Bangor, a university town, is one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. It is situated in a region of outstanding natural beauty where the Snowdonia mountains reach the sea. The City sits on the edge of the Menai Strait ( a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 14 miles (23 km) long separating Bangor and the mainland from the Isle of Anglesey). The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's iron suspension bridge, opened in January 1826, and adjacent to this is Robert Stephenson's 1850 Britannia Tubular Bridge.

The city itself dates back to the founding of a cathedral by the Celtic saint Deiniol in the early 6th century AD. The name 'Bangor' comes from a Welsh word for a type of fenced-in enclosure, such as was originally on the site of the cathedral. The present cathedral is a somewhat more recent building and has been extensively modified throughout the centuries. While the Cathedral is not the oldest, nor by any means the biggest, the bishopric of Bangor is one of the oldest in the United Kingdom. Another claim to fame is that Bangor allegedly has the longest High Street in Wales. It is the region's main cultural and shopping centre, and the City centre has two modern shopping centres, and a good mix of national chain stores (boring) and smaller shops. You can catch the latest cinema releases at the Apollo Plaza Cinema in the High Street, while the regional theatre, Theatr Gwynedd, shows a wider variety of films, as well as plays, operas, dance performances and concerts.