South Wales (GB)

South Wales is located on the west side of England and together with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland form the United Kingdom. To reach Wales by car from the Netherlands, take the ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich. You will then leave Hoek van Holland in the evening and arrive at Harwich harbor at 6.30am.

Example trip South Wales (1 week)

Cambridge

If you don’t want to arrive in Wales too early, you can choose to visit Cambridge first. This university city is about 2 hours drive from Harwich.

Cambridge city center is compact and all attractions are within walking distance. In the ‘lonely planet’ there is a beautiful city walk, but you can also visit the local tourist office first. The main attractions are the colleges near King Street. The best known colleges are Kings college to Trinity college and Johns college.

All of the university buildings are beautiful and ancient. They are only open to students or you must book a tour. You can also ignore the signs and walk through the pretty gardens of the banks to see the beautiful bridge of St Johns college and the push boats.

From Cambridge you drive in 3 hours 50 minutes to Sennybridge. We had booked an airbnb (Glynderi cottage) in that village. https://www.airbnb.nl/rooms/12320689?source_impression_id=p3_1593280886_4Eb8EwL5q7%2B0%2BzIx&guests=1&adults=1 An airbnb is often easy for us, because you can cook yourself. This is useful if your husband has celiac disease.

Brecon Beacon National Park

Sennybridge is close to Brecon Beacon National Park.

First visit the National Park Visitor center of Brecon Beacon in Libanus for orientation. There you will find all kinds of information and nice walks and there is also a shop and a tea garden. A nice walk is to the highest point in South Wales; the Pen-y-Fan.

This mountain / hill has an elevation of 886 meters. From the parking lot there is a path up. It is a tough climb, but very rewarding.

Hay-on-Wye is a pleasant village known for its many second-hand bookstores.

After such an active day, you can eat and drink in the village of Sennybridge at the Usk Railway inn. After dinner you can watch the darts of the locals in this pub by the wood stove.

Cardiff

Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is an hour’s drive from Sennybridge. Walk a historic route through the center, past the City hall and the National museum. In the National Museum, which is free to access, you will find some famous works of art such as Rodin’s kiss, Monet’s water lilies, Van Gogh’s rain, Renoir’s paris and another Rembrandt. Also, Cardiff Castle is not to be missed, with the Animal Wall next to it.

The arcades are also very worthwhile. These are covered Victorian-style shopping streets.

After 3 nights of Brecon Beacons, you can drive to your next residence, further up north. We had rented an airbnb in Bont-Goch near Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales. On the way there you can first pass Carreg Castle, a ruin on top of a mountain in the west of Brecon Beacon.

Aberystwyth

Visit the coastal town of Aberystwyth. Speaking that name takes some practice. You can park at the ruin of Aberystwyth castle. In the Netflix series “The Crown, Crown Prince Charles attends University in Aberystwyth to bond with the Welsh.

and the Old college and walk along the boulevard with the Royal pier. At the end of the boulevard you can go up with a cable tram. On Constitution hill you have a beautiful view of the city and its bay.

A part of the West Coast Path also runs from this hill, which runs along the entire coast of Wales.

The Netflix series ‘Hinterland’ is also included in Aberystwyth. The Royal pier and the police station are locations that appear in the series. At the tourist office yu can get a folder, on which you can find the locations.

There is also an episode of “Hinterland” which takes place in a town north of Aberystwyth, Borth. At low tide, stumps of a prehistoric forest emerge. That produces beautiful pictures.

Devils Bridge

12 miles from Aberystwyth lies Devils Bridge and its falls. You can visit this with a steam train from Aberysthwith, but it only runs a few times a day in winter. If you go by car, you are in front of the tourists who go by train and you have the walking path to yourself. Devils Bridge is a location of the first episode of ‘Hinterland’.

The legend of the 3 bridges: A long time ago there was an old lady who lived by the river “Mynach”. One day, her cow crossed the river and because of the deep gorge, she was unable to get her cow back. The devil appeared and said he would build a bridge for her, but on one condition. The condition was that he got the soul of the first creature to cross the bridge. The lady agreed to the devil. He naturally thought the lady would cross first, but she was smarter, and threw a crust of bread across the bridge. Her dog went after it! The devil had the soul of her dog… and the old lady had her cow back.

From the bridge, a walking path through nature descends through the Rheidol Gorge. It is beautiful even in autumn and in the rain.

Once up again you can warm up in the Hafod Hotel next to the bridge. This hotel also plays an important role in the first episode of ‘Hinterland’.

The south of Wales is easy to visit in a week. You will find beautiful nature, many hiking trails, pubs and nice cities. We will definitely go back to Wales to visit the north. On your way back to the ferry in Harwich you can visit the shoefactory shops https://www.northamptonshoes.com/factory-shops