Right in the middle of the bustling, cosmopolitan city of Cardiff, Wales, stands the massive 2000 year old Cardiff Castle. Each time I’ve passed through this city I’ve been drawn to walk by, admiring the long walls where various stone animals lounge; lions and jackals and bears, that peer down at me as I walk by. This year, I made a special point of visiting inside of the castle, ... Read Full Article

  In 2014 Swansea, Wales is celebrating the centenary of the birth of one of the English languages most distinctive voices. The year-long celebration will honour the works and legacy of Dylan Thomas. My father was Welsh, and I have traveled frequently to Wales. I’ve been a fan of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas for years, but until this past summer I haven’t visited any of his haunts. Once several ... Read Full Article

  Ewloe Castle. Dolbadarn Castle. Dolwyddelan Castle. Castell y Bere. While many visitors to North Wales flock to the magnificent ring of medieval fortresses built by King Edward I, few venture off the beaten path to these smaller castles in Wales built by native Welsh princes, also known as native Welsh castles. Elwoe Castle Nestled in the woodlands of Wepre Park near the English-Welsh ... Read Full Article

  Machynlleth, mid-Wales is a bustling market town located 18 miles northeast of Aberystwyth. Here, my family and I encountered the spirit of Welsh hero Owain Glyndwr at the Owain Glyndwr Centre. We browsed exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art Wales, toured the landscaped grounds of the 17th century Plas Machynlleth mansion, and explored Welsh art at the Museum of Modern Art ... Read Full Article

The 870-mile Wales Coast Path is the first of its kind--a continuous path following the entire Welsh coastline from Queensferry in North Wales to Chepstow in the southeast. The Coast Path, completed in 2012, is actually a collection of linked trails, from the long-established Pembrokeshire Coast Path to the newer North Wales Path. Interested in walking a section of the Path but uncertain where to ... Read Full Article

  With such literary sites as Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse, the National Library of Wales, the bookshops of Hay-on-Wye, and the ruins of Tintern Abbey, Wales is sure to inspire all lit-loving travelers. Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse Perched on a short cliff above the Taf Estuary on the outskirts of Laugharne village, Dylan Thomas’s Boathouse offers a unique glimpse into the celebrated ... Read Full Article

Wales offers families many great summer and fall outdoor activities. Here are four of my family’s favorites: playing on the beach in Llandudno, riding the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway, exploring the interactive displays at the Centre for Alternative Technology, and storming the ramparts of Caerphilly Castle. North Wales Llandudno is a genteel Victorian resort town straddling the base ... Read Full Article

  The poet, William Wordsworth, first visited the Wye Valley of Wales as a young man of 23, in 1793. He returned five years later in the summer of 1798 and after several days walking, wrote his poem Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. He said that “No poem of mine was composed under circumstances more pleasant for me to remember than this.”             Five years have ... Read Full Article

  As the car drives up the steep hillside and I glimpse the rounded turrets of a castle through the trees, I feel as if I’m entering a fairy-tale world. I wonder if Walt Disney used this setting as a model for his films. But the knights and handsome princes who lived here were not those made famous in such tales as Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. This castle was once the stronghold of Welsh ... Read Full Article