If you happen to’re planning a visit to Wales, then you definately’ve come to the suitable place! On this information we’re going to share all the things it is advisable to know to plan the right Wales journey. That is primarily based on our experiences of touring in Wales and in addition my time residing in Wales, which I did for a few years. I used to be really born in Wales!
On this publish, we’ll cowl the most effective occasions of 12 months to go to Wales, highlights to not miss, find out how to get round Wales, the place to remain in Wales, what to eat in Wales, find out how to e book excursions, and plenty of extra ideas that can assist you plan the right Wales journey.
We’d recommend studying this information alongside our detailed Wales highway journey itinerary, which gives you extra concepts of a selected itinerary and sights to see.
Let’s begin with an summary of Wales.
A Fast Overview of Wales
Wales is a rustic with a inhabitants of round three million folks. It’s a part of the Island of Nice Britain together with England and Scotland. It is without doubt one of the 4 international locations (together with England, Scotland, and Northern Eire) that make up the UK.
Geographically, Wales borders England alongside its complete east coast, from round Chester within the north down to close Bristol within the south. The remainder of the international locations border is made up of gorgeous shoreline, principally alongside the Irish Sea.
The historical past of Wales is pretty complicated. Folks have been residing right here for lots of of 1000’s of years, with steady habitation for at the least 9,000 years. Because the Roman occasions, many battles had been fought between the Welsh and the English as both sides fought for management over what’s current day Wales.
One of many unwanted effects of all these wars is that Wales now has an enormous quantity of castles you may go to which is nice as a vacationer. There’s additionally a variety of fascinating historical past and tradition which is exclusive to Wales.
Again to the current, and modern-day Wales exists as its personal nation with its personal language (Welsh) and, since 1999, its personal parliament. Nevertheless, there aren’t any border controls or something like that when touring from England to Wales (they’re each a part of the UK), and English can be after all essentially the most broadly spoken language.
If you’re not that conversant in the historical past of Wales, we are able to extremely advocate studying a e book on Welsh historical past earlier than or throughout your go to. This is not going to solely allow you to higher perceive most of the locations you’re prone to go to in Wales (e.g., castles, museums, church buildings, Iron Age ruins), however it’s going to additionally allow you to higher perceive the fashionable tradition and politics in Wales.
What’s there to see in Wales?
There’s a lot to see in Wales, one thing actually for everybody.
To begin with, with a lot historical past spanning 1000’s of years, Wales has an enormous quantity of cultural sights.
From iron age burial chambers to fascinating museums to distinctive cultural occasions just like the Eisteddfodd, there actually is a big quantity to select from.
In fact, the very first thing that probably springs to thoughts once you consider Wales are the castles, a facet impact of all the varied wars through the years. Wales has an enormous variety of castles, together with plenty of UNESCO listed medieval castles.
Actually, Wales has extra castles per sq. mile than some other nation in Europe! Suffice to say, when you like exploring castles as a lot as we do, Wales has no scarcity to give you.
If you happen to do plan on seeing a variety of castles, then we are able to extremely advocate choosing up a Cadw go. This contains entry to an enormous variety of historic websites in Wales, together with most the castles.
You should buy this on-line right here, or in particular person at most Cadw websites. We discovered this saved us some huge cash on our most up-to-date journeys.
Lovers of the outside, like us, can even discover lots to do in Wales. There’s an enormous quantity of pure landscapes to discover, from gorgeous coastal surroundings to stunning hills and mountains. It’s good for hikers of all skills. So whether or not you like to wander alongside a beautiful little bit of seaside or climb to the highest of a mountain, Wales has you lined.
Talking of seashores, with a lot shoreline, as you may think there are many seashores to select from. These run the complete gamut, from stunning sandy stretches to these lined in pebbles. So when you’re after swim or only a good stroll on the seaside, there are many choices for you.
All that beautiful outside house additionally means Wales is a superb vacation spot for wildlife. The range in panorama and habitat means there’s a variety of totally different chook species you may spot, and there are numerous nature preserves you may go to the place you may spot numerous forms of chook and find out about them.
It’s extra than simply birds after all, with viewing alternatives for all types of wildlife, from seals and different marine life by to mammals, reptiles, and extra!
Lastly, Wales can be an awesome vacation spot for lovers of mythology. This needs to be apparent from the flag, which is emblazoned with a pink dragon, arguably the world’s coolest flag. Naturally, you may study all concerning the mythology of Wales, from the origin story of King Arthur by to dragons and druids.
Total, we predict it’s honest to say that Wales just isn’t a vacation spot the place you’ll run out of issues to do!
Some Primary Data for Touring in Wales
Let’s cowl some fundamental data for touring in Wales.
Wales and the broader UK
Wales is part of the UK (UK), so upon getting entered the UK then you may journey out and in of Wales freely.
If Wales is your first level of entry into the UK (comparable to when you arrive into Cardiff Airport from outdoors the UK), then you definately would want to undergo passport management and have the right visa and any crucial documentation.
You possibly can see extra data on any required visas in your go to on the UK authorities web site right here or from your individual authorities’s official journey web site.
If you happen to arrive into one other a part of the UK comparable to England or Scotland, then you definately don’t have to undergo any additional controls once you journey to Wales, be that by automotive, prepare, or aircraft.
Attending to and from Wales
Wales is a straightforward nation to get to. By way of flights, the one industrial airport in Wales is Cardiff airport, which gives each native and worldwide flights to a restricted variety of locations.
Wales can be nicely served by regional transport connections from the UK. By prepare, Cardiff is round 2.5 hours from London, 50 minutes from Bristol, and 4 hours from Liverpool.
North Wales locations like Conwy are round an hour by prepare from Chester, or 3.5 hours from London.
You may as well simply drive to Wales from areas across the UK. It’s round 3 hours by automotive to from London to Cardiff, 4 hours from Liverpool to Cardiff and seven hours to Cardiff from Edinburgh.
Wales can be served by ferry routes which hyperlink Wales with the Republic of Eire. So in case you are doing a visit like our two week UK itinerary, this could allow you to join between Wales and the Republic of Eire.
There are additionally a number of excursions that embody Wales, departing from areas comparable to London or Bristol. Extra on excursions afterward on this information. Suffice to say, you’ve loads of choices for attending to and from Wales!
Language in Wales
Wales has two official languages: Welsh and English. Just below 20% of the inhabitants of Wales speaks Welsh, however just about everybody additionally speaks English.
Nevertheless you’ll nearly actually hear Welsh being spoken throughout your go to.
The primary means you’ll encounter Welsh as a customer is prone to be on indicators. Most indicators are supplied in each Welsh and English. Place names are additionally practically at all times written in Welsh.
Welsh is a fairly difficult language to study and the pronunciation is unquestionably not at all times apparent! Place names can simply journey guests up, though the excellent news is that almost all Welsh persons are fairly used to it.
If you happen to’d like to enhance your pronunciation, this can be a good starter information. An excellent information e book to Wales must also embody a information to pronunciation.
Driving in Wales
Driving in Wales is identical as driving in the remainder of the UK, with the principle distinction being that almost all of the highway indicators are in Welsh in addition to English.
If you happen to drive in Wales, you’ll shortly study some Welsh phrases from the highway indicators, notably “Araf” which implies “Gradual”. Within the majority of circumstances although, indicators might be in each English and Welsh.
Apart from that, driving in Wales is identical as driving in the remainder of the UK. Drive on the left of the highway and make sure to observe all velocity limits and highway guidelines. Velocity limits are usually posted, with the nationwide restrict at 60 miles per hour and limits for built-up areas usually 20 to 40 miles per hour. You possibly can see extra ideas in my information to driving within the UK.
If you’re renting a automotive (examine costs right here), you may drive the automotive between England and Wales with none points.
Remember that almost all of automobiles within the UK use a handbook transmission, so make sure to specify an automated if that’s what you’re used to driving. Simply word that these do usually carry a worth premium as they aren’t as frequent.
Relying on the place on the planet you’re visiting from and the language your license is in, you might also want an worldwide driver’s license from the nation which points your driver’s license.
Public Transporation in Wales
Wales has a fairly good public transport community, with each buses and trains which hyperlink most of the cities and cities throughout the nation. You possibly can see the principle transport routes on the Transport for Wales web site right here.
For journey planning by public transport in Wales (and the UK basically), we advocate and use the Traveline web site. It’s a free service supplied by a partnership of public transport operators within the UK, and can allow you to plan your journey between just about any two factors within the nation.
For almost all of public transport in Wales and the UK (particularly on longer distance routes) you’ll get higher costs when you e book on-line upfront. We advocate the trainline web site for prepare and bus reserving, we’ve used them for years for our public transport wants within the UK.
Different choices to contemplate, particularly for lengthy distance bus journeys embody Nationwide Categorical and Megabus.
Electrical energy in Wales
Wales makes use of the identical energy system as the remainder of the UK. It’s a 220v system which makes use of a three-pin plug (plug sort G).
Travellers from a lot of the remainder of the world, together with mainland Europe and the USA will want an adapter like this.
American travellers can even need to examine their gear helps the 220v customary, because the U.S. makes use of a 110v customary. The voltage a tool helps might be written clearly on the facility adapter, often within the type of 110v – 240v.
In our expertise most fashionable laptops, cellphone and digicam chargers, and different small electronics are common, while bigger units like hair dryers and hair straighteners should not.
See extra on journey adapters and the way to decide on one in your journey in our information to the finest journey adapters.
Foreign money in Wales
Wales makes use of the identical foreign money as the remainder of the UK, specifically Pound Sterling, or GBP (Nice British Kilos). Wales makes use of the financial institution notes issued by the Financial institution of England, so the foreign money in use in Wales seems to be precisely the identical as that utilized in England.
Word that that is totally different to Scotland and Northern Eire, the place financial institution notes are issued by Scottish and Irish banks respectively. These financial institution notes can be utilized in the remainder of the UK (and Financial institution of England notes can be utilized in Scotland and Northern Eire).
Time Zone in Wales
Wales is on the identical time zone as the remainder of the UK, which is both GMT, or GMT+1, also called British Summer time Time (BST).
BST runs from the final Sunday in March by to the final Sunday in October.
Finest Instances to Go to Wales
You is perhaps questioning when the most effective time to go to Wales is. While Wales is a year-round vacation spot, there are actually benefits and downsides to visiting at totally different occasions of 12 months.
Finest for Climate
Wales has a comparatively gentle local weather year-round with out large extremes.
In order for you hotter climate and longer hours of daylight for sightseeing, then the most effective time of 12 months to go to goes to be from late Could by to mid-September.
This time of 12 months gives you the most effective likelihood of excellent climate and sunny days, though word that rain and cooler temperatures are attainable year-round.
The summit of Snowdon in summer season – good climate not assured!
Avoiding Crowds
Wales is a well-liked vacation spot, particularly for guests from different areas of the UK. There are a selection of huge English cities close to Wales comparable to Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester, and guests from these cities recurrently take journeys to Wales. It’s an particularly fashionable vacation spot for households.
Because of this, the busiest time of 12 months in Wales is mostly going to be over the varsity holidays (faculty breaks) in England and Wales.
The precise timing of college holidays varies just a little by space, however typically there are main holidays over the Easter interval, and over the summer season months from mid-July by to the tip of August.
There are additionally “half-term” holidays which happen midway by every faculty time period and are typically every week in period. There’s usually one in mid-February, one across the finish of Could and one across the finish of October.
The most well-liked time for folks to go to Wales is throughout the hotter summer season months, and through faculty holidays, particularly the Easter holidays, spring half-term, and summer season holidays.
Because of this, if you wish to go to Wales when it’s prone to be quieter then you definately can be finest served avoiding these occasions.
If you happen to nonetheless need good climate, we’d recommend June or September to be optimum months, though April and Could can supply good climate if in case you have a little bit of luck in your facet!
Finest for Mountain climbing / Climbing Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa)
While you may hike in Wales at any time of 12 months, we might recommend that the most effective occasions for mountain climbing are going to be much like that for visiting for the most effective climate. So that’s going to be from late Could to mid-September.
No matter time of 12 months you propose to go mountain climbing although, remember that the climate can change in a short time. So you’ll want to be ready, guarantee somebody is aware of your route and the place you’re going, and pack appropriately. For extra data, this security information could be very useful.
The most well-liked hike in Wales by far is the hike up Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa in Welsh). You possibly can each hike and take a prepare to the summit, each of that are fashionable choices.
In our expertise, Snowdon might be busy 12 months spherical, however the hotter summer season months are undoubtedly the most well-liked time to deal with the hike.
If you wish to keep away from the crowds on the hike itself, then we’d recommend avoiding the Llanberis path which tends to be the most well-liked, and taking one of many different much less fashionable routes such because the Snowdon Ranger path or the Rhyd Ddu path.
In fact, Wales has an awesome many extra mountains you may hike, the vast majority of that are far much less busy and fashionable than Snowdon. A private favorite is Cader Idris, which additionally gives spectacular views throughout the Snowdonia Nationwide Park, and attracts a fraction of the guests!
Main Festivals in Wales
Wales performs host to plenty of festivals and festivals all year long, together with music festivals, meals festivals, literary festivals, craft festivals, artwork festivals, and extra (see a reasonably complete checklist of festivals in Wales right here).
The biggest competition in Wales is generally the Nationwide Eisteddfod of Wales, which is held for round every week on the primary week of August annually. The placement for the competition modifications annually, and it usually attracts upwards of 100,000 guests. The competition celebrates Welsh tradition, with the occasions and actions all going down in Welsh.
If you happen to plan on visiting the Eisteddfodd (or some other competition in Wales), you’ll undoubtedly need to plan nicely forward as lodging can e book out, and the world the place the occasion is being held is prone to be a lot busier than traditional.
Conversely, it’s value being conscious when and the place festivals are being held even when you don’t plan on attending them, so that you don’t get caught up within the crowds!
How Lengthy to Spend in Wales
As ought to hopefully be apparent by now, though Wales is a comparatively small nation, there’s a big quantity to see and do in Wales. You possibly can simply spend many weeks exploring the nation with out operating out of issues to see and do.
Our suggestion can be to spend at the least every week if attainable to get a good suggestion of what’s on supply and to have time to discover a number of the nation’s highlights.
When you have much less time, say three to 5 days, then we might advocate specializing in one space or area of the nation moderately than attempting to cowl an excessive amount of floor.
So, for instance, with three days you would possibly need to deal with visiting Cardiff and south-west Wales or discover a part of north Wales with visits to Caernarfon and Snowdonia Nationwide Park.
When you have every week or extra, then you may broaden your itinerary to cowl extra of the nation.
We’ll share some instructed itineraries additional on on this information that can assist you plan, and we even have a 7 – 10 day Wales highway journey itinerary you must discover useful. That itinerary can simply be expanded to 2 or extra weeks.
The place to Keep in Wales
Wales has a variety of lodging choices throughout all budgets. Whether or not you like tenting, glamping, self-catered lodging, family-run guesthouses, nation home resorts or common resorts, you’re going to discover one thing to swimsuit.
We have now stayed at an enormous vary of lodging choices throughout Wales, together with house leases, guesthouses, mattress and breakfasts and resorts. Normally we favor to both keep at a regionally owned mattress and breakfast or small resort. However for longer stays, we usually e book an house or cottage.
When on the lookout for lodging, we advocate a mixture of the next websites:
- Reserving.com – that is often our first cease for all kinds of lodging varieties, from resorts to visitors homes to flats. We just like the highly effective filter system that permits us to hone in on precisely what we would like in every location, in addition to the map instrument that lets us see totally different choices in numerous areas.
- Sykes Vacation Cottages – for longer stays in Wales (and the broader UK) we additionally use Sykes. They focus on vacation cottages, and we have now stayed at some actually beautiful properties by their system.
- Vrbo UK – if we’re particularly on the lookout for an house or trip rental, we’ll additionally often look on Vrbo. They provide a wide variety of choices and it’s good to have a comparability.
If you need extra choices for lodging reserving in Wales and the UK, see our information to reserving vacation houses within the UK for some concepts!
What to Eat in Wales?
You is perhaps questioning what meals you must attempt in Wales once you go to, and if there are any uniquely Welsh dishes. Effectively, the reply is sure there are.
While there are actually a variety of similarities between Welsh meals and English meals, together with staples comparable to fish and chips and the complete fried breakfast expertise, there are some dishes which are frequent to Wales. Listed here are some to attempt:
- Cawl – considered one of extra conventional Welsh dishes, cawl (pronounced cowl) dates again to the eleventh century at the least and is actually a stew made with meat, greens, and potatoes.
- Welsh Rarebit – while this sounds prefer it’s going to contain rabbit, this quintessential Welsh dish is definitely melted cheese on toast. There are variations on the recipe, with mustard or a bechamel sauce added to the cheese. Scrumptious nonetheless it’s made!
- Glamorgan sausage – this fashionable “sausage” is a conventional vegetarian sausage primarily made out of leeks, cheese, and breadcrumbs. It dates again to at the least the 18th century however rose in recognition throughout World Battle II attributable to meat rationing and stays fashionable at the moment.
- Welsh muffins – this small cake is made out of dough, raisins, currant and candied fruit peel after which cooked on a griddle. It may be eaten scorching or chilly and is texturally extra much like a shortbread than a cake. We prefer it served scorching and eaten with butter!
- Bara brith – this fruit loaf is a well-liked choice to have with afternoon tea and is usually served with butter on it. It’s principally a fruit cake full of raisins, currants and dried candied fruit peel.
- Laverbread – This can be a very fascinating delicacy, which regardless of the identify, isn’t a bread in any respect. As a substitute, it’s a puree made out of a selected sort of seaweed which grows alongside the Welsh shoreline. The seaweed is cooked for hours to type the puree, which is then mostly served with bread.
- Welsh cheese – Wales is dwelling to many milk producing animals, together with cows, goats, and sheep. As such, there are a lot of conventional Welsh cheeses to take pleasure in. Essentially the most well-known is Caerphilly, which is a tough however crumbly white cheese. Others embody Y Fenni, Tintern and Pantysgawn
- Native drinks – Wales produces a variety of native drinks, together with regionally brewed beers and ciders. There are additionally over 20 vineyards in Wales producing Welsh wine, and Welsh whisky is rising in popularity as nicely!
In addition to particular dishes, there are additionally many meals that Wales is mostly recognized for. These embody Welsh lamb and beef, seafood, seaweed, and leeks, the latter of which is definitely the nationwide image of Wales.
If you’re going to be purchasing and cooking throughout your time in Wales, you shouldn’t have any downside discovering some native Welsh produce.
Suffice to say, we don’t suppose you’re going to go hungry throughout your keep in Wales.
The way to get round Wales?
There are fairly a couple of choices for getting round Wales, which we’ll undergo now.
By Automobile
Our most popular choice for touring in Wales is to drive ourselves. Wales has a variety of sights which are just a little off the crushed path, and a automotive makes it loads simpler to achieve these tucked away castles or hidden seashores.
That stated, you need to be conscious that the highway community in Wales is primarily made up of standard two-lane roads moderately than multi-lane freeways (generally known as motorways within the UK).
As such, journey occasions can take a bit longer than in different components of the UK. It’s troublesome to zip throughout Wales and journeys could take longer that you simply count on from simply wanting on the map.
This isn’t a foul factor, because the surroundings is mostly beautiful, and there are many issues to cease and take a look at anyway. Nevertheless, you’ll simply need to remember when planning that even when the distances don’t look notably lengthy, it will probably take a little bit of time to get from place to put.
If you’re planning on touring by automotive and have to lease, we advocate evaluating automotive rental costs right here.
Public Transportation
As talked about within the part on public transport, Wales has a fairly good public transport community.
The primary factor to know in case you are planning to journey in Wales by public transport is that you simply’ll undoubtedly need to plan nicely upfront. Additionally, you will need to remember that it will probably take fairly a little bit of time to get between areas.
I’ve completed a good bit of journey by prepare and bus in Wales, and while the surroundings is at all times very fairly, it will probably take some time to get from location to location. So simply remember that in case you are on a restricted timetable, you’ll need to plan rigorously in order to not spend all of your time sitting on a bus or prepare.
It’s additionally value noting that while trains and buses join a variety of the nation, they don’t go completely in every single place. So if there’s someplace you actually need to see, do examine to make sure you can really get there by the mode of transport you want to use.
Total, while you may undoubtedly get round Wales by public transport, for folk on a restricted timeframe who need to see loads, we might in all probability advocate both driving or taking a tour.
Best Locations to go to in Wales by public transport?
If you’re planning on visiting Wales by public transport, you is perhaps questioning what the most effective areas are for doing so. Listed here are some ideas.
First, we’d recommend specializing in a selected area of Wales when you plan on visiting by public transport, as then you definately’ll be capable to spend extra time sightseeing and fewer time touring.
Cardiff is a really well-connected metropolis, after which from right here you would simply discover alongside the south coast to Tenby and even St. David’s.
Alternatively, when you’d favor to discover extra of the mountains, then head to North Wales. I’d advocate taking the prepare line alongside the north coast from the English metropolis of Chester (or Liverpool), which connects to plenty of different prepare and bus routes.
It will permit you to discover many highlights of the area, together with Conwy, Bangor, Caernarfon, the Snowdonia Nationwide Park, in addition to the northeast shoreline together with Harlech and Barmouth.
You possibly can simply make a loop by North Wales by public transport, going into Wales from Chester throughout to Conwy and Bangor, then heading south down the coast to Barmouth and Aberdovey, after which lastly east by Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.
This route will allow you to discover castles, see shoreline and expertise the mountains, all without having a automotive.
Be part of a Tour
The most effective technique to see Wales in our opinion, particularly when you favor to not drive, is to hitch a tour. A tour lets another person deal with all of the logistics, from planning what to see and do to find out how to get from place to put.
You do lose a little bit of flexibility when taking a tour after all, as they often observe a hard and fast itinerary. That is notably the case when you be part of a bunch tour. A personal tour will usually supply much more customization, with the draw back that they are usually costlier.
That stated, in our expertise most group excursions deal with the highlights that guests need to see anyway. Simply make certain when selecting a tour to make sure it visits the vast majority of sights and sights you actually need to see in Wales.
We have now some beneficial excursions of Wales within the part of this information on beneficial excursions. You may as well see a spread of excursions by numerous suppliers at totally different worth factors and durations on TourRadar right here.
Finest Guided Excursions of Wales
An effective way to see the highlights of Wales with out having to fret concerning the logistics of planning transport and lodging is to take a guided tour.
There are a selection of excursions to select from that go to Wales, of various period and worth.
The longer Wales excursions typically depart from London, Bristol, or Cardiff.
Some we propose are as follows:
- This 5 day highway journey with Rabbies can be our first choose of accessible small group excursions of Wales. We’ve taken an awesome many excursions with Rabbies and we love their educated driver guides and small group sizes. This tour departs from London and covers most of the highlights of the nation, from Snowdonia right down to south west Wales.
- This 8 day tour from Cardiff follows an identical path to our personal instructed Wales highway journey itinerary. This tour contains time in Cardiff, the Brecon Beacons mountains, Snowdonia Nationwide Park, Conwy Fort, St. Davids, Tenby, and the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park.
- When you have much less time to spare, then this 3 day tour with Rabbies departs from Bristol and focuses on the highlights of south Wales, together with Carreg Cennen Fort, Hay on Wye, St. Davids, Tenby, and the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park.
- That is one other 3 day tour with Rabbies which departs from Bristol and focuses on the highlights of North Wales. It contains Snowdonia Nationwide Parks, Conwy Fort, Harlech Fort, the Slate Museum, and Portmeirion.
There are after all extra excursions to select from in Wales. See this choice from a spread of operators on TourRadar which is able to allow you to type and filter by period, locations visited and worth.
Highlights in Wales
There’s loads to see in Wales, sufficient to fill many weeks of explorations. As it may be laborious to determine what to see, we needed to share a few of our private highlights within the nation. That is under no circumstances an exhaustive checklist, however we do suppose it covers a variety of what the nation has to supply.
We’ve divided it roughly into sights within the southern half of Wales (principally all the things south of round Aberystwyth) and the northern half of Wales (all the things north of Aberystwyth).
We predict this is smart as a result of in case you are on a shorter timetable you’ll want to deal with a extra manageable space.
If you’re fortunate sufficient to have extra time then you may undoubtedly go to the entire nation!
South Wales Highlights
South Wales has loads to supply, from the cultural sights in and across the capital metropolis, by to the gorgeous landscapes of the Pembrokeshire Nationwide Park the place you will discover ample mountain climbing and wildlife viewing alternatives.
This a part of Wales can be dwelling to historic burial grounds, stunning church buildings, castles, seashores, and extra!
Listed here are some highlights to contemplate including to your Wales itinerary.
- Cardiff Fort
- Cardiff Museum
- St. Fagans (Nationwide Museum of Historical past)
- Castell Carreg Cennen
- Caerphilly Fort
- Tenby
- Freshwater Seashore
- Whitesands Seashore
- St. David’s Cathedral
- Mountain climbing in Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park
- Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber
- Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth
- Elan Valley
- Brecon Beacons
- Hay on Wye
North Wales Highlights
North Wales is probably finest generally known as being find out how to the spectacular Snowdonia Nationwide Park, which is honest sufficient as it’s a actually stunning a part of the world.
Nevertheless, there’s heaps extra to this area of the nation, from epic castles by to heritage steam railways and great seashores.
Listed here are a couple of highlights to contemplate including to your itinerary for Wales!
- Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways
- Caernarfon Fort
- Beaumaris Fort
- Conwy Fort
- Harlech Fort
- Mount Snowdon & Snowdonia Nationwide Park
- Nationwide Slate Museum
- Chicken Watching within the Dyfi Valley & Coast
- Centre for Various Expertise
- Barmouth Seashore
- Aber Falls
- Portmeirion
Steered Itineraries for Wales
There’s a lot to see in Wales! We needed to share some instructed itineraries for visiting the nation for various durations, so you may profit from your go to.
In fact, your mode of transport will dictate precisely how far you’ll be able to go and what you’ll be able to see. If you’re counting on public transport, we’d undoubtedly advocate specializing in a smaller space so you may spend extra time seeing sights and fewer time touring.
If you’re on a tour or in your individual car, you’ll probably be capable to match extra in.
1 – 3 Day Wales Itineraries
With one to 3 days in Wales we might extremely advocate specializing in a selected space of the nation, comparable to an space of south Wales or north Wales.
For instance, for south Wales you would possibly contemplate spending a day in Cardiff after which a day or two exploring the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park, overnighting in St. David’s or the beautiful coastal village of Tenby.
An alternative choice can be to deal with the mountains and castles of north Wales.
Basing your self in Caernarfon for instance would put you in straightforward attain of a number of the most spectacular castles in Wales, in addition to the hike or prepare experience up Snowdon. You possibly can simply spend an exquisite one to 3 days visiting castles, exploring seashores and mountain climbing within the mountains of Snowdonia.
3 – 6 Day Wales Itineraries
With three to 6 days you’d be capable to extra completely discover a area of Wales.
Once more, we wouldn’t essentially advocate attempting to see the entire nation on this time interval as it’d really feel a bit rushed. As a substitute, deal with a selected space and hone in on a number of the sights you have an interest in.
For instance, if you wish to expertise tradition and coastal surroundings, then we’d recommend beginning in Cardiff, working your means alongside the south coast, after which heading up in the direction of Aberystwyth.
Alongside the best way you’ll be capable to go to cultural sights, expertise stunning coastal walks and soak up plenty of castles.
Alternatively, head as much as north Wales. With a bit extra time you may discover extra of this stunning a part of the world, from the peaks of the Snowdonia Nationwide Park to the UNESCO listed castles to the heritage steam railway traces.
We’d recommend basing your self in two or three areas, comparable to Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Conwy, or Barmouth, and exploring from there.
6 Day+ Wales Itineraries
With greater than six days in Wales, you’d be capable to discover from prime to backside when you so wished. We’d recommend a loop alongside the coast, beginning in Cardiff, heading out to the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park, then all the best way as much as Snowdonia Nationwide Park and north Wales.
We have now a instructed 1 week Wales itinerary (might be adjusted to 10+ days) for doing simply that with plenty of detailed data, which we predict you’ll discover helps you get round.
What to Pack for Wales
Wales, like the remainder of the UK, is a rustic the place the climate might be extremely variable. Rain is feasible at any time of 12 months, as are cooler temperatures.
So once you plan what to pack in your journey to Wales you’ll want to be ready for a wide range of eventualities. Moreover, as a variety of the actions in Wales contain time spent outside and notably mountain climbing, you’ll need to plan and pack accordingly to make sure you are ready.
We’d advocate studying our information to what to pack for the UK as a normal overview, but additionally to recollect the next gadgets:
Additional Sources for Visiting Wales and the UK
And that’s it for our detailed planning information for visiting Wales! We hope you discovered this information helpful. We additionally needed to share some extra assets we predict would possibly allow you to with planning this and future journeys within the UK.
- We have now an in depth 7 – 10 day highway journey itinerary for Wales, with daily highlights, recommendations on the place to remain, and plenty extra.
- If you happen to’re on the lookout for extra highway journey inspiration within the UK, we have now a two week UK highway journey itinerary and a one week UK highway journey itinerary. We even have a one week Cornwall itinerary
- If you happen to’re heading to Scotland, take a look at our 2 day Edinburgh itinerary, our Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary, our information to the finest day journeys from Glasgow, our information to issues to do in Edinburgh, our itinerary for Skye and the Highlands, our information to the finest day journeys from Aberdeen, and our information to the most effective day journeys from Edinburgh. We even have a North Coast 500 planning information and North Coast 500 seven day itinerary
- If you happen to’re not conversant in driving within the UK, see my information to driving within the UK for useful ideas.
- We have now guides to many cities within the UK you may take a look at! See our guides to issues to do in Manchester, issues to do in Stratford upon Avon, issues to do in Bristol, issues to do in Portsmouth, recommendations on a weekend in York, recommendations on Visiting Oxford on a Day Journey, and issues to do in Cambridge to get began
- If you happen to’re on the lookout for a guidebook in your journey, take a look at the Tough Information to Wales
And that’s it! Have you ever ever visited Wales? Do you’ve something you’d add to the above? Simply tell us within the feedback beneath, and secure travels!
