Castle layout & towers, explained

Our plan above is a simplified, illustrative sketch to help first-time visitors orient themselves — not a surveyed architectural drawing. Cadw's own printed guidebook, available in the on-site shop, has a fully accurate plan.

Why the castle is shaped the way it is

Unlike a classic "concentric" castle with a neat inner ring and outer ring of walls, Caernarfon's site — a narrow spit of land between the River Seiont and the town — forced James of St George to build two baileys (courtyards) side by side, the Upper Ward and Lower Ward, joined by a single run of curtain wall. That elongated, hourglass-like footprint is part of why the castle can feel larger and more maze-like inside than its compact outer silhouette suggests.

The Eagle Tower

The largest and most architecturally significant of the castle's towers, the Eagle Tower takes its name from stone eagle sculptures that once topped its turrets — echoed in the smaller carved details still visible today. It housed the grandest royal apartments in the castle and is traditionally associated with Edward I's intention that the castle serve as a residence fit for a king, not just a garrison. It's also the best vantage point for views over the Menai Strait toward Anglesey.

The King's Gate

The main entrance, facing what is now Castle Square in the town. It was designed as an extraordinarily heavily defended gatehouse — visitors would have had to pass through a gauntlet of murder-holes, portcullises and right-angle turns, though (in keeping with the castle's unfinished state) it was never fully completed to its original design. Above the entrance is a statue niche that once held a figure of Edward I; the upper levels are reachable via the lift discussed in our accessibility guide.

The Queen's Tower

Now home to the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, telling the story of one of the British Army's oldest infantry regiments across more than 300 years of service.

The Chamberlain Tower

A quieter corner of the castle with an outsized role in modern history: this is where a 20-year-old Prince Charles waited before processing out to be invested as Prince of Wales on 1 July 1969. Read the full story of the investiture.

The Black Tower & Well Tower

Positioned along the eastern curtain wall above the River Seiont, these towers formed part of the castle's river-facing defences — a reminder that Caernarfon was designed to be resupplied and reinforced by water as much as by land.

The wall walk

A largely intact circuit connecting several of the towers along the northern and eastern walls, offering the classic elevated views down into the walled town on one side and out toward the water on the other. Much of it is included in general admission, though — as covered in our accessibility guide — the stairs connecting different sections are original medieval stonework: steep, narrow and uneven in places.