When you’re planning a visit to Wales, then you definately’ve come to the precise place! On this information we’re going to share the whole lot you want to know to plan the proper Wales journey. That is primarily based on our experiences of touring in Wales and likewise 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 perfect occasions of 12 months to go to Wales, highlights to not miss, the best way to get round Wales, the place to remain in Wales, what to eat in Wales, the best way to e-book excursions, and lots of extra suggestions that will help you plan the proper Wales journey.
We’d counsel studying this information alongside our detailed Wales street journey itinerary, which provides you with 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 individuals. It’s a part of the Island of Nice Britain together with England and Scotland. It is among the 4 international locations (together with England, Scotland, and Northern Eire) that make up the UK.
Geographically, Wales borders England alongside its whole 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 beautiful shoreline, principally alongside the Irish Sea.
The historical past of Wales is pretty complicated. Folks have been residing right here for a whole lot of 1000’s of years, with steady habitation for not less than 9,000 years. Because the Roman occasions, many battles had been fought between the Welsh and the English as all 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 numerous 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 in fact essentially the most extensively spoken language.
In case you are not that accustomed to 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 won’t solely make it easier to higher perceive most of the locations you might be more likely to go to in Wales (e.g., castles, museums, church buildings, Iron Age ruins), however it can additionally make it easier 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 points of interest.
From iron age burial chambers to fascinating museums to distinctive cultural occasions just like the Eisteddfodd, there actually is a large quantity to select from.
After all, the very first thing that seemingly 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 quite a few UNESCO listed medieval castles.
In actual fact, Wales has extra castles per sq. mile than another nation in Europe! Suffice to say, in case you like exploring castles as a lot as we do, Wales has no scarcity to give you.
When you do plan on seeing numerous 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 individual 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, may even discover a lot to do in Wales. There’s an enormous quantity of pure landscapes to discover, from beautiful coastal surroundings to lovely hills and mountains. It’s good for hikers of all skills. So whether or not you favor to wander alongside a stunning little bit of seashore 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 lovely sandy stretches to these lined in pebbles. So in case you’re after a very good swim or only a good stroll on the seashore, there are many choices for you.
All that beautiful outside house additionally means Wales is a superb vacation spot for wildlife. The variability in panorama and habitat means there’s numerous totally different chicken species you may spot, and there are numerous nature preserves you may go to the place you may spot numerous sorts of chicken and study them.
It’s extra than simply birds in fact, with viewing alternatives for every kind of wildlife, from seals and different marine life by to mammals, reptiles, and extra!
Lastly, Wales can be an ideal vacation spot for lovers of mythology. This needs to be apparent from the flag, which is emblazoned with a purple dragon, arguably the world’s coolest flag. Naturally, you may study all in regards to the mythology of Wales, from the origin story of King Arthur by to dragons and druids.
Total, we expect it’s truthful to say that Wales shouldn’t be a vacation spot the place you’ll run out of issues to do!
Some Primary Data for Touring in Wales
Let’s cowl some primary data for touring in Wales.
Wales and the broader UK
Wales is part of the UK (UK), so after you have entered the UK then you may journey out and in of Wales freely.
If Wales is your first level of entry into the UK (corresponding to in case you arrive into Cardiff Airport from outdoors the UK), then you definately would wish to undergo passport management and have the proper visa and any needed documentation.
You possibly can see extra data on any required visas to your go to on the UK authorities web site right here or from your individual authorities’s official journey web site.
When you arrive into one other a part of the UK corresponding to England or Scotland, then you definately don’t have to undergo any additional controls once you journey to Wales, be that by automobile, prepare, or aircraft.
Attending to and from Wales
Wales is a simple nation to get to. When it comes to flights, the one business airport in Wales is Cardiff airport, which presents 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 automobile 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 if you’re 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 embrace Wales, departing from areas corresponding to London or Bristol. Extra on excursions afterward on this information. Suffice to say, you have got 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 more likely 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 reasonably 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 the majority Welsh individuals are fairly used to it.
When you’d like to enhance your pronunciation, this can be a good starter information. information e-book to Wales also needs to embrace a information to pronunciation.
Driving in Wales
Driving in Wales is similar as driving in the remainder of the UK, with the primary distinction being that almost all of the street indicators are in Welsh in addition to English.
When you drive in Wales, you’ll shortly study some Welsh phrases from the street indicators, significantly “Araf” which suggests “Sluggish”. Within the majority of circumstances although, indicators will likely be in each English and Welsh.
Aside from that, driving in Wales is similar as driving in the remainder of the UK. Drive on the left of the street and you should definitely observe all pace limits and street 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 suggestions in my information to driving within the UK.
In case you are renting a automobile (evaluate costs right here), you may drive the automobile between England and Wales with none points.
Remember that almost all of vehicles within the UK use a handbook transmission, so you should definitely specify an automated if that’s what you might be used to driving. Simply be aware that these do usually carry a worth premium as they aren’t as widespread.
Relying on the place on the planet you might be visiting from and the language your license is in, you may additionally want an worldwide driver’s license from the nation which points your driver’s license.
Public Transporation in Wales
Wales has a reasonably 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 primary transport routes on the Transport for Wales web site right here.
For journey planning by public transport in Wales (and the UK generally), 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 make it easier 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 in case you e-book on-line prematurely. 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 embrace 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 may even wish to examine their gear helps the 220v normal, because the U.S. makes use of a 110v normal. The voltage a tool helps will likely be written clearly on the facility adapter, often within the type of 110v – 240v.
In our expertise most fashionable laptops, telephone and digicam chargers, and different small electronics are common, while bigger gadgets like hair dryers and hair straighteners aren’t.
See extra on journey adapters and the way to decide on one to your journey in our information to the greatest journey adapters.
Foreign money in Wales
Wales makes use of the identical forex as the remainder of the UK, particularly Pound Sterling, or GBP (Nice British Kilos). Wales makes use of the financial institution notes issued by the Financial institution of England, so the forex in use in Wales appears to be like precisely the identical as that utilized in England.
Notice 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 will also 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, often known as 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 perfect time to go to Wales is. While Wales is a year-round vacation spot, there are actually benefits and drawbacks to visiting at totally different occasions of 12 months.
Finest for Climate
Wales has a comparatively delicate local weather year-round with out large extremes.
If you would like hotter climate and longer hours of daylight for sightseeing, then the perfect time of 12 months to go to goes to be from late Might by to mid-September.
This time of 12 months provides you with the perfect likelihood of excellent climate and sunny days, though be aware that rain and cooler temperatures are doable 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 massive English cities close to Wales corresponding to Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester, and guests from these cities repeatedly take journeys to Wales. It’s an particularly in style vacation spot for households.
In consequence, the busiest time of 12 months in Wales is mostly going to be over the college holidays (college 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 top of August.
There are additionally “half-term” holidays which happen midway by every college time period and are typically per week in period. There may be usually one in mid-February, one across the finish of Might and one across the finish of October.
The most well-liked time for individuals to go to Wales is throughout the hotter summer season months, and through college holidays, particularly the Easter holidays, spring half-term, and summer season holidays.
In consequence, if you wish to go to Wales when it’s more likely to be quieter then you definately could be greatest served avoiding these occasions.
When you nonetheless need good climate, we’d counsel June or September to be optimum months, though April and Might can provide good climate if in case you have a little bit of luck in your facet!
Finest for Climbing / Climbing Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa)
While you may hike in Wales at any time of 12 months, we’d counsel that the perfect occasions for mountain climbing are going to be just like that for visiting for the perfect climate. So that’s going to be from late Might 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 in style choices.
In our expertise, Snowdon may be busy 12 months spherical, however the hotter summer season months are undoubtedly the preferred time to sort out the hike.
If you wish to keep away from the crowds on the hike itself, then we’d counsel avoiding the Llanberis path which tends to be the preferred, and taking one of many different much less in style routes such because the Snowdon Ranger path or the Rhyd Ddu path.
After all, Wales has an ideal many extra mountains you may hike, the vast majority of that are far much less busy and in style than Snowdon. A private favorite is Cader Idris, which additionally presents spectacular views throughout the Snowdonia Nationwide Park, and attracts a fraction of the guests!
Main Festivals in Wales
Wales performs host to quite a few festivals and gala’s all year long, together with music festivals, meals festivals, literary festivals, craft gala’s, artwork festivals, and extra (see a reasonably complete checklist of festivals in Wales right here).
The most important competition in Wales is generally the Nationwide Eisteddfod of Wales, which is held for round per week on the primary week of August annually. The situation 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.
When you plan on visiting the Eisteddfodd (or another competition in Wales), you’ll undoubtedly wish to plan nicely forward as lodging can e-book out, and the realm the place the occasion is being held is more likely to be a lot busier than regular.
Conversely, it’s value being conscious when and the place festivals are being held even in case 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 large quantity to see and do in Wales. You would simply spend many weeks exploring the nation with out operating out of issues to see and do.
Our advice could be to spend not less than per week if doable to get a good suggestion of what’s on provide and to have time to discover a number of the nation’s highlights.
When you’ve got much less time, say three to 5 days, then we’d advocate specializing in one space or area of the nation relatively than making an attempt to cowl an excessive amount of floor.
So, for instance, with three days you may wish to concentrate on visiting Cardiff and south-west Wales or discover a part of north Wales with visits to Caernarfon and Snowdonia Nationwide Park.
When you’ve got per week or extra, then you may broaden your itinerary to cowl extra of the nation.
We’ll share some prompt itineraries additional on on this information that will help you plan, and we even have a 7 – 10 day Wales street journey itinerary you need to 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 favor tenting, glamping, self-catered lodging, family-run guesthouses, nation home motels or common motels, you’re going to discover one thing to swimsuit.
We’ve stayed at an enormous vary of lodging choices throughout Wales, together with condominium leases, guesthouses, mattress and breakfasts and motels. Often we want to both keep at a regionally owned mattress and breakfast or small resort. However for longer stays, we usually e-book an condominium 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 types of lodging sorts, from motels to company homes to residences. 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 now have stayed at some actually beautiful properties by their system.
- Vrbo UK – if we’re particularly on the lookout for an condominium 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 want 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 need to 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 numerous similarities between Welsh meals and English meals, together with staples corresponding to fish and chips and the complete fried breakfast expertise, there are some dishes which can be widespread to Wales. Listed here are some to attempt:
- Cawl – one in every of extra conventional Welsh dishes, cawl (pronounced cowl) dates again to the eleventh century not less than and is basically 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 in style “sausage” is a standard vegetarian sausage primarily constructed from leeks, cheese, and breadcrumbs. It dates again to not less than the 18th century however rose in reputation throughout World Conflict II as a result of meat rationing and stays in style immediately.
- Welsh truffles – this small cake is constructed from dough, raisins, currant and candied fruit peel after which cooked on a griddle. It may be eaten scorching or chilly and is texturally extra just 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 commonly served with butter on it. It’s mainly a fruit cake stuffed with raisins, currants and dried candied fruit peel.
- Laverbread – This can be a very fascinating delicacy, which regardless of the title, isn’t a bread in any respect. As an alternative, it’s a puree constructed from a selected sort of seaweed which grows alongside the Welsh shoreline. The seaweed is cooked for hours to kind the puree, which is then mostly served with bread.
- Welsh cheese – Wales is house to many milk producing animals, together with cows, goats, and sheep. As such, there are various conventional Welsh cheeses to take pleasure in. Essentially the most well-known is Caerphilly, which is a tough however crumbly white cheese. Others embrace 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 embrace 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 buying and cooking throughout your time in Wales, you shouldn’t have any drawback discovering some native Welsh produce.
We will additionally advocate The Welsh Home for making an attempt a wide range of Welsh meals. They’re in just a few areas, together with in Cardiff close to the citadel. The final time we visited that they had a “Style of Wales” menu possibility which allow us to attempt numerous totally different Welsh dishes for a really cheap worth.
Suffice to say, we don’t suppose you’re going to go hungry throughout your keep in Wales.
How you can get round Wales?
There are fairly just a few choices for getting round Wales, which we’ll undergo now.
By Automobile
Our most well-liked possibility for touring in Wales is to drive ourselves. Wales has numerous points of interest which can be just a little off the crushed path, and a automobile makes it rather a lot simpler to achieve these tucked away castles or hidden seashores.
That stated, you need to be conscious that the street community in Wales is primarily made up of normal two-lane roads relatively than multi-lane freeways (often known as motorways within the UK).
As such, journey occasions can take a bit longer than in different elements of the UK. It’s troublesome to zip throughout Wales and journeys could take longer that you just anticipate from simply trying on the map.
This isn’t a nasty factor, because the surroundings is mostly beautiful, and there are many issues to cease and take a look at anyway. Nevertheless, you’ll simply wish to remember when planning that even when the distances don’t look significantly lengthy, it may possibly take a little bit of time to get from place to position.
In case you are planning on touring by automobile and have to hire, we advocate evaluating automobile rental costs on Uncover Vehicles right here. They evaluate all the primary suppliers so you will get the perfect worth to your journey.
Public Transportation
As talked about within the part on public transport, Wales has a reasonably good public transport community.
The primary factor to know if you’re planning to journey in Wales by public transport is that you just’ll undoubtedly wish to plan nicely prematurely. Additionally, you will wish to remember that it may possibly take fairly a little bit of time to get between areas.
I’ve executed a good bit of journey by prepare and bus in Wales, and while the surroundings is at all times very fairly, it may possibly take some time to get from location to location. So simply remember that if you’re on a restricted timetable, you will have to plan fastidiously 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 numerous the nation, they don’t go completely all over the place. So if there’s someplace you actually wish 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 people on a restricted timeframe who wish to see rather a lot, we’d most likely advocate both driving or taking a tour.
Best Locations to go to in Wales by public transport?
In case you are planning on visiting Wales by public transport, you is perhaps questioning what the perfect areas are for doing so. Listed here are some suggestions.
First, we’d counsel specializing in a selected area of Wales in case 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 might simply discover alongside the south coast to Tenby and even St. David’s.
Alternatively, in case you’d want 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 quite a few different prepare and bus routes.
It will let you 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 would 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 while not having a automobile.
Be a part of a Tour
Among the best method to see Wales in our opinion, particularly in case you want 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 the best way to get from place to position.
You do lose a little bit of flexibility when taking a tour in fact, as they often comply with a hard and fast itinerary. That is significantly the case in case you be a part of a gaggle tour. A personal tour will usually provide much more customization, with the draw back that they are usually costlier.
That stated, in our expertise most group excursions concentrate on the highlights that guests wish to see anyway. Simply make sure when selecting a tour to make sure it visits the vast majority of sights and points of interest you actually wish to see in Wales.
We’ve some really helpful excursions of Wales within the part of this information on really helpful excursions. You may as well see a variety of excursions by numerous suppliers at totally different worth factors and durations on TourRadar right here.
Finest Guided Excursions of Wales
A good way to see the highlights of Wales with out having to fret in regards to 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 recommend are as follows:
- This 5 day street journey with Rabbies could be our first choose of accessible small group excursions of Wales. We’ve taken an ideal 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 prompt Wales street journey itinerary. This tour contains time in Cardiff, the Brecon Beacons mountains, Snowdonia Nationwide Park, Conwy Citadel, St. Davids, Tenby, and the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park.
- When you’ve got 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 Citadel, 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 Citadel, Harlech Citadel, the Slate Museum, and Portmeirion.
There are in fact extra excursions to select from in Wales. See this choice from a variety of operators on TourRadar which can allow you to type and filter by period, locations visited and worth.
Highlights in Wales
There’s rather a lot to see in Wales, sufficient to fill many weeks of explorations. As it may be onerous to determine what to see, we wished to share a few of our private highlights within the nation. That is not at all an exhaustive checklist, however we do suppose it covers numerous what the nation has to supply.
We’ve divided it roughly into points of interest within the southern half of Wales (mainly the whole lot south of round Aberystwyth) and the northern half of Wales (the whole lot north of Aberystwyth).
We predict this is smart as a result of if you’re on a shorter timetable you’ll want to concentrate on a extra manageable space.
In case you are fortunate sufficient to have extra time then you may undoubtedly go to the entire nation!
South Wales Highlights
South Wales has rather a lot to supply, from the cultural points of interest in and across the capital metropolis, by to the beautiful landscapes of the Pembrokeshire Nationwide Park the place you can find ample mountain climbing and wildlife viewing alternatives.
This a part of Wales can be house to historical burial grounds, lovely church buildings, castles, seashores, and extra!
Listed here are some highlights to contemplate including to your Wales itinerary.
- Cardiff Citadel
- Cardiff Museum
- St. Fagans (Nationwide Museum of Historical past)
- Castell Carreg Cennen
- Caerphilly Citadel
- Tenby
- Freshwater Seaside
- Whitesands Seaside
- St. David’s Cathedral
- 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 greatest often known as being the best way to the spectacular Snowdonia Nationwide Park, which is truthful sufficient as it’s a actually lovely a part of the world.
Nevertheless, there’s tons extra to this area of the nation, from epic castles by to heritage steam railways and great seashores.
Listed here are just a few highlights to contemplate including to your itinerary for Wales!
- Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways
- Caernarfon Citadel
- Beaumaris Citadel
- Conwy Citadel
- Harlech Citadel
- Mount Snowdon & Snowdonia Nationwide Park
- Nationwide Slate Museum
- Hen Watching within the Dyfi Valley & Coast
- Centre for Different Know-how
- Barmouth Seaside
- Aber Falls
- Portmeirion
Instructed Itineraries for Wales
There’s a lot to see in Wales! We wished to share some prompt itineraries for visiting the nation for various durations, so you may benefit from your go to.
After all, your mode of transport will dictate precisely how far you’ll be able to go and what you’ll be able to see. In case you are 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.
In case you are on a tour or in your individual automobile, you’ll seemingly be capable to match extra in.
1 – 3 Day Wales Itineraries
With one to 3 days in Wales we’d extremely advocate specializing in a selected space of the nation, corresponding to an space of south Wales or north Wales.
For instance, for south Wales you may think about 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.
Another choice could be to concentrate on the mountains and castles of north Wales.
Basing your self in Caernarfon for instance would put you in simple attain of a number of the most spectacular castles in Wales, in addition to the hike or prepare trip up Snowdon. You would 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’ll be capable to extra totally discover a area of Wales.
Once more, we wouldn’t essentially advocate making an attempt to see the entire nation on this time interval as it would really feel a bit rushed. As an alternative, concentrate on a selected space and hone in on a number of the points of interest you have an interest in.
For instance, if you wish to expertise tradition and coastal surroundings, then we’d counsel beginning in Cardiff, working your means alongside the south coast, after which heading up in direction of Aberystwyth.
Alongside the best way you’ll be capable to go to cultural points of interest, expertise lovely coastal walks and absorb quite a few castles.
Alternatively, head as much as north Wales. With a bit extra time you may discover extra of this lovely 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 counsel basing your self in two or three areas, corresponding to Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Conwy, or Barmouth, and exploring from there.
6 Day+ Wales Itineraries
With greater than six days in Wales, you’ll be capable to discover from prime to backside in case you so wished. We’d counsel 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’ve a prompt 1 week Wales itinerary (may be adjusted to 10+ days) for doing simply that with numerous detailed data, which we expect 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 may be extremely variable. Rain is feasible at any time of 12 months, as are cooler temperatures.
So once you plan what to pack to your journey to Wales you’ll want to be ready for a wide range of eventualities. Moreover, as numerous the actions in Wales contain time spent outside and significantly mountain climbing, you’ll wish 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 basic overview, but in addition to recollect the next objects:
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 wished to share some extra assets we expect may make it easier to with planning this and future journeys within the UK.
- We’ve an in depth 7 – 10 day street journey itinerary for Wales, with daily highlights, recommendations on the place to remain, and plenty extra.
- When you’re on the lookout for extra street journey inspiration within the UK, we now have a two week UK street journey itinerary and a one week UK street journey itinerary. We even have a one week Cornwall itinerary
- When you’re heading to Scotland, try our 2 day Edinburgh itinerary, our Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary, our information to the greatest day journeys from Glasgow, our information to issues to do in Edinburgh, our itinerary for Skye and the Highlands, our information to the greatest day journeys from Aberdeen, and our information to the perfect day journeys from Edinburgh. We even have a North Coast 500 planning information and North Coast 500 seven day itinerary
- When you’re not accustomed to driving within the UK, see my information to driving within the UK for useful suggestions.
- We’ve guides to many cities within the UK you may try! 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
- When you’re on the lookout for a guidebook to your journey, try the Tough Information to Wales
And that’s it! Have you ever ever visited Wales? Do you have got something you’d add to the above? Simply tell us within the feedback beneath, and protected travels!
