8 Best Sights in Llangollen, Wales

This impressive medieval fortress has evolved from its 14th-century origins into a grand home complete with an 18th-century servants' hall and interiors furnished in 16th- to 19th-century styles. However, it still looks satisfyingly medieval from the outside—and belowground, where you tour the original dungeons. Surrounding the castle are beautiful formal gardens and parkland. Chirk Castle is 5 miles southeast of Llangollen.

From 1778 to 1828 Plas Newydd (not to be confused with the similarly named Isle of Anglesey estate) was the home of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the eccentric Ladies of Llangollen, who set up a then-scandalous single-sex household, collected curios and magnificent carvings, and made it into a tourist attraction even during their lifetimes. You can take tea there, as did Wordsworth and the Duke of Wellington, and stroll in the attractively terraced gardens.

From the Llangollen Canal Wharf you can take a two-hour trip on a narrow boat (a slender barge) along the canal to the world's longest and highest navigable cast-iron aqueduct: Pontcysyllte (Welsh for "the bridge that connects"), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The aqueduct is more than 1,000 feet long. Pontcysyllte is 3 miles east of Llangollen.

The last abbey of the Cistercian order to be founded in Wales, Valle Crucis was built in 1201 and abandoned in 1537—a victim of Henry VIII's violent dissolution of the monasteries. Today it's a highly picturesque ruin beside a glassy lake. Surprisingly large sections survive relatively intact—particularly the sacristy and more or less complete chapter house, with its intricate vaulted ceiling. In its day Valle Crucis was one of the richest and most powerful abbeys in Wales; despite half a millennium of decay, this is still an impressive site to wander.

This romantic hilltop ruin looks out over a breathtaking patchwork of green fields and mountains. The fortress was built in the 1260s on the site of an earlier castle, which was an Iron Age fort before that. Its heyday was incredibly short lived; by the end of the 13th century it had been captured and abandoned by English forces after which it gradually fell into ruin. The castle is located on top of a hill just north of Llangollen town center. There are no roads to the summit; the best walking path starts at Canal Bridge in Llangollen and zigzags up the side of the hill. The rather punishing hike is a little over a mile long.

This restored standard-gauge steam line runs for 10 miles along the scenic Dee Valley. The terminus is near the town's bridge.

The peat-brown water of Pistyll Rhaeadr, the highest waterfall in Wales, thunders down a 240-foot double cascade. When you're driving on the B4500 between Llangollen and Llanwddyn, take the road leading northwest from the town of Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant in the peaceful Tanat Valley. There's also a pretty 18th-century restaurant and tearoom, along with camping and self-catering accommodations, on-site. It was near here that, in 1588, the Bible was translated into Welsh—one of the key moments that helped to ensure the survival of the language.

Near Llangollen is this verdant valley, known locally as "Little Switzerland." The B4500 road, running between Chirk and the village of Glyn Ceiriog, at the foothills of the Berwyn Mountains, is one of the region's great drives. It's just remote enough that you can often have the road to yourself.