Wales Guide

Travel in Wales

Wales has many mountains. Yes, strange thing to say but this does affect how you travel around Wales. Going from East to West is pretty easy. Going from North to South is not so easy. Let's be honest - if you are in a hurry to get from North to South, you're going to need to fly. But Wales isn't the sort of place you want to hurry through. The slower travelling time means you really get to appreciate the beauty of the scenery.

Travelling by car will take about five to six hours and involve going over many mountains, so make sure you are happy going up-hill before you start. If you plan your route well, you can find yourself going through Snowdonia national park with its stunning mountainous vistas.

Mount Snowdon in Wales

Trains fare slightly better. There is one high speed train a day between Holyhead and Cardiff, though if we tell you that this also stops at a few stations in England, you can imagine what a circuitous route it takes to get between the two cities. Other than that, you are best off travelling on the local trains, currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales which, despite being slow, go through some stunning scenery.

Things to see in Wales

Wales has many areas of Outstanding National Beauty and National Parks, and these are well worth a visit (and, to be honest, you're probably going to have to drive through at least a few of them, so why not stop and walk around too).

Wales has many areas of Outstanding National Beauty and National Parks

To the North lies Snowdonia national park, the home of Mount Snowdon. This is the tallest mountain in England and Wales, and can be climbed either through the range of footpaths or through getting the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which ascends all the way to the summit. The rest of Snowdonia National Park offers fantastic opportunities for walking.

Just behind Mount Snowdon in the village of Llanberis is Electric Mountain, the home of the Dinorwig Power Station. This is a hydroelectric plant which supplies electricity to the National Grid and which is housed in the biggest cavern system in the United Kingdom.

There are a wide range of heritage, mainly narrow gauge, railways scattered around Wales, especially to the North and West. These railways often date from the industrial revolution and were originally designed to carry mined minerals down towards a connection to be sold on. Nowadays, however, they make for fantastic rides for people of all ages. Many railways offer a discount ticket that gets you entry into other railways in the local area.

Top of the Snowdon Mountain railway