"Gwlad, Gwlad!!" Wales by aaaarrgh

Wales Travel Guide: 4,823 reviews and 15,277 photos

"Old mountainous Wales, poet's paradise,
Every valley, every cliff is beautiful to my vision"

This is a rough translation of the second verse of the Welsh National Anthem. What a great national anthem, celebrating beautiful landscapes, people, poetry and not worshipping war, or an unelected monarch!

Wales is extremely diverse...

South Wales is very industrial, with large cities, decling heavy industry and not many sheep. Cardiff gets more than its fair share of the money and prestige (no sheep at all). The South Wales Valleys are filled with the memories of great mining communities, terraced housing hugging the valley sides (occasional sheep).
Northwest Wales is the Welsh-speaking heartland, around Caernarfon and Ynys Mon (Anglesey). Here you will find the highest mountains, and plenty of sheep.
Southwest Wales has great coasts, beaches, sea mists, sunsets, cows and some sheep.
Mid Wales has hills, sheep, market towns and some more sheep.

Wales is united and defined by its Celtic roots and unusual common language, with lots of Ll's and dd's, y's and w's, and not very many English vowells :-))

It has its own Senedd (or Parliament), with a stylish new iconic building completed in... ...you've guessed it.... Cardiff.

Land of...

photogenic welsh sheep

Land of sheep, amongst other things. Almost 10 million of them. That's over 15,000 flocks! Yes I said flocks, as in 'herds of sheep', stop making up your own jokes please ;-)

The Welsh have infinite patience when it comes to jokes about sheep. We tell an English person we are from Wales and the jokes soon start. All those lonely Welsh shepherds had to find some method of keeping warm on those cold dark evenings...

Why not also try my...

Cottage, Caerfarchell

Cardiff Pages
Newport (Gwent) Pages
Swansea Pages
Penarth Pages
Barry Pages

My tips refer generally to South and Mid Wales. I have visited most parts of North Wales several times, but many years ago, and no photos to show for it. The Northwest corner is the most special area, with castles, real mountains and much spoken Welsh. Go there if you can.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Mountains, valleys, beaches, castles, song, Dylan Thomas, Iaith Cymraeg
Cons:Rain, drizzle, glaw, damp weather, plenty of poverty
In a nutshell:Croeso i Gymru! Forget England and Scotland, you MUST visit ;o)

Intro Updated Jun 11, 2011
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Reviews (17)

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Iaith Cymraeg Local Customs (5)

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Comments (22)

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rexvaughan Nov 8, 2008 at 9:13 AM

A great intro to Wales for me. We are thinking about visiting next year and I know nothing about Wales except the first verse of Men of Harlech.
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nickandchris Oct 1, 2007 at 6:55 AM

Excellent tips here. I particularly like the sound of the living museum.
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atufft Feb 9, 2007 at 8:54 PM

Thanks for the nice introduction and tips for Wales. I've got long lost relatives here, and I have yet to pay homage.
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breughel Nov 21, 2006 at 10:14 AM

Wonderful sense of tradition. I see you were born in 1902. Some Flemish VT members organize a meeting in IEPER. Could you come and blow the "Last Post".
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christine.j Jul 4, 2006 at 12:52 PM

Thank you for the tips. I'm so much looking forward to my trip to Wales.
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Igraine Mar 27, 2006 at 12:41 AM

Well informed introduction to Wales. Maybe i get here one day!
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jckim Mar 15, 2006 at 7:29 AM

Thank you share tips for Wales! :) Best wishes from Kim!
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Jim_Eliason Dec 18, 2005 at 3:58 PM

Thanks for the tips!
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sourbugger Nov 23, 2005 at 3:52 PM

this page on wales is the guvner...and no double L's in sight
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uglyscot Oct 20, 2005 at 3:18 AM

Great tips and commentaries. Hope I'll manage to visit a lot of these places