Wales: “the land of song” takes on new challenges

Wales has a large number of scenic train rides. Going from Shrewsbury to Pembroke via Swansea must be one of the most beautiful railway tours in the world. Arriva Trains Wales is the major operator of trains in Wales, while First Great Western and other operators provide train services to London and elsewhere in England.

For visitors from abroad, the Britrail Consecutive pass and Britrail Flexi pass offer unlimited train travel in Wales, England and Scotland.

Wales is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, together with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cardiff is the capital of Wales.

As a country, Wales has never been a sovereign state. Executive power is exercised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with some powers devolved to a separate Welsh Government executive body whose members are fully elected by Welsh constituents. The Welsh Government is currently being given extended responsibilities.

His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, may have limited power, but Wales is nonetheless the largest principality in the world.

A good way to irritate a Welshman is probably to call him English. Wales is part of Britain, but not part of England. It is correct to call Welsh people British, but not English.

In the United Kingdom, England and Wales are equals. In fact, even though England formally annexed Wales in the 16th century, the relative autonomy recently awarded to Wales has so far not been extended to England.

Wales is officially bilingual, with 21.7% of the population able to speak Welsh and a larger proportion having some knowledge of the Welsh language.

According to Wikipedia, the Italian government funds the teaching of Italian to Welsh residents of Italian ancestry. Thanks to the Italians, Wales boasts some of the best ice-cream cones and tubs in the country.

Wales is well-known for its sheep farming, and lamb is the meat traditionally associated with Welsh cooking. The Welsh National Culinary Teams recently returned from the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg with an overall top 7 place in the world.

Cardiff International Airport is the only large airport in Wales. It is often easier to fly to Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool or even London when traveling to Wales.

Traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road in all of Great Britain and Ireland.

The official currency in Wales is the pound sterling.

Recommended sights and events in Wales

All events are described in greater detail in the tourist guides linked to at the end of this section.

• The castles in North Wales, built after England conquered Wales in the thirteenth century, are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• The small town of Hay-on-Wye has over forty book stores mostly selling used books, and has been referred to as the book capital of the UK. The Hay Festival of Literature is well worth a visit, every year in May/June.
• The following ice cream parlors have won UK national awards: Frank’s Ice Cream in Carmarthenshire, Joe’s Ice-cream in Swansea and Fecci & Sons Ice Cream in Tenby.
• The Cardiff Summer Festival in July/August features the best in street theater, live music, children’s entertainment, comedy and including the Celtic Festival of Food and Drink.
• The Brecon Jazz Festival in August attracts the top names from the world of jazz.
• The Cader Idris mountain, near Barmouth on the coast has good access on both the north and south sides from the Cambrian Coast train line. The summit is 2,930 ft (890 m) above sea level. Prepare for a strenuous walk that takes most of the day.
• Wales has four areas of outstanding natural beauty: Anglesey, Clwydian Range, the Gower Peninsula and Wye Valley.
• The Cardiff Film Festival takes place every year in November.
• Machyny’s Golf and Country Club is one of the many great golf courses in Wales, and currently the only Nicklaus Designed course in Wales.
• Portmeiron in Snowdonia is an “Italian” village consisting of 50 buildings around a central piazza. There are no residents here, only guests. The Gwyllt Gardens have a strange Italian feel. The Victorian pleasure gardens and woodlands have rare Himalayan flowering trees and other exotics.
• Wales is world-famous for its eisteddfodau (Welsh for cultural gatherings). Most famous is the Royal National Eisteddfodd, a moveable show held in early August. The International Eisteddfod is held in Llangollen every July. The Urdd (Youth) Eisteddfod is held in May.
• Caernarfon Castle is one of the most impressive castles in Wales. Take the train to Bangor.

Scenic train rides in Wales

It’s difficult to point to any particular train rides in Wales since they’re all so scenic and so beautiful But here are some of our favorites:

• Cardiff to Llandrindod Wells
• Cardiff to Pembroke
• Swansea to Shrewsbury
• Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
• Shrewsbury to Pwllheli
• Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog

Wales rail passes

The Britrail Consecutive pass and Britrail Flexi pass both offer unlimited train travel in Wales, England and Scotland.

Britrail and Eurail

The largest rail network in Europe is called Eurail, and includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Wales is not part of Eurail. If you wish to travel by train through both Wales and other parts of Europe, you should consider buying a separate Eurail pass. Learn more about Eurail at our sister site EurailForAll.com (opens in a new window).

Tourist information

VisitWales, Wales national tourist board
Lonely Planet destination guide for Wales
Wiki Travel guide for Wales