WALES
Basic Info
Wales is a part of the United Kingdom. The capital city of Wales is Cardiff. Wales is bilingual and oeople speak both Welsh and English here. This itinerary is heavily focused on driving. I would highly recommend renting a car so you can easily explore the beautiful c ountryside. Cardiff is the capital of Wales and a great place to fly to. Read more to see our itinerary.
Day 1 Travel to Wales
We traveled to Bristol from London by taking a short train. Bristol is another option to fly to since it is on the border of Wales. These trains are easily available, affordable and so efficient!
From Bristol rent a car and go to Chepstow. We felt that driving was the best way to see Wales and it was fairly easy. In Chepstow, stay at St. Pierre Marriott Hotel and Country Club. The property is an old palace with beautiful interiors and acres of greenery for golfers. The rooms are pretty nice but just a bit old. The hotel has a restaurant called the Cast Iron Bar and Grill which is just mediocre.
Day 2: Explore Chepstow
Start the morning off at the Tintern Abbey which is only a 15 minute drive from the hotel. This abbey is the ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1131. After this visit Raglan castle which is about 30 min from there. This is a beautiful 15th century fortress.
The final destination for Day 2 was the Pembrokeshire region whihc is absolutely stunning featuring everything from gorgeous seaside views and exceptional hikes to charming Welsh villages and stunning beaches.
For lunch we decided to stop in Mumbles; a small town in Swansea. Then we headed to Worms Head which is the furthest westerly point of the Gower Peninsula. Worms head was my most favorite spot in the entire Wales itinerary. Our home for the night was the Llwyngwair Holiday Manor, a lovely place to stay the night.
Day 2: Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is well known for viewing dolphins and puffins. We started the next morning off excited to see some dolphins and puffins in Cardigan Bay. Unfortunately, these boat trips need to be reserved in advance and occasionally do not even occur due to bad weather. Some things I would recommend to do here:
Visit St.Davids, the smallest city in the UK.. The St. David's cathedral here is something you must see. Grab lunch at one of the few restaurants here. Since it was the Queen's Jubilee weekend, the town was packed with visitors.
Check out the Blue Lagoon in Abereiddy
Explore the Victoriean city of Tenby
Since the next couple of days will be visiting the Snowdonia area our stay for the night was in Aberystwyth which happens to also be in a university town. I will say the hotels in this town are not very nice and I wouldn't suggest staying here. We were able to have a decent meal at a Turkish restaurant in town.
Day 3 & 4: Drive to Conwy
Next up is the iconic Wales destination of Snowdonia National Park.
Towering mountains, lots of hiking, beautiful landscapes and adorable Welsh villages, Snowdonia is the perfect place to spend a couple of days.
We decided to start off our morning with the Devil's Bridge hike. This was very close to Aberystwyth. There are two walks to choose from: the nature trail, waterfall & 3 bridges or the punchbowl and 3 bridges. It mainly depends on how active you're feeling as the first option is more tedious. However, I would highly recommend it as it only takes about 45 minutes (whole) and really showcases the beauty of the spot. Do be careful walking as it is extremely steep!
On our way to Conwy, we stopped at a small cafe which had some of the most simple yet best food we had on the trip! I must add that Welsh people are possibly the kindest folk you'll ever encounter. Absolutely fell in love with every single person we met while traveling there. We finally ended up in Conwy to visit the Conwy castle which was built by Edward I and is a UNESCO world heritage site. The town is adorable, walkable and even has a waterfront. That night we ate at Anna's Tea House where we had a delicious onion bhaji burger. Shout out to the lovely waitress who allowed us to eat even though they had a huge bridal party booked.
That night we drove to Bala (in Snowdonia) and stayed at the White Lion Royal Hotel. This was a fairly nice 4-star hotel; we really appreciated the large rooms.
Other options include staying at Betws-y-Coed A lovely little town closeby.
Day 5: Drive to Snowdonia
Next up is the iconic Wales destination of Snowdonia National Park.
Towering mountains, lots of hiking, beautiful landscapes and adorable Welsh villages, Snowdonia is the perfect place to spend a couple of days.
The first stop of the day was Betws-y-coed which is located in the Snowdonia National Park. There isn't much to do here, per say, but walk around the town and visit a close-by waterfall known as Swallow falls. Other things to do in Snowdonia:
Go on a hike. Climbing Snowdon the largest mountain in Wales Explore Portmeirion an Italy inspired village just on the edge of Snowdonia National Park
Check out other waterfalls like Aber Falls and fairy pools
Then it is time to start making your way back down south towards Cardiff with a nice stop at Brecon Beacons National Park.
We drove to Llangattock which took about 3 hours. We decided to stay at the Old Rectory Hotel which was a beautiful, boutique hotel with large grounds and plenty of greenery. Before driving to Bristol, we decided to stop at Blaenavon to see the Blaenavon ironworks: a UNESCO world heritage site and the world's major producer of iron & coal in the 19th century. After this, we headed to Bristol which was our last stop before leaving the UK. We stayed at the Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre. This was a good hotel in a great location filled with shopping and restaurants. For boba lovers, make sure to visit CUPP bubble tea for some amazing boba drinks. That night we ate at 4500 miles from Delhi, an Indian restaurant about 15 minutes from the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised with the food and so happy to have some homely Indian food after eating so many other types of food!!
