Inexhaustibly charming, Wales offers spectacular scenery and a heritage steeped in poetry, song and legend. The rugged terrain is perfect for outdoor adventuring and is dotted with welcoming towns and incredibly well preserved castles that speak to a storied history. With so much to see and do, we’ve rounded up some of the best experiences you can have in this small but beautiful country.

The Welsh capital is bursting with things to do, whether you’d prefer to tour a gothic fantasy castle, catch a performance of the Welsh National Opera at the Wales Millennium Centre or try indoor surfing at Cardiff International White Water​​. The open-air St Fagans National Museum of History is a great place to explore the story of Wales. Buildings from all over the country have been carefully reconstructed within the parklands, along with a recreated Celtic Village.

Should you fancy a bit of shopping, Cardiff is home to one of the world’s oldest record stores, Spillers, which opened in 1894. Meanwhile, the Victorian glass-roofed market is packed with stalls selling a variety of goods from fresh fish and Welsh cakes to souvenirs.

Stretching from the Wales-England border almost to Swansea, the Brecon Beacons’ varied scenery includes four mountain ranges, swathes of high open grassland, wooded gorges and waterfalls. Some of the most scenic hikes in Wales can be had in the region of the park known as Waterfall Country.

The 5 mile Four Falls trail can be hard going in places but the rewards are worth the effort – including hearing the thundering roar of Sgwd Clun-Gwyn before you reach them. The entrance to a fairy kingdom is reputed to be somewhere along the Elidir Trail, which takes in four waterfalls and ancient woodland on a shorter and less energetic trail.

Literature-lovers should head to Hay-on-Wye, the book capital of the world. This small border town in the Black Mountains is home to numerous second-hand bookshops stocking millions of titles, and in late May it hosts the prestigious Hay Festival of Literature and Arts.

Hay-On-Wye’s love affair with books began when a bookshop was opened in the 1960s by Richard Booth, who lived in Hay Castle and claimed the (fictitious) title of King of Independent Hay. The castle, which is now in the hands of a charitable trust, reopened in May 2022 after a major renovation project.

Green fingered visitors to Wales are in luck – there are plenty of spots to get inspiration for your garden. Made famous by the BBC television series “A Garden Lost in Time,” Aberglasney in Carmarthenshire presents a rare restored cloister garden dating back to the 15th century. Visitors can also explore 10 acres of over 20 different garden styles from formal to woodland, right through to exotic and modern.

Also located in Carmarthenshire, the National Botanic Garden of Wales features a fascinating Apothecary’s Garden full of healing herbs, a Bee Garden abuzz with approximately half a million honey bees, an Aqualab perched upon stilts above the edge of a lake. The largest single-span great glasshouse in the world contains a Mediterranean ecosystem, while a walk through the Fairy Wood reveals a hidden toadstool village.

Designated as Britain's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty back in 1956, the Gower Peninsula is a coastal wonder. With dramatic cliffs ringed by beautiful beaches, open moorland, pretty villages and castles make this an area not to be missed. Oxwich, Port-Eynon, and the vast Rhossili are popular beaches adored by walkers and watersports enthusiasts.

The Gower’s most iconic sight is Worm’s Head, a rocky promontory that snakes out into Rhossili bay. Visitors can walk out to Worm’s head for two hours either side of low tide – check the display boards near the causeway before you venture out to avoid getting marooned like famous Welsh poet Dylan Thomas!

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs the entire length of the Welsh coast, a total of 300 km (185 miles). This is the best way to experience the supremely scenic and incredibly diverse Pembrokeshire coastline and national park.

Wildlife ranging from puffins and skylarks to seals and crabs call this stretch of coastline home, with sharks and dolphins offshore. Most of the path runs along clifftops, providing spectacular views. You don’t even have to tackle the entire route – try one or two stretches of it in summer when there are bus services to help you get back to where you started, or to move on to another section.

Snowdonia National Park is a well known destination for hikers, but there are plenty of other activities on offer here. Nicknamed the Lake District of Wales, Snowdonia is dotted with idyllic lakes promising a safe haven for wild swimmers. Some of the best include the glacial Llyn Cau, mirror-like Llyn Gwynant and the mysterious Blue Lagoon which is located at the bottom of Golwen Quarry and accessed via a short dark tunnel.

If you prefer to stay dry, Snowdonia is great for rock climbing, especially on the craggy sides of the Llanberis Pass, and is also home to Coed Y Brenin, the first forest to be developed for mountain biking. Eight purpose built trails begin at the visitor centre and vary from family and beginner friendly to technical routes for expert riders.

With over 600 castles dotted across the country, Wales has some of the best examples of mediaeval architecture in the world. A driving tour in and around Snowdonia National Park uncovers some of the most beautiful castles, the dramatic setting only adding to the romance.

Harlech Castle in Gwynedd sits on a precipitous crag, with superb views of Tremadog Bay and the Llyn Peninsula to the west and of Snowdonia to the north.Set against a backdrop of Snowdonia’s rolling peaks, symmetrical Beaumaris Castle in Anglesey is the most technically perfect castle in Great Britain. Meanwhile, Conwy Castle and town have World Heritage status and are Great Britain’s finest example of a bastide (fortified town).

If visiting isn’t enough for you, consider staying in the fairytale castle Château Rhianfa located in Anglesey.

The Victorian seaside town of Llandudno has a few claims to fame. It is Wales’ biggest seaside resort and home to the longest seaside pier in the country. It is also where Alice Lidell (the real Alice in Wonderland) holidayed, and there are sculptures relating to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland dotted all over town, including a Mad Hatter on the promenade.

The town is uniquely situated between the Great Orme and Little Orme headlands and surrounded by the beautiful beaches of Llandudno North Shore Beach and the quieter, sand duned West Shore Beach. This is a great spot for family fun and experiencing traditional seaside pleasures like Punch and Judy shows!

One of the best ways to experience the spectacular scenery of Wales is from the carriage of a train. The Ffestiniog narrow-gauge railway takes a scenic 14-mile (22-km) route from the Porthmadog Harbour to the mountains and town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, once the slate capital of North Wales. Designed to carry slate from the quarries to the quay, the railway transported the roofing material for Britain’s new towns in the 19th century.

After foreign competition and new materials took their toll, the slate quarries opened to visitors in the early 1970s and now survive on the tourist trade. Take the Deep Mine Tour at Llechwedd and head aboard an underground train on Europe's steepest cable railway to learn all about the mine, including where the famous Llechwedd Cheese is matured.

Top 10 walking routes in Wales

With a long, dramatic coastline and towering mountain ranges, including Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons, Wales is perfect rambling country...

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