Snowdonia & the Llŷn
The 18th-century home of the Ladies of Llangollen (Irish aristocrat Lady Eleanor Butler and her companion, Sarah Ponsonby), Plas Newydd is an atmospheric…
Must-see attractions in Wales
The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Based at Brecon's military barracks (built 1805), this museum commemorates the history of the Royal Welsh – a newish British Army infantry regiment…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
The finest feature (and the highest point) of the Black Mountain is the sweeping escarpment of Fan Brycheiniog (802m), reached via a fairly strenuous 11.5…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Llyn Tegid was formed during the last Ice Age when glaciers blocked the valley of the River Dee with debris. The resulting rectangular lake is 4 miles…
Wales
The 6000-year-old Tinkinswood chamber consists of a wall of stones supporting a mammoth 7.4m-long, 36-tonne limestone capstone, thought to be the largest…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Rising behind Barmouth, rocky Dinas Oleu (258m) made history in 1895 by becoming the first property ever bequeathed to the National Trust, kick-starting a…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
Dating from 1435, half-timbered Nantclwyd y Dre is thought to be the oldest town house in Wales. It originally belonged to a family of weavers and it…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
The name Betws is thought to be derived from 'bead house', meaning a place of prayer (y coed – in the woods). It's likely that 14th-century St Michael's…
Wales
Dating from around 4000BC, the St Lythans cromlech consists of three supporting stones capped with a large, flat stone, forming a chamber nearly 2m high…
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…
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…
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…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Dolgellau has been a Welsh folk-music hub since holding the first national folk festival in 1952. The town's former market hall now houses the volunteer…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Restored with the assistance of the BBC's Village SOS television show, Talgarth's 17th-century watermill is back in business for the first time since 1946…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
This sombre building is the only Pentonville-style Victorian prison in Britain that's open to visitors. A free audio guide allows you to follow the…
Cardiff
This imposing but semiderelict building was once the nerve centre of the Welsh coal trade, and for a time the place where international coal prices were…
Cardiff
Between the Bristol Channel and Mermaid Quay lies a 20-acre conservation area on former dockland. Tall walls of reeds attract warblers, bunting,…
Cardiff
This excellent little museum uses interactive displays, free audio guides, video footage and everyday objects to tell the story of Cardiff’s…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
The dignified ruins of this Cistercian abbey are a 2-mile walk north of Llangollen. Founded in 1201 by Madog ap Gruffydd, ruler of northern Powys, its…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Built before 1230 by the Princes of Gwynedd, the keep of Dolbardarn rises like a perfect chessboard rook from a green hilltop between the two lakes, Llyn…
Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Behind the stolid neoclassical exterior of the former shire hall is the town's museum – although it's been shut for several years now. Various promised…
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…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
You're unlikely to miss Barmouth's foremost landmark: in fact, you'll probably arrive on it, by train, on foot or on two wheels. Curving scenically into…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
If you're the sort who's fascinated by dioramas and model train sets, this tiny museum is for you. In which case the model shop you have to pass through…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
This mine dates from Roman times, although extraction was stepped up in the 19th century. Abandoned in 1903, it has since been converted into a museum,…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Distinctive flat-topped Crug Hywel (Hywel's Rock; 451m), better known as Table Mountain, rises to the north of Crickhowell and gave the town its name. You…
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…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
After 12 years of closure, little St Tudclud's reopened in 2009 after the community rallied to save it. It isn't particularly old (1859), but inside are…
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…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
At Tywyn Wharf Station, the terminus of the Talyllyn Railway, this museum is one for steam-locomotive buffs. Its 1000-plus artefacts date as far as 200…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
Staffed by committed volunteers of the best sort, this diverting little museum of local history occupies a hexagonal building retaining some of the air of…
Wales
Spanning 90 hectares, this vast expanse follows a lush wooded valley terminating at a pebbly beach, overshot by an impressive Victorian railway viaduct…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
This twin-towered gate, dating to the construction of the walled town in the 13th century, once commanded the main entrance to medieval Denbigh. Despite…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Looking like it's slid straight off a chess board, Bronllys' circular tower was built in 1230 on the site of an earlier Norman motte-and-bailey castle…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
This is an excellent gallery and arts hub. Aside from the three galleries – which do great work bringing the best of local photography, painting and…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Betws-y-Coed's main natural tourist draw is located 2 miles west of town, alongside the A5 on the River Llugwy. It's a beautiful spot, with the 42m…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
Housed in a restored 15th-century tithe barn within the cathedral grounds, this centre has displays on the complex's history and some interesting objects,…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Built in 1860 to minister to workers injured in rockfalls and the other mishaps inseparable from slate mining, this museum provides a vivid insight into…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
This Cistercian abbey, founded in 1198, was never especially grand but the ruined walls and arches are still picturesque, especially when the daffodils…
Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog
There's not much left of Brecon's 11th-century Norman castle, except for a couple of sturdy walls facing the intersection of the Rivers Usk and Honddu…
