Best Venues to Visit within Wales

Wales has been emerging as a popular tourist destination over the past few years. In some ways this growth in Welsh tourism has passed under the media radar, but we should not really be surprised by it at all.

 

It is a place with just as many exciting nightlife venues and scenic spots as any other part of the UK. However, compared with England, Scotland and Ireland, it is comparatively unexplored by tourists.

 

That makes a trip to Wales the obvious next step for those who have already taken in the best of those other countries. That said: where do you start unearthing the many wonders of Wales?

 

This article is intended to give you some pointers as to where to go if you are thinking of making Wales the choice for your next holiday.

 

The Village from ‘The Prisoner’

 

Maybe you remember that strange 1960s series ‘The Prisoner’ about a man who finds himself captive in a weird and wonderful place referred to as The Village. Well The Village is in Wales and it is really called Portmeirion.

 

The architecture gives it the feel of a slice of Italy that has been transported to the northwest coast of Wales. It was designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, a rather oddball architect, and is full of beautiful buildings in pastel colours as well as well-kept lawns.

 

There is also a golden shrine to Buddha and a huge chessboard. Portmeirion is a popular place to visit among cult television fans and you certainly won’t find anywhere else that is quite like it in Wales.

 

Les Croupiers Casino

 

The best places for nightlife in Wales are the big cities and Cardiff in particular. That is where this huge and opulent casino can be found.

 

Les Croupiers has a gaming space of 20,000 square feet, with the options ranging from roulette and blackjack to slot machines or bingo. There are even combination games like Slingo, which is a blend of bingo and slots.

 

Don’t worry if you have never played before. An online site like Megaways Casino has dozens of these games and will let you try a slingo demo to help you get familiar with playing it before your trip.

 

Poker is probably the game that dominates proceedings at Les Croupiers though. Its Poker Room is among the biggest in the whole of Wales and boasts multiple different types of poker games, from Omaha Hi/Lo to Texas Hold’em.

 

The National Book Town

 

That is the name that has been given to Hay-on-Wye, mainly due to the celebrated Hay Festival that is held there every year. Even if your visit doesn’t happen to coincide with that though, this is still a lovely place to spend time.

It is just over the border from England and lies on the banks of the River Wye. Hay-on-Wye is a scenic and literary town that houses more than 24 different little independent book shops. 

 

Coupled with the nearby Brecon Beacons National Park, it is the place to go if you want tranquillity and beauty from your Welsh holiday.

 

Wales Millennium Centre

 

It would be easy to devote an entire article to the great venues in Cardiff, but that would be unfair to the rest of Wales. One place that you should spend time at if you are going to the capital city though is the Wales Millennium Centre.

This is perhaps the single most important arts venue in Wales. It is home to virtually all of the prestigious cultural organisations, including the nation’s literature, theatre, dance, opera and orchestra companies.

 

You can enjoy both highbrow and popular shows here, from classical concerts to live musicals like My Fair Lady, so there will almost certainly be something to please you. That range of shows is why the venue is so popular among local people, but also makes it something visitors to Wales really should take the time to experience.

 

St David’s Cathedral

 

This is one of the oldest and most historic buildings to be found in Wales. It was built during the Middle Ages and is the burial site of the Welsh patron saint St David. He was a 6^th century Catholic bishop and his remains are buried in part of the early structure of the cathedral.

 

St David’s Cathedral is both a beautiful building and a venue that anyone with an interest in the history of Wales will want to see. The building was constructed out of unusual sandstone with a purple shade to it and it dates back to the 1180s. 

 

Among the artefacts inside it that can be viewed are a Welsh language Bible from 1620, silver chalices from the 13^th century and ancient gold-covered staffs that were formerly used by bishops. These are not the only reasons for visiting though.

 

The cathedral can be found in St David’s, a lovely Pembrokeshire city that happens to be the smallest anywhere within the UK. It is a charming place to spend a day or two, thanks to its solitary public house, art galleries and the surfing on offer at Whitesands Bay. Make sure to add it to your Welsh holiday itinerary.

 

Hopefully this has given you some pointers to what places you should see when you take your trip to Wales. It has so much to offer that the chances are it will be the first visit of many.

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