Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal World Heritage Site
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
The preeminent Georgian engineer Thomas Telford (1757–1834) built the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805 to carry the canal over the River Dee. At 307m long, 3…
Must-see attractions in Snowdonia & the Llŷn
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Edward I finished this intimidating yet aesthetically pleasing castle in 1289, the southernmost of his 'iron ring' of fortresses designed to keep the…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
For a glimpse of the life of the British upper class in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the 'upstairs-downstairs' social hierarchy of their bygone world,…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
The 28-sq-mile Gwydyr Forest, planted since the 1920s with oak, beech and larch, encircles Betws-y-Coed and is scattered with the remnants of lead and…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Even if you're not enraptured by industrial museums, ignore the dull-sounding name and check this one out. At Dinorwig Quarry much of the slate was carved…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Blaenau's main attraction takes you into the bowels of a Victorian slate mine. You descend the UK's steepest mining cable railway into the 1846 network of…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
Recently opened in the Edwardian-era police station (hence 'Cell B'), this multifunction centre hosts everything from yoga to live bands to screenings in…
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
Marking the site at which St Winefride was supposedly martyred (and revived by her uncle, St Bueno) is the holy well which gave the town its name. It's…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
The Mawddach Estuary is a striking sight, flanked by woodlands, wetlands and the mountains of southern Snowdonia. There are two Royal Society for the…
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…
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 & 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)
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)
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,…
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)
More than just Dinorwig Power Station's public interface, Electric Mountain is a tourist hub incorporating a gallery, cafe and souvenir shop. It also has…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
The Ugly House isn't actually ugly at all. This unusual cottage is constructed from huge boulders and is home to a characterful tearoom and, upstairs, the…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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)
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
This pockmarked slab of marble salvaged from the Bronze Bell, a famous local shipwreck of 1709, has been sculpted by local Franck Cocksey to depict three…
Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri)
This squat, early-19th-century stone prison has gender-segregated cells where drunk sailors and slatterns were once locked up for 'wanton mischief'.
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 & 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)
Built in 1873, when the old Parish Church of St Michael could no longer cope with the devout Victorian tourists flocking to Betws.
Snowdonia & the Llŷn
Only the tower and a little wall survive from this 14th-century chapel, built to serve the new town constructed by the English. Visitors aren't allowed…
