Welsh Explorer

Itinerary

Day 1: London to Abergavenny Leave London behind and head west crossing the Severn Bridge and over the border to Wales at Chepstow Castle, the oldest stone fortification in Britain. We explore the Wye Valley and Tintern Abbey, inspiration to Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. You then get the chance to go down a real Welsh mine at the Big Pit, a World Heritage site. Home for the night is the medieval market town, Abergavenny.
Day 2: Abergavenny to Tyddyn Bychan After the ‘Heads of the Valleys Road’ we will take a walk along the River Wye, next to the world famous second hand book capital of Britain, Hay-on-Wye, once declared an independent kingdom on 1st April 1977. Then, off to Builth Wells to hear about the last prince of an independent Wales. If you don’t suffer from vertigo, we take a walk along the impressive Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Llangollen. We have the chance pick up some local produce for an optional BBQ tonight at the idyllic farmhouse which is home for the night.
Day 3: Tyddyn Bychan to Caernarfon We head to the ‘Ugly House’ then up the Vale of Conwy towards the north coast of Wales to visit the smallest house in Great Britain and the majestic Conwy Castle built by Edward I to contain the Welsh. Next, it’s Snowdonia National Park to hike the spectacular scenery north Wales is famous for. We then head to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, one of the longest place names in the world. After a drive through the Llanberis Pass we spend the night next to imposing Caernarfon Castle!
Day 4: Caernarfon to Cardiff We take a hike around the Welsh tribal lands of Dolgellau which lie at the foot of the mountain, Cader Idris. The surrounding lakes of this menacing mountain are said to be bottomless… We then travel onto Aberystwyth, one of the best University twins in Wales. We visit the Devil’s Bridge (where the devil was banished from Wales) and go on a gorge walk. Then we journey through the famous valleys and onto the thriving Welsh capital, Cardiff for a final night out!
Day 5: Cardiff to London After a big night out you have the chance to get to know the capital with its castle (originally a Roman fort from where Cardiff gets its name) and the famous Millennium Stadium. Homeward bound we head to Caerleon, site of a Roman amphitheatre and fortress before arriving back at the Big Smoke.