Historically, the peninsula was used by pilgrims en route to Bardsey Island (Welsh Ynys Enlli), and its relative isolation has helped to conserve the Welsh language and culture, for which the locality is now famous. This perceived remoteness from urban life has lent the area an unspoilt image which has made Llŷn a popular destination for both tourists and holiday home owners, although holiday homes remains a bone of contention among locals forced out of the housing market by incomers. In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, shadowy terrorist group Meibion Glyndŵr launched a number of arson attacks on holiday homes using incendiary devices.

Morning on the Llyn Peninsula is spectacular. Almost anywhere you stay, the sea is there when you open the curtains. The pointy mountains are an extinct range of volcanoes and you're never far from them. Families with children come here because you can pretty much count on being able to go walking from your front door. You don't have to travel far, and if you did want to travel, to Portmeirion, say, or to Caernarfon for the shops and castle, Llyn's a small place and the journeys are short. You can feel cut off without actually being cut off.

Llyn's popular beaches,offer some of the best surfing in the whole of Wales. And there are also big, quiet stretches of sand like Porth Oer, known as Whistling Sands because the dry sand squeaks as you walk on it.