Ceredigion
Erected between 1277 and 1289, Aberystwyth Castle was captured by Owain Glyndŵr at the start of the 15th century, then retaken by the future Henry V using…
Must-see attractions in Wales
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Standing in considerable decrepitude in the town centre, Hay's battered castle is closed to the public but there are various interesting shops to explore…
North Pembrokeshire
Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, which recorded the 1066 Norman invasion at Hastings, the Fishguard Tapestry was commissioned in 1997 to commemorate the…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
Rhossili beach is backed by the steep slopes of this humpbacked, heather-covered ridge (193m), whose updraughts create perfect soaring conditions for hang…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Brecon is the northern terminus of this canal, built between 1799 and 1812 for the movement of coal, iron ore, limestone and agricultural goods. The 33…
South Pembrokeshire
Craggy, lichen-spotted Manorbier Castle was the birthplace of Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales; 1146–1223), one of the country's greatest scholars and…
Southeast Wales
Put your Caerleon explorations into context at this excellent museum, which paints a vivid picture of what life was like for soldiers in one of the most…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
A fascinating view over the salt marshes awaits at this partly ruined late medieval castle, built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Grouped around a…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
The cone-shaped pinnacle of Sugar Loaf (596m) is a 4½-mile round trip from the Mynydd Llanwenarth viewpoint car park. Take the middle track that follows a…
Powys
Rock Park, the site of the earliest spa development, is an artfully wild, well-strewn oasis at the centre of town. The bathhouse is now a complementary…
Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn)
This grim, stout-walled jail, built in the early 19th century and largely unaltered since, was modern for its time, with toilets in every cell and a…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
A couple of solid walls and a few crumbling towers are all that remain of Carmarthen's 12th-century castle, which was largely destroyed in the Civil War…
Ceredigion
Built around a late-18th-century John Nash structure, this Gothic-revival building flaunts castellated towers, conical spires and flamboyant gargoyles. It…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
Housed in a restored mill with a working waterwheel, this complex has plenty to keep the kids entertained when the weather drives you off the beaches…
Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn)
Small but lovingly restored, this little museum is housed in what is believed to be the oldest lifeboat house in Wales (c 1858). It makes for a family…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
Once a common sight on Welsh rivers, coracles are small, lightweight, round fishing boats. Housed in a 17th-century flour mill, this museum showcases a…
Southeast Wales
The spidery towers of the 1906 Transporter Bridge rise over the river, about a mile south of the city centre. A remarkable piece of Edwardian engineering,…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
The ever-visible ragged arches and tumbledown walls of Dinas Brân (Crow Castle) mark the remnants of a short-lived 13th-century castle of which it was…
Swansea (Abertawe)
Dylan Thomas referred to this august institution as 'the museum which should have been in a museum'. Founded in 1834, it remains charmingly low-tech, from…
South Pembrokeshire
This pretty little church is nestled in a wooded valley; its earliest parts date back to the 12th century, with 14th-century vaulting in the transepts and…
South Pembrokeshire
The tiny picturesque harbour of Stackpole Quay marks the point where pink and purple sandstone gives way to the massive grey limestone that dominates the…
Ceredigion
Ysbyty Cynfyn (es-bet-ty kun-vin) is a fascinating example of the grafting of the Christian onto the pagan, so widely evident in Wales. Here, the remains…
Ceredigion
Constitution Hill rises from the northern end of the seafront promenade; on a clear day you can see the Llŷn Peninsula from its blustery top. After you've…
South Pembrokeshire
Picturesque in the extreme, these two isolated pillars of rock rise steeply from the sea. The rocks are an important nesting site for guillemots and…
Powys
The date on this venerable half-timbered inn, 1616, belies the true antiquity of a building once owned by Sir Christopher Hatton, alleged lover of Queen…
South Pembrokeshire
Housed within the ruins of Tenby's Norman castle, this museum covers the town's development from a fishing village into a 19th-century seaside resort…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
During the Civil War Denbigh was a Royalist stronghold (Charles I once stayed here) and owes its ruined state to the Parliamentarians, who destroyed it in…
Southeast Wales
Opened in 2004, the city's swish cultural centre takes a prominent position by the river. Temporary exhibitions are held in its gallery and it also stages…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Built over 900 years ago as a chapel associated with the Benedictine monastery up the hill (now the cathedral), this large stone church dominates Brecon's…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
The Mumbles' mile-long strip of pastel-painted houses, pubs and restaurants comes to a picturesque denouement with a rocky headland, a pretty sandy beach…
Ceredigion
Completed in 1860, Cardigan's 'modern Gothic' Guildhall is home to community meeting spaces, the Corn Exchange gallery and an eclectic indoor market,…
Southeast Wales
Not much remains of Newport's pre-industrial past apart from the cathedral and the litter-strewn ruins of 14th-century Newport Castle squeezed between…
North Pembrokeshire
St Dogmaels' parish church houses several ancient stones from the original Celtic community founded by the local saint, including the Sagranus Stone,…
Southeast Wales
A half-mile to the south of Cyfarthfa Castle, a row of pint-sized 19th-century ironworkers' houses built by the Crawshays stands in bold contrast to their…
Powys
Set in a former inn, slaughterhouse and temperance hotel, this local history museum explores the the town's long history (granted a Royal Charter in 1227,…
Powys
Rising from the craggy outcrop above the town are the ruins of Montgomery Castle. Work on the Norman fortress began in 1223, and in 1267, during treaty…
Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire
It wouldn't be Wales without a castle, and sure enough the trendy shops and bars of Newton Rd are guarded broodingly by a majestic ruin. Once the…
South Pembrokeshire
A spectacular gash in the cliffs with near-vertical walls, Huntsman's Leap is famed as one of Britain's best sea-cliff climbing locations. The sheer sides…
Southeast Wales
Part of a trio of neighbouring castles built by Hubert de Burgh in the early 13th-century (the others being Skenfrith and White Castle), Grosmont stands…
Southeast Wales
Two protected species of bats live in the unusual octagonal belfry of this ancient church. Built out of purplish stone between 1180 and 1300, its…
