dunes help explain this forest’s oddball location. The trees were planted between 1947 and 1965 to protect Newborough from wind-blown sand (as well as for commercial reasons).

Park up and follow a waymarked nature trail through the forest. If you’re lucky, you may spot a red squirrel (Newborough is one of their most important conservation areas in the UK).