107 Best Sights in Wales

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. It's currently only open for guided visits.

Holyhead's most dramatic vistas surround this 91-foot lighthouse, built in 1809 and set on an island off the west coast of town. The building is open to any visitor willing to descend 400 steps down the cliff face (and later back up) before crossing a footbridge over the chasm separating it from the mainland. Once on the island, linger on the stupendous views of the sea and watch for dolphins or step into the lighthouse to see an exhibition of its history and climb to the top with guides.

Thought to be the oldest complete medieval house in Wales, Aberconwy House is currently a second-hand bookshop (its previous incarnations have included a hotel, a museum, and an antique shop). It's a diverting and atmospheric little place, which also holds the distinction of (supposedly) being one of the most haunted buildings in North Wales.

Built early in the 11th century, this castle witnessed a tragic event on Christmas Day, 1176: the Norman knight William de Braose invited the neighboring Welsh chieftains to a feast, and in a crude attempt to gain control of the area, had them all slaughtered as they sat to dine. The Welsh retaliated and virtually demolished the castle. Most of what now remains dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. The castle's 19th-century hunting lodge houses an excellent museum of regional history. There's a re-created saddler's shop and a World War II air-raid shelter, but the Victorian Welsh farmhouse kitchen, with its old utensils and butter molds, is perhaps the most diverting exhibit.

The British writer Caitlin Moran once wrote fondly of Aberystwyth's "Glitter-glue sea and smashed-cake castle," and these crumbling ruins at the southern end of the bay do have an endearing quality. Built in 1277, the castle was one of the key strongholds captured in the early 15th century by Owain Glyndwr, a Welsh prince who led the country's last serious bid for independence from England. Today it's a romantic, windswept ruin, rather incongruously used as a cut-through walking path by locals for whom it's nothing out of the ordinary at all. To find the ruins, just walk along the bay, away from the town center; they are located just after the pier.

The Victorian-era Aberystwyth Cliff Railway deposits you at the top of Constitution Hill. At the top is a camera obscura, a course to play crazy golf, and a café. Opened in 1896, it's the longest electric cliff railway in Britain.

The steam-powered train runs along the southern shores of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid, or "Lake of Beauty"), a large natural reservoir just northeast of Lake Vyrnwy. Bala Lake is also popular for kayaking and other water sports. Look on the website for departure times.

Opposite Beaumaris Castle is this courthouse, built in 1614. A plaque depicts one view of the legal profession: two farmers pull a cow, one by the horns, one by the tail, while a lawyer sits in the middle milking. The courthouse occasionally opens for legal proceedings.

To learn about the grim life of a Victorian prisoner, head to the old jail, built in 1829 by Joseph Hansom (1803–82), who was also the designer of the Hansom cab. Inside you can wander the claustrophobic corridors and view the original cells—including the one that housed prisoners awaiting execution.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 1789 Blaenafon Ironworks traces the entire process of iron production in the late 18th century. Well-preserved blast furnaces, a water-balance lift used to transport materials to higher ground, and a terraced row of workers' cottages show how the business operated. The entrance to the site is on Estate Road.

Modest on the outside but surprisingly cavernous on the inside, this cathedral stands on the hill above the middle of town. The cathedral was built on the site of an 11th-century priory, which was destroyed during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. It was rebuilt as a parish church fairly soon after and was remodeled in the 1860s. It became an Anglican Cathedral in 1923. The heritage center does a good job of telling the building's history, and there's also a handy café-bookshop called the Hours. Local choirs perform concerts here regularly; check the website for event listings.

Dating from around 3000 BC, this megalithic passage tomb is the most complete site of its kind in Wales. You enter via a narrow opening built into a burial mound. The passage extends for around 25 feet before opening out into a wider burial chamber. The far wall, made of quartz, is illuminated at dawn on the summer solstice. Bring a flashlight, as the tomb has no artificial lighting. Next to the entrance is a replica of a stone pillar carved with Celtic spirals, found here in 1928. The original is in the National Museum in Cardiff. The site is 7 miles southwest of Beaumaris.

One of the great drives of North Wales, the sweeping, vertiginous panoramas of Bwlch y Groes (Pass of the Cross) form the second-highest mountain pass in the country at 1,788 feet. From Lake Vyrnwy, drive for a mile on B4393 before heading west on the mountain road.

This beautiful little island off the coast at Tenby has whitewashed stone buildings that lend it a Mediterranean feel. The island is best known for its Cistercian order, whose black-and-white-robed monks make a famous perfume from the local plants. You can visit tiny St. Illtyd's Church to see the Caldey Stone, an early Christian artifact from circa AD 600, engraved in Latin and ancient Celtic. St. David's Church, on a hill above the village, is a simple Norman chapel noted for its art-deco stained glass. The monastery itself isn't open to the public, but its church has a public viewing gallery if you want to observe a service. Boats to Caldey Island leave from Tenby's harbor every 20 minutes or so between Easter and October.

Perhaps the most potent symbol of Cardiff's 21st-century rebirth, this regenerated district is a 10-minute bus ride on the Baycar from Canal Street. It's the location of Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament, and Wales Millennium Centre, as well as a good selection of restaurants and bars. Don't miss the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, where children's author Roald Dahl was baptized; you can also take a boat trip around the bay. It was from Roath Dock in 1910 that Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his crew left aboard the SS Terra Nova for their ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition.

In the Victorian seaside resort of Criccieth, a few miles west of Porthmadog on the A497, a medieval castle with sweeping views crowns the headland. Criccieth was the scene of the last real uprising against English rule in Wales, in the early 1400s, when it was attacked and burned by rebel prince and latter-day folk hero Owain Glyndwr (1359–1416). David Lloyd George, who was prime minister of Britain for most of World War I, grew up in Wales and lived in the town; a small museum in his childhood home honors him.

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.

Housed on the upper floor of a flamboyant 1905 Edwardian theater, the Ceredigion Museum has collections related to folk history and the building's own music hall past. Highlights include a reconstructed mud-walled cottage from 1850 and items illustrating the region's seafaring, lead-mining, and farming history. There's a nice café here selling local products, and the tourist information center is downstairs.

At the northern end of the beach promenade, Constitution Hill dominates the skyline. From the top you can see much of the Welsh coastline (and, on exceptionally clear days, Ireland). There's a small café at the top and plenty of space for a picnic. If you're feeling hale and hearty, there's a long footpath that zigzags up to the 430-foot summit. From there, a 5-mile-long coastal path stretches to the village of Borth, a smaller, sleepier resort north of Aberystwyth where the remains of a 3,000-year-old petrified forest may be seen on the beach at low tide.

Situated on the banks of the Tawe in the Maritime Quarter, the Dylan Thomas Centre celebrates the life of the writer with an excellent permanent exhibition as well as literary events and activities. In summer, guided tours showcasing Dylan's Swansea start from here. There's also a cozy little café serving locally sourced products. Fans of the poet can buy a booklet here that outlines the Dylan Thomas Trail around South Wales. It includes the Boathouse (now a museum) in Laugharne, where the poet lived and wrote for the last four years of his life.

A modern version of a Victorian amusement, Great Aberystwyth Camera Obscura is a massive 14-inch lens that gives you a bird's-eye view of Cardigan Bay and 26 Welsh mountain peaks. It's reached via the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway.

Named for the Norse word meaning "sea monster," the 679-foot headland called Great Orme towers over Llandudno, affording extraordinary views over the bay. The Llandudno Cable Car (North Parade) zips you 1 mile to the top of Great Orme. At the summit there's a visitor center (Easter through October only), an artificial ski slope, and a toboggan run. The most picturesque way to reach the summit is the Great Orme Tramway (Victoria Station, Church Walks). Trips depart about every 20 minutes. The summit is a sylvan spot, with open grassland, fields of wildflowers, and rare butterflies. Also look out for a wild herd of Kashmir goats.

Discovered in 1987, these mines date back 4,000 years to when copper was first mined in the area. You can take a tour and learn about the technology that ancient people used to dig the tunnels, which are thought to be the largest surviving prehistoric mines in the world.

Betws-y-Coed is bordered by Gwydir Forest, which has several well-marked walking trails. The forest also contains a half dozen or so mines, the last of which was abandoned in the 1940s. On the western approach to the village, you'll find Swallow Falls, where the River Llugwy tumbles down through a wooded chasm. The trail to Swallow Falls (Rhaeadr Ewynnol) is a strenuous circular walk, which takes at least a couple of hours.

On a hilltop are the handsome remains of a 12th-century castle keep, jutting out from behind a 16th-century manor house. The manor has been renovated and turned into an arts center, also housing a bookshop and restaurant. There are tours of this historic site at 11am and 2 pm daily.

The 100-foot-long Last Invasion Tapestry, on display in the Town Hall in Fishguard, is modeled on the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of 1066. This modern version marks a lesser known and certainly less successful assault on the country. In 1797, a unit of French soldiers, led by an Irish-American general, landed in Fishguard Harbour. They were defeated by a hastily assembled local militia, which included many women. The impressive tapestry, commissioned to mark the event's 200th anniversary, took 70 local women more than 40,000 hours to complete. Fishguard is 16 miles northeast of St. Davids off the A487.

According to Dylan Thomas, this attractive estuary town 39 miles west of Swansea was the "strangest town in Wales"; nonetheless, he spent the last four years of his adult life here and is buried in the graveyard at St. Martin's Church. Visitors should first head to the Boathouse, where Thomas lived with his family from 1949 to 1953 and where he wrote Do Not Go Gentle and Under Milk Wood. Then head for a drink at Brown's, his local pub. Be sure to also check out the ruined castle, browse the secondhand bookshops, and enjoy a coastal walk. Laugharne buzzes in spring when the arts festival, Laugharne Weekend, takes place.

The town of Llanberis stands beside twin lakes at the foot of the rocky Llanberis Pass, which cuts through the highest mountains in the park and is lined with slabs popular with rock climbers. There are trails from the top of the pass, but the going can be rough for the inexperienced. Ask for local advice before starting any hike. The Sherpa'r Wyddfa (Snowdon Sherpa) serves this area, and there is a parking lot and café at Pen-Y-Pass.

In a suburb that retains its village feeling, you can visit this cathedral, which was repaired after serious bomb damage in World War II. The cathedral includes the work of a number of Pre-Raphaelites as well as Christ in Majesty, a 15-foot-tall aluminum figure by sculptor Jacob Epstein (1880–1959). To get here from Cardiff, cross the River Taff and follow Cathedral Road for about 2 miles. Buses 24, 25, 62, and 63 from Cardiff Bus Interchange by Cardiff Central train station stop in Llandaff.