Bitesized guide: Wales

From hills and dales to a stunning coastline, there's much more to Wales than sheep and Shirley Bassey...

Arrive

Several airlines fly from European and Canadian cities to Cardiff International Airport (website: www.cwlfly.com). Continental (website: www.continental.com) flies from New York to Bristol in England, near the Welsh border. Trains from London take about 2 hours to Cardiff and 3 hours to Swansea.

Why now?

Spring is sprung and what better time to catch the last of the daffodils (the Welsh national flower) in bloom. Plus the weather is perfect for mountain hikes and bracing walks along beautiful beaches.

See

• See the filming location of the cult 1960s TV series The Prisoner at the fantasy village of Portmeirion (website: www.portmeirion-village.com), near Porthmadog in north Wales. Portmeirion's candy-coloured, Italianate buildings were built between 1925 and 1975 on a peninsula off the stunning coast of Snowdonia.

• Across the Menai Strait, on the island of Anglesey, known as Ynys Môn locally, admire the remarkable Menai Bridge, the Anglesey Sea Zoo (website: www.angleseyseazoo.co.uk) at Brynsiencyn, and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (commonly called Llanfair PG), which boasts the UK's longest place name.

• Sample a taste of South Wales' days as an industrial powerhouse in the former coal-producing Valleys inland from Cardiff. Blaenafon (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) offers industrial heritage attractions in the shape of Big Pit National Coal Museum and the Ironworks (website: www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit).

Do

• Climb to the summit of Wales' highest peak, Snowdon, either by foot or via the Mountain Railway (website: www.snowdonrailway.co.uk).

• Step back in time and explore Cardiff Castle (website: www.cardiffcastle.com), parts of which date back to the Middle Ages.

• Enjoy the natural surroundings at South Wales' biggest inland draw, Brecon Beacons National Park, whose main touring bases are Brecon and Abergavenny. The narrow-gauge Brecon Mountain Railway runs through the hills from Merthyr Tydfil.

• Spend a day on the beach at one of the numerous resorts lining the coast along the Gower Peninsula, include Oxwich and Port Eynon.

• Experience nature and history in the former county of Pembrokeshire, in the southwest, which has many castles as well as the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The best-known religious building in the area is the cathedral of St Davids, Britain's smallest city.

• Visit the birthplace of Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) - Swansea. A city centre walking trail begins at the Dylan Thomas Centre (website: www.dylanthomas.com), and leads visitors around sites associated with the poet and playwright.

Taste

Tuck into tasty national specialities including Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast), bara brith (a type of tea bread), laver bread (made with seaweed) and Welsh cakes (made with sultanas or currants).

Did you know?

The popular British TV shows Doctor Who and Torchwood are filmed on location in Cardiff.

01 April 2007