In the event you’re planning a visit to Wales, you then’ve come to the best place! On this information we’re going to share every little thing you should know to plan the right Wales journey. That is primarily based on our experiences of touring in Wales and in addition my time dwelling in Wales, which I did for a few years. I used to be really born in Wales!
On this put up, we’ll cowl one of the best occasions of yr to go to Wales, highlights to not miss, how one can get round Wales, the place to remain in Wales, what to eat in Wales, how one can 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 offers you extra concepts of a particular 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 among the 4 nations (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 nations border is made up of beautiful shoreline, largely alongside the Irish Sea.
The historical past of Wales is pretty advanced. Folks have been dwelling right here for lots of of hundreds of years, with steady habitation for at the least 9,000 years. Because the Roman occasions, many battles have been fought between the Welsh and the English as either side fought for management over what’s current day Wales.
One of many unintended 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 number 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. Nonetheless, there are not any border controls or something like that when touring from England to Wales (they’re each a part of the UK), and English can also be after all probably the most broadly spoken language.
In case you are not that conversant in the historical past of Wales, we will extremely advocate studying a e-book on Welsh historical past earlier than or throughout your go to. This is not going to solely provide help to higher perceive lots of the locations you’re more likely to go to in Wales (e.g., castles, museums, church buildings, Iron Age ruins), however it’s going to additionally provide help to higher perceive the trendy 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 start out with, with a lot historical past spanning hundreds 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 large quantity to select from.
In fact, the very first thing that possible springs to thoughts while you consider Wales are the castles, a aspect impact of all the varied wars through the years. Wales has an enormous variety of castles, together with various UNESCO listed medieval castles.
In truth, Wales has extra castles per sq. mile than some other nation in Europe! Suffice to say, in the event you like exploring castles as a lot as we do, Wales has no scarcity to give you.
In the event you do plan on seeing a number of castles, then we will extremely advocate selecting up a Cadw cross. This consists of 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, may also discover a lot to do in Wales. There’s an enormous quantity of pure landscapes to discover, from beautiful coastal surroundings to stunning hills and mountains. It’s excellent for hikers of all talents. So whether or not you like to wander alongside a stunning little bit of seaside or climb to the highest of a mountain, Wales has you coated.
Talking of seashores, with a lot shoreline, as you may think there are many seashores to select from. These run the total gamut, from stunning sandy stretches to these coated in pebbles. So in the event you’re after a great swim or only a good stroll on the seaside, there are many choices for you.
All that beautiful open air house additionally means Wales is a good vacation spot for wildlife. The range in panorama and habitat means there’s a number of completely different hen species you may spot, and there are numerous nature preserves you may go to the place you may spot numerous varieties of hen and find out about them.
It’s extra than simply birds after all, with viewing alternatives for every kind of wildlife, from seals and different marine life via to mammals, reptiles, and extra!
Lastly, Wales can also be an excellent 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 concerning the mythology of Wales, from the origin story of King Arthur via to dragons and druids.
Total, we expect it’s honest to say that Wales will not be a vacation spot the place you’ll run out of issues to do!
Some Primary Info 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 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 (comparable to in the event you arrive into Cardiff Airport from exterior the UK), you then would want to undergo passport management and have the right visa and any vital 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.
In the event you arrive into one other a part of the UK comparable to England or Scotland, you then don’t must undergo any additional controls while you journey to Wales, be that by automotive, practice, or airplane.
Attending to and from Wales
Wales is a straightforward nation to get to. By way of flights, the one business airport in Wales is Cardiff airport, which gives each native and worldwide flights to a restricted variety of locations.
Wales can also be nicely served by regional transport connections from the UK. By practice, 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 practice from Chester, or 3.5 hours from London.
You may also simply drive to Wales from places 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 also 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 places comparable to London or Bristol. Extra on excursions in a while on this information. Suffice to say, you may have 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.
Nonetheless you’ll nearly definitely hear Welsh being spoken throughout your go to.
The primary approach you’ll encounter Welsh as a customer is more likely to be on indicators. Most indicators are offered in each Welsh and English. Place names are additionally practically all the time written in Welsh.
Welsh is a fairly difficult language to study and the pronunciation is unquestionably not all the time apparent! Place names can simply journey guests up, though the excellent news is that the majority Welsh persons are fairly used to it.
In the event you’d like to enhance your pronunciation, it is a good starter information. 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.
In the event you drive in Wales, you’ll shortly study some Welsh phrases from the highway indicators, significantly “Araf” which suggests “Gradual”. Within the majority of instances although, indicators will probably be in each English and Welsh.
Aside 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.
In case you are renting a automotive (evaluate costs right here), you may drive the automotive between England and Wales with none points.
Remember that almost all of vehicles within the UK use a handbook transmission, so make sure to specify an automated if that’s what you’re used to driving. Simply be aware that these do usually carry a value premium as they aren’t as widespread.
Relying on the place on the earth you’re visiting from and the language your license is in, you might also want a global 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 lots 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 generally), we advocate and use the Traveline web site. It’s a free service offered by a partnership of public transport operators within the UK, and can provide help 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 the event you e-book on-line prematurely. We advocate the trainline web site for practice and bus reserving, we’ve used them for years for our public transport wants within the UK.
Different choices to think about, 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 kind G).
Travellers from many of the remainder of the world, together with mainland Europe and america will want an adapter like this.
American travellers may also wish to verify their tools helps the 220v customary, because the U.S. makes use of a 110v customary. The voltage a tool helps will probably be written clearly on the facility adapter, often within the type of 110v – 240v.
In our expertise most fashionable laptops, cellphone and digital camera 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 to 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.
Be aware that that is completely 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 via to the final Sunday in October.
Finest Occasions to Go to Wales
You may be questioning when one of the best time to go to Wales is. While Wales is a year-round vacation spot, there are definitely benefits and drawbacks to visiting at completely different occasions of yr.
Finest for Climate
Wales has a comparatively delicate local weather year-round with out great extremes.
In order for you hotter climate and longer hours of daylight for sightseeing, then one of the best time of yr to go to goes to be from late Might via to mid-September.
This time of yr offers you one of the best likelihood of fine climate and sunny days, though be aware that rain and cooler temperatures are potential 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 comparable to Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester, and guests from these cities commonly take journeys to Wales. It’s an particularly widespread vacation spot for households.
Consequently, the busiest time of yr in Wales is mostly going to be over the varsity holidays (college breaks) in England and Wales.
The precise timing of faculty holidays varies a bit of by space, however usually there are main holidays over the Easter interval, and over the summer season months from mid-July via to the top of August.
There are additionally “half-term” holidays which happen midway via every college time period and are usually 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 folks to go to Wales is through the hotter summer season months, and through college holidays, particularly the Easter holidays, spring half-term, and summer season holidays.
Consequently, if you wish to go to Wales when it’s more likely to be quieter you then can be finest served avoiding these occasions.
In the event you nonetheless need good climate, we’d recommend June or September to be optimum months, though April and Might can provide good climate you probably have a little bit of luck in your aspect!
Finest for Mountaineering / Climbing Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa)
While you may hike in Wales at any time of yr, we’d recommend that one of the best occasions for mountaineering are going to be just like that for visiting for one of the best climate. So that’s going to be from late Might to mid-September.
No matter time of yr you propose to go mountaineering 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 may 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 practice to the summit, each of that are widespread choices.
In our expertise, Snowdon might be busy yr 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 recommend avoiding the Llanberis path which tends to be the preferred, and taking one of many different much less widespread routes such because the Snowdon Ranger path or the Rhyd Ddu path.
In fact, Wales has an excellent many extra mountains you may hike, nearly all of that are far much less busy and widespread 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 various 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 listing of festivals in Wales right here).
The most important pageant in Wales is generally the Nationwide Eisteddfod of Wales, which is held for round per week on the primary week of August every year. The situation for the pageant adjustments every year, and it usually attracts upwards of 100,000 guests. The pageant celebrates Welsh tradition, with the occasions and actions all going down in Welsh.
In the event you plan on visiting the Eisteddfodd (or some other pageant in Wales), you’ll undoubtedly wish to plan nicely forward as lodging can e-book out, and the world the place the occasion is being held is more likely to be a lot busier than standard.
Conversely, it’s value being conscious when and the place festivals are being held even in the event 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 enormous quantity to see and do in Wales. You might 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 per week if potential to get a good suggestion of what’s on provide and to have time to discover a few of the nation’s highlights.
You probably have much less time, say three to 5 days, then we’d advocate specializing in one space or area of the nation reasonably than attempting to cowl an excessive amount of floor.
So, for instance, with three days you would possibly 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.
You probably have per week or extra, then you may broaden your itinerary to cowl extra of the nation.
We are going to 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 motels or common motels, you’re going to discover one thing to go well with.
Now we have stayed at an enormous vary of lodging choices throughout Wales, together with condo leases, guesthouses, mattress and breakfasts and motels. Normally we desire to both keep at a domestically owned mattress and breakfast or small lodge. However for longer stays, we usually e-book an condo 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 motels to company homes to residences. We just like the highly effective filter system that permits us to hone in on precisely what we wish in every location, in addition to the map software that lets us see completely different choices in numerous areas.
- Sykes Vacation Cottages – for longer stays in Wales (and the broader UK) we additionally use Sykes. They concentrate on vacation cottages, and we have now stayed at some actually beautiful properties via their system.
- Vrbo UK – if we’re particularly on the lookout for an condo or trip rental, we’ll additionally often look on Vrbo. They provide a wide selection 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 may be questioning what meals you must strive in Wales while you go to, and if there are any uniquely Welsh dishes. Properly, the reply is sure there are.
While there are definitely a number of similarities between Welsh meals and English meals, together with staples comparable to fish and chips and the total fried breakfast expertise, there are some dishes which can be widespread to Wales. Listed below are some to strive:
- Cawl – considered one of extra conventional Welsh dishes, cawl (pronounced cowl) dates again to the eleventh century at the least 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 nevertheless it’s made!
- Glamorgan sausage – this widespread “sausage” is a conventional vegetarian sausage primarily constituted of leeks, cheese, and breadcrumbs. It dates again to at the least the 18th century however rose in reputation throughout World Conflict II as a result of meat rationing and stays widespread right this moment.
- Welsh muffins – this small cake is constituted of dough, raisins, currant and candied fruit peel after which cooked on a griddle. It may be eaten sizzling or chilly and is texturally extra just like a shortbread than a cake. We prefer it served sizzling 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 full of raisins, currants and dried candied fruit peel.
- Laverbread – It is a very attention-grabbing delicacy, which regardless of the identify, isn’t a bread in any respect. As an alternative, it’s a puree constituted of a particular kind 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 dwelling to many milk producing animals, together with cows, goats, and sheep. As such, there are lots 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 domestically brewed beers and ciders. There are additionally over 20 vineyards in Wales producing Welsh wine, and Welsh whisky is gaining 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 assume you’re going to go hungry throughout your keep in Wales.
Find out how to get round Wales?
There are fairly a number of choices for getting round Wales, which we’ll undergo now.
By Automotive
Our most well-liked choice for touring in Wales is to drive ourselves. Wales has a number of sights which can be a bit of off the crushed path, and a automotive makes it so much 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 normal two-lane roads reasonably than multi-lane freeways (often called motorways within the UK).
As such, journey occasions can take a bit longer than in different components of the UK. It’s tough to zip throughout Wales and journeys might take longer that you just count on from simply wanting on the map.
This isn’t a nasty factor, because the surroundings is mostly beautiful, and there are many issues to cease and have a look at anyway. Nonetheless, 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 automotive and must hire, 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 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 places.
I’ve completed a good bit of journey by practice and bus in Wales, and while the surroundings is all the time very fairly, it may possibly take some time to get from location to location. So simply remember that in case you are on a restricted timetable, you will want to plan rigorously in order to not spend all of your time sitting on a bus or practice.
It’s additionally value noting that while trains and buses join a number of the nation, they don’t go completely all over the place. So if there may be someplace you actually wish to see, do verify 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 so much, we’d in all probability 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 may be questioning what one of the best places are for doing so. Listed below are some ideas.
First, we’d recommend specializing in a particular area of Wales in the event you plan on visiting by public transport, as you then’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, in the event you’d desire to discover extra of the mountains, then head to North Wales. I’d advocate taking the practice line alongside the north coast from the English metropolis of Chester (or Liverpool), which connects to various different practice and bus routes.
This may mean you can 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 might simply make a loop via 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 via Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.
This route will allow you to discover castles, see shoreline and expertise the mountains, all with no need a automotive.
Be part of a Tour
Among the finest method to see Wales in our opinion, particularly in the event you desire to not drive, is to affix a tour. A tour lets another person deal with all of the logistics, from planning what to see and do to how one can get from place to position.
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 significantly the case in the event you be a part of a gaggle tour. A non-public tour will usually provide much more customization, with the draw back that they are usually dearer.
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 nearly all of sights and sights you actually wish to see in Wales.
Now we have some advisable excursions of Wales within the part of this information on advisable excursions. You may also see a spread of excursions by numerous suppliers at completely different value 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 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 value.
The longer Wales excursions usually depart from London, Bristol, or Cardiff.
Some we recommend are as follows:
- This 5 day highway journey with Rabbies can be our first decide of accessible small group excursions of Wales. We’ve taken an excellent many excursions with Rabbies and we love their educated driver guides and small group sizes. This tour departs from London and covers lots of the highlights of the nation, from Snowdonia all the way down to south west Wales.
- This 8 day tour from Cardiff follows the same path to our personal instructed Wales highway journey itinerary. This tour consists of time in Cardiff, the Brecon Beacons mountains, Snowdonia Nationwide Park, Conwy Citadel, St. Davids, Tenby, and the Pembrokeshire Coast Nationwide Park.
- You probably 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 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 consists of Snowdonia Nationwide Parks, Conwy Citadel, Harlech Citadel, 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 value.
Highlights in Wales
There’s so much 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 listing, however we do assume it covers a number of what the nation has to supply.
We’ve divided it roughly into sights within the southern half of Wales (mainly every little thing south of round Aberystwyth) and the northern half of Wales (every little thing north of Aberystwyth).
We predict this is sensible as a result of in case you are 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 so much to supply, from the cultural sights in and across the capital metropolis, via to the beautiful landscapes of the Pembrokeshire Nationwide Park the place you’ll discover ample mountaineering and wildlife viewing alternatives.
This a part of Wales can also be dwelling to historic burial grounds, stunning church buildings, castles, seashores, and extra!
Listed below are some highlights to think about 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
- Mountaineering 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 maybe finest often called being how one can the spectacular Snowdonia Nationwide Park, which is honest sufficient as it’s a really stunning a part of the world.
Nonetheless, there’s tons extra to this area of the nation, from epic castles via to heritage steam railways and great seashores.
Listed below are a number of highlights to think about 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
- Fowl Watching within the Dyfi Valley & Coast
- Centre for Various Expertise
- Barmouth Seaside
- Aber Falls
- Portmeirion
Advised 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. 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 car, you’ll possible be capable to match extra in.
1 – 3 Day Wales Itineraries
With one to a few days in Wales we’d extremely advocate specializing in a particular space of the nation, comparable to an space of south Wales or north Wales.
For instance, for south Wales you would possibly take into account 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 can 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 few of the most spectacular castles in Wales, in addition to the hike or practice trip up Snowdon. You might simply spend an exquisite one to a few days visiting castles, exploring seashores and mountaineering 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 attempting to see the entire nation on this time interval as it’d really feel a bit rushed. As an alternative, concentrate on a specific space and hone in on a few 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 approach alongside the south coast, after which heading up in direction of Aberystwyth.
Alongside the best way you’ll be capable to go to cultural sights, expertise stunning coastal walks and absorb various 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 places, comparable 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 the event 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.
Now we have a instructed 1 week Wales itinerary (might be adjusted to 10+ days) for doing simply that with plenty of 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 might be extremely variable. Rain is feasible at any time of yr, as are cooler temperatures.
So while you plan what to pack to your journey to Wales you’ll want to be ready for a wide range of eventualities. Moreover, as a number of the actions in Wales contain time spent open air and significantly mountaineering, you’ll wish to plan and pack accordingly to make sure you’re ready.
We might advocate studying our information to what to pack for the UK as a normal overview, but in addition 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 expect would possibly provide help to with planning this and future journeys within the UK.
- Now we have an in depth 7 – 10 day highway journey itinerary for Wales, with day-to-day highlights, recommendations on the place to remain, and much extra.
- In the event you’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
- In the event you’re heading to Scotland, try 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 one of the best day journeys from Edinburgh. We even have a North Coast 500 planning information and North Coast 500 seven day itinerary
- In the event you’re not conversant in driving within the UK, see my information to driving within the UK for useful ideas.
- Now we have 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
- In the event 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 may have something you’d add to the above? Simply tell us within the feedback beneath, and secure travels!