"Land of Castles, Dragons, Mountains & Legends" Wales by M0B1US

Wales Travel Guide: 5,243 reviews and 14,355 photos

Caerphilly Castle 8 miles N of Cardiff - Wales

Highlights

Croeso I Gymru - Welcome to Wales!

With this page I intend to tell you about 'The Land of my Fathers', well my mother's side of the family actually...

This is a magical country justly proud of its rich and fiercely independent heritage and over the coming weeks, months and years I shall be exploring aspects of what makes this one of the last Celtic strongholds in the World - a place where the Celtic language of Welsh is actually making a comeback...

A land of Mythology this spectacular country is steeped in the legends of the Welsh Mabinogion, and Arthurian Britain...

Wales is a land of many firsts as, believe it or not, Wales was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in the World during the 19th century with her natural resources helping to catapult nations such as Great Britain and the United States to the forefront of world power!

Not bad for a small wet and mountainous nation of 2.9m, with another 11m sheep thrown in... ;-)

For now please explore my Welsh pages, with Cardiff (where I now live) being my main window into this wonderful land...

Quick Tips and Suggestions

Daffodils in Bloom! Bute Park

Visit all those castles built to subjugate the unruly Welsh, some of these are the best of their kind in Europe.

Visit Wales' three National Parks: Pembrokeshire, Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia as they have so much to offer!

Snowdonia National Park (Which I visited this September!) is Wales' most famous National Park, being the home to the most mountainous terrain and the tallest mountain (Snowdon) in England and Wales.

The Pembrokeshire National Park is mainly coastal with countless beautiful coves and beaches as well as rolling hills and farmland in an interior dotted with castles.

The Brecon Beacons are stark exposed hills with excellent walks a scant hour away from Cardiff.

Enjoy the wonderful steam railway lines - Wales has at least a dozen lines maintained by enthusiasts that pass through some of Wales' most spectacular scenery and are a throwback from the country's mining heritage.

Delve into Wales' mining history, from the Roman times when Gold and Copper were mined through to more recent times with iron and slate mining and then when coal mining thrust Wales to the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.

Explore the history and legends of this great land famed for its poets and storytellers...

As well as my tips on Wales, a good starting point for information is the Visit Wales website.

Getting Around

St Davids - Wales' Spiritual Centre

South Wales and the northern coast of Wales is well served by public transport and excellent roads, with an extensive and comprehensive rail and bus network.

The central part of Wales is a land of mountains with few major roads and it is relatively difficult to get from north to south quickly, public transport here is mostly by bus as no railway links the south of Wales to the north.

Cardiff International Airport is one of the UK's fastest growing airports and is an easy way to arrive in the country from four different continents.

As well as the modern ways of getting around Wales is also criss-crossed with many cycling trails such as the Celtic and Taff Trails, and also several major walking trails such as the world famous Offa's Dyke, Glyndwr's Way and the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path...

Last visit to Wales: Apr 2004
Intro Updated Sep 28, 2005
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Reviews (17)

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Comments (13)

mart8777 Apr 2, 2007 at 5:09 PM Report Abuse

Nice pictures, must explore.
nickandchris Sep 19, 2006 at 8:40 AM Report Abuse

Fantastic page with an amazing amount of information. Very useful phrase about the sheep and sandwiches!!!
Myndo Jun 16, 2006 at 9:33 AM Report Abuse

This really looks like a place I have to visit. Castles, dragons, parks and a very peculiar language (thanks for the lesson, but this looks fit to break ones tongue :-) You have an excellent overwiev here, good page! thanks Corinne
mary2u99 Apr 24, 2006 at 8:04 PM Report Abuse

Beautiful page and castle. Great tips. Happy Birthday to you.
ZiOOlek Feb 3, 2006 at 2:09 PM Report Abuse

Dydd da.:) Yeap, this is what I like the most - castles and nature.:) Seems to be a great destination to spend summer...
sourbugger Jan 18, 2006 at 2:19 PM Report Abuse

a superbly well written summary of the little colony, sorry , country
freya_heaven Oct 16, 2005 at 4:02 PM Report Abuse

Noswaith Da Gwilym, Such an interesting read, diolch! I love Wales, cant wait to get back again. I found the Big Pit quite emotional when we visited. I conversed with an old Breton lady in my Limited Welsh! Great page (~_~)
magor65 Oct 13, 2005 at 5:26 AM Report Abuse

Fascinating page packed with loads of information. My first encounter with Wales was many years ago when as a student I read "Sons and Lovers". Then, about 10 years ago, I stayed a few weeks in Chester and visited Snowdonia. ( I had a great time there).
aaaarrgh Mar 29, 2005 at 10:26 AM Report Abuse

Aha, the jug-eared Prince Charles mug - they are worth quite a bit now! I bought mine in 1981 to mark the first jaunt up the aisle :-) Thanks for keeping an eye on my pages, haha.
lomi Mar 14, 2005 at 9:40 AM Report Abuse

Fascinating pages and info on my home country. Hope you celebrated St Davids Day.